Page 131 of Damaged Protector

“Nothing like a big alpha male who is strong enough to show you who’s boss. Niko could be just the man for the job,” India pointed out, and I felt like she was directing the words directly at me through the wall. She somehow knew about me and Mallori, and she was goading me. I knew she was, and yet I couldn’t stop myself.

“Ladies,” I greeted, strolling into the kitchen and doing my damnedest to look casual as everyone’s mouths clamped shut. “Hey, Mallori, didn’t you say you wanted to see the baby zebras?”

She turned, her eyes wide. “Oh, um, the… sure, yeah.”

I jerked my chin toward the front door, studiously avoiding India’s pressing gray eyes. “Come on. I’ll take you.”

“Troy put them in the east paddock for the night. Darla likes to nurse them in the barn there. Want me to go with you?” Landree offered, and I shook my head as I forced a smile onto my face.

“No thanks. I know where it is.”

“Take one of the ATVs parked around the side.”

“Appreciate it,” I said, throwing a wave over my shoulder as I led Mallori out the front door.

“I saw the zebras earlier,” she informed me once we’d climbed into the animal-print all-terrain vehicle.

“I know,” I said, shooting a glance at her as I took off down the dirt road toward one of the barns on the property.

She was silent for a while, studying the stormy look on my face. My fucking jaw was clenched so tightly the muscles ached, and she was probably as confused as I was by my behavior. What the hell is wrong with me?

“Are you mad at me?” God, her voice. So goddamn sweet.

Spotting the building, I took a sharp right, darting my arm out to cover her chest so she wouldn’t fall out of the vehicle. She let out a little eep noise, shoving at my arm as I parked along the back wall of the weathered barn.

“What the hell is your problem?” she ranted, exiting the vehicle and cramming her hands on her hips. “Why won’t you talk to me?”

I climbed out as well, pacing across the packed earth away from her as I pulled my ball cap off and dragged a hand through my hair. Just as I settled it backward onto my head, I felt a gentle hand on my back.

“Hawk?” I didn’t answer. I couldn’t because I had no fucking idea what to even say. Her voice softened to a whisper. “Tate?”

A groan tore from my lips, and my cock swelled and hardened in my pants. That’s what she called me when I was deep inside her, when I was making her lose her mind with orgasms.

Whirling around, I grabbed both of her wrists and hauled her body against me. “You’re mine,” I growled.

“I… what?” Confusion and anger warred behind her pretty irises, but there was something else there too. Lust. Which did nothing to help the raging heat pooling between my legs.

“No one touches you, Mallori, except me.”

Her eyebrows crashed together. “I thought we already discussed this. We’re not sleeping with anyone else while we’re doing… whatever it is we’re doing.”

“I don’t want you going out with Niko or…” What was the nerd’s name? “Or Dilbert.”

Realization rose in her eyes like the early morning sun. “You were eavesdropping.”

“I overheard a conversation,” I hedged, feeling a slight twinge of guilt because she was right.

Her eyes narrowed. “If your big ass hadn’t barged in and dragged me away like you did, maybe I would have had the chance to tell them I’m not interested in dating anyone right now. Perhaps then you would have overheard that.”

Still holding her wrists, I guided her until her back met the wooden wall of the barn, and then I pinned her there with my body. Resting my cheek against hers, I whispered, “I know I’m acting crazy, Bee, and I have no idea why. Just the thought of… I can’t stand thinking of anyone else touching you. Kissing you.”

Mallori tilted her head a little, speaking against the corner of my mouth, all her anger seeming to subside in an instant. “I don’t want to kiss anyone else.”

Then my lips were on hers, taking them in a ferocious kiss that was laden with the kind of possessiveness I wasn’t sure I’d ever felt in my life. I knew it was only for the time being, but I needed her to know she belonged only to me until it was over.

Between kisses, I muttered, “Mine,” over and over into her sweet mouth, thrilled when she responded every time with, “Yours.” I stretched her arms over her head as I ate at her mouth, her neck, wanting to consume her like thoughts of her consumed me all the fucking time. I was becoming obsessed with her, and as selfish as it seemed, I couldn’t bring myself to care.

Gripping her wrists with one hand, I held her arms above her head and used my other hand to wrench her denim skirt up to her waist, smiling when I saw her panties matched her red strappy top. Then I ripped the little scrap away, making a mental note to buy her more underwear since I had a habit of destroying hers.

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