Page 57 of Fierce Monarch

Saying nothing, I waited him out. Even though I’d been raised to be a bargaining chip for my mafia husband, I’d worked my ass off to be dangerous in my own right. Part of that was knowing my limits. I could hold my gun for a long-ass time if I had to, but it would turn my arms into useless noodles. I had to get out of the apartment before it came to that.

As I was creating and discarding plans in my head, Nate spoke. “You shouldn’t be out alone.”

Instead of rolling my eyes like I wanted to, I weighed the pros and cons of getting up and decided they were stacked firmly in my favor. Keeping my gaze glued to Nate, I carefully stood. My gun never wavered, my chin never dropped, and my hands were steady. I just couldn’t lie there like a flipped turtle while we talked. I had to be on my own two feet. “Like you care.”

“I do. I’m trying to protect you.”

What the fuck did that mean? “Well, don’t. I don’t want it.”

“What if I do?” He paused, and even in the dimness from the streetlight outside, I saw the fire in his eyes. The burning. When he spoke, his voice was wrecked. “I can’t lose you, angel.”

“You already did.” It was instinct. Hurt lashing out to hurt someone else. Poison finding a new host. I wanted to infect Nate with whatever the fuck I had inside me so I wasn’t dying alone. He started this, but I needed to finish it.

And I did. He flinched like I wanted, but I found no satisfaction in it, and that made things worse than ever.

The realization that I was in an apartment with Nate, alone and across the city from my closest allies, made my heart pound. What a fucking idiot.

“This was a mistake.” I stepped toward the door, but Nate matched me, keeping himself between me and my exit.

“Don’t go. Let’s just…talk.”

“There’s nothing to talk about, Nate. You’re a liar and a fraud. You let me love you, and it was all a lie.”

“It wasn’t a lie,” he growled, frustration evident in his face, which I could barely look at.

You wanted closure, Mari. Close it up. Taking a deep breath, I did just that. What happened before—the kiss, the stalking—it couldn’t happen again. Nate was my past, and I had to leave him there or my future was fucked. So even if I wanted him to be telling the truth, I couldn’t wait around to find out. This needed to end. “Whatever it is you think you’re saving, it’s gone, Nate. Let it go. Let me go.”

A moment passed in which I was sure he’d do it, that he’d admit he was wrong and walk away. It would’ve been the easier option for him. He could’ve wiped his hands clean and found himself in the arms of another woman in seconds. Fighting for a relationship when both parties were interested in keeping it going was hard enough, but fighting when the other person was actively trying to sabotage you? That was a fool’s errand. Better to cut your losses and start over with someone new.

Which was exactly why I wasn’t expecting Nate to cross the floor, steps quick despite their heaviness. I didn’t expect him to toss my gun onto the bed before I realized he was reaching for it and shove me against the wall. I wasn’t expecting him to pin me with his hips while he ravished my mouth.

Or maybe I was.

Maybe all of Ash’s talk about closure sex had addled my brain.

Nate nipped at my lips, forcing his way into my mouth with his tongue and between my thighs with one of his legs until he was touching me everywhere. One of his hands gripped my hair, pulling my head back so all I saw was him. The rumble of his voice vibrated through my chest, and I was too stunned by what he said to think about moving. “No.”

“What?” I was dazed and drunk on his touch as he peeled off my shirt and the feel of his thigh pressing my jeans against my clit. I wanted to come. I wanted to fuck the anger out of my body so that I could move on. The boys had done so much to help me, but a hate fuck was a good way to finish what they’d started. I’d wipe my memory of Nate Beckstrom and move forward like he’d never existed.

As if he knew what I was thinking, he pressed forward until we were sharing breaths. “What we had isn’t gone, and I didn’t lose you. You’re still right here, about to come for me.”

“Shut up.” I dug my fingers into his arms, where they’d somehow ended up in the shuffle, and even though he winced, I felt his cock harden against me. I could’ve done more damage, could’ve put him on his knees, but fuck me, I needed this. I did, and I wasn’t ashamed to say it—though I wasn’t relishing explaining it to my partners later.

“No.” Nate nipped me again, bruising me for all the world to see like I was still his. The thought pissed me off enough that I sank my teeth into his neck in return and left the perfect imprint of my teeth on him.

I tried not to think of how satisfying it was to see them.

“That’s right, baby. Show everyone whose man I am.”

“Not mine.”

The spank to my outer thigh didn’t hurt, but I yelped anyway. Mostly because I wasn’t expecting it, though the sting did feel nice and glowy. “Always yours,” Nate corrected. “Now ride my thigh.”

He moved his hand to my hip, encouraging me to grind against him. I knew I shouldn’t, knew it was a bad fucking idea, but I couldn’t stop myself. Maybe that was why the orgasm came quickly. While Nate tried his damnedest to mark his territory, I detonated with his name in my mouth.

He had my jeans off and my body hauled into his arms in seconds. His warm cock slid through my arousal, and I locked up.

“Condom.”

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