“Shit,” she mumbled.
I turned and walked to the door as anger burned through the center of my chest. I’d been a reckless asshole back in Uni, and I wasn’t happy about having to resort back to being that guy, but he was still very much a part of me. If he was needed…I’d pull him out.
Standing on the other side of the door was a man I thought I would always be close to. The glare on his face and anger in his eyes let me know that if there was anything remaining in our friendship before the wedding, it was gone now.
“Harry,” I stated plainly.
“Where is she?” he growled and balled his hands into fists.
“She’s inside, and that’s where she’s staying.” I walked out and closed the door behind me. “Back up, or I’ll force you back.” I let my voice drop to a place where Harry would know right away not to fuck with me.
“How dare you. Both of you,” he yelled as he pointed at me. The fucker was lucky he was far enough away that his finger wasn’t pressed into my chest. I’d have broken it without blinking an eye.
“How dare we? What exactly did we do? Because if I recall, you fucked around on your bride the night before the wedding, and that’s not the first time you did it.”
“Who are you to judge me? You fucked around on every woman you dated back in school. I was a saint compared to your sick ass.” His face was blistering red, and he had spittle forming at the sides of his mouth.
“And I’ve grown up.” I took a step toward him. “You aren’t the good man you once were, and I’m not the piece of shit I was. We traded positions obviously.”
“Move. I’m going in to talk to Molly. I don’t have to do this shit with you.”
I laughed and lifted my hands to the side and I glanced around at my property. “I’m pretty sure this is my land, mate. My house. Mine.” I growled the last word to let him know good and damn well that Molly just might be mine too. I reminded myself to double check the damn security of the place. There was something busted obviously if the bastard could make it to the door without assistance.
“That’s it.” Harry moved toward me, but he’d always been a little smaller and lacked heart in a fight.
“Excellent.” I swung and hit him in the face so hard it knocked him back. Blood poured from his nose, but I didn’t relent. Reaching down, I grabbed the front of his shirt and dragged him back toward his car before pulling him up just beside it to punch him in the face a few more times. “Stay away from her. She’s a good woman, and the minute she’s done with her holiday, she’s going home. If I hear you came near her again, today will look like a joyride, asshole.”
Harry slumped down by the car, bitching at me about being a horrible friend and a complete whore. It didn’t matter. Nothing did but protecting her from the idiot.
I walked back into the house to find her standing there, her eyes wide in shock and face so incredibly pale. Something red caught my attention, and I glanced down to see my knuckles busted and blood dripping on the floor.
“Shit,” I muttered and walked to the kitchen.
She followed after me. “Did he hurt you?”
“No. Never. I’m stronger and faster than him.” I dropped down into a chair as my adrenaline pumped through my veins.
“You didn’t have to do that.” The sweetness in her voice combined with the way she looked at me left my cock growing hard. I wanted to be someone’s hero…especially hers.
“Yes, I did.” I lifted my hand, and she moved in to wrap it up. She was so tender and loving toward me that I was temporarily blinded with the need to belong to her. My life was lonely, if I were being honest with myself, and I was weary from it.
Her standing in front of me, her robe pulled open at the top and hair a wet mess, left me wanting to play house.
“Alfie.” She finished wrapping my hand up and reached down to touch the side of my face. “What you did…” Tears filled her eyes, and she choked up.
“Was the right thing to do.” I slid my good hand up her thigh and brushed my thumb over her mound as I nodded. Fuck. She was still naked under her robe.
“Come here. I want you. Don’t deny me,” I grumbled and gave her a look that said I wasn’t asking for anything. I was demanding it.
“No. I couldn’t.” She straddled me on the chair and wrapped her arms around me, leaning in and kissing me in a way that branded me forever. I had to have her as my own.
But how?
Chapter Fourteen
Molly
Lust seared straight through me hard and fast. My fingers were buried in Alfie’s hair tightly as his bruised hands grasped the front of my robe. I broke the heated kiss reluctantly to let him push the heavy thing off my shoulders. I ignored the small part of my brain that cautioned that this was brash, that I had promised myself that it wouldn’t happen again.