Page 83 of Locke

I practically blacked out during my assault. I didn’t know what was up or down. One second I was beating on his cement wall of a chest, and the next he was grabbing me around the arms and spinning me around, forcing me against the car, his body taut against mine. His cock pressed against my stomach, unapologetically. A spark ripped through me, that animal in me taking over. I nearly ground my centre against his leg. Nearly. But I didn’t. I growled instead, and he grinned down at me, that smile so fucking vile and monstrous and filled with dark promise.

“What do you want?” I demanded so many times, my throat aching, my tears falling as I shuddered in his arms. He was warm everywhere, and damn it, he’d infected me with his insanity because I found myself drawing closer to him when I should have been pushing him away. His cock was so hard, I felt my fingers twitch to touch it. This kept happening. He kept reducing me until I was nothing more than nerves and basic instincts. This compulsion was also exhausting.

Crestfallen and defeated, I repeated, “What do you want?”

He bent down, brushed his mouth along my ear, forcing me still as he whispered, “You.”

When he pulled back, I stared up at him, dumbfounded, disturbed and…curious.

“Locke?” Ryan’s voice called out from the porch. “My God, has she attacked you?”

My eyes widened.

They knew each other?

Locke was still staring at me. His expression morphed slowly, that darkened desire ebbing to indifference. He let one arm go, but the other was still secured tightly around the other as he turned around. The second Ryan saw his face, he cursed, tossing a shocked glance my way. “The police are on the way, and I’ll tell them about her assault—”

“No need,” Locke interrupted smoothly. “She’s clearly under a lot of duress.”

“She’s fucking crazy is what she is,” he hissed back. “You were right—I should have listened. I’m sorry—I was going to let her go tonight, I swear it. I’ll have her arrested—”

“No need. I’ll ensure she’s off your property.”

“I want her out of our fucking lives.”

“Do you have the USB?”

Ryan nodded, realization dawning. “Ah, yes, yes, I’m sorry. I have it. Give me a minute.”

The second he took off, Locke spoke quietly to me, his gaze still trapped on the front door. “I wonder how many cameras are pointed at you right now. Cell phones or home surveillance systems—I counted three on this very street, and I wasn’t even paying attention to the rest. You’ve made quite the spectacle, lioness. What did you do?”

“You already know!” My chest was still heaving, but the energy was depleting by the second. Defeatedly, I stared at him, willing the craziness away. “Did you do it?”

“Do what?”

“You know what, you bastard. Did you unlock that door and Ryan’s son out?”

He looked at me quickly, his lips curving up again in that familiar monstrous way. My nostrils flared as I growled, “You sick bastard. Why?”

He looked back at the front door. “It’s time for you to get in the car.”

I backed away instead. “Stay away from me, Locke.”

“But that’s not what you want, is it?” he swiftly returned.

I felt outraged, eyes bulging again. “You’re fucked up—”

“I know that.”

“I want you out of my fucking life.”

“You don’t mean that.”

I shook my head, suddenly conscious of the eyes on me. I looked around, catching notice of residents standing on their porch, staring strangely at me. Like they were waiting for me to explode again. When I looked back at Locke, that smirk was stretched wide as he dug his hands into his pockets of his grungy pants and leaned back against the car. Not a single fuck given.

My flight response kicked in. I wanted to be far, far away. The stress in my gut continued, the whirlwind of emotions too heavy to push down.

Was it bad that what hurt the most wasn’t losing Hilfiger in those handful of minutes, but never being able to hold a sweet little girl to my chest again? I sucked in a breath, the memory of Aurora’s scent still plaguing me.

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