Page 103 of Ruthless Savage

But instead, I drag my hand away, inhaling her scent on my fingertips.

“I think I’m good now.” I curl that hand around the steering wheel.

“Not fair.” She pouts, squeezing her thighs together.

I let out a chuckle. “You’re lucky that’s your only punishment.”

“You’re back to punishing me, huh?”

“Aye.” I give her a hooded once-over, eyes back on the road. “You never seem to learn, though. Maybe I need to be harder on ya.”

Her face flushes, and my grin widens. She’s so damn adorable.

“You shoulda told me what you were planning. At the club.”

If she’d confided in me, all of this could’ve been avoided. But now it’s too late. I took her virginity. I have to make it right with her father.

“Like you should’ve told me you were the man in the mask!”

“You mean the man you let grope you like that!”

“We already established that was you!”

“Hell, woman, you didn’t know that!”

She huffs and looks out the window.

“My God, Eriu, don’t you fecking realize what you are to me?” My hand is back on her thigh, shoving the dress away so I can feel her soft skin. “You’ve always been mine, in my heart and in my mind, so you letting some stranger touch you like that…it makes me insane!” I tighten my grasp on her leg. “If you told me what you were planning, I would’ve?—”

“You would’ve what?” She snickers. “Fucked me? Please, Devlin.” Her laugh is cold. “You know you wouldn’t have. You would’ve tried to convince me there was another way. You’d never want my dad to know what you did. Fucked his precious little daughter.”

“Well, he’s gonna know now, won’t he?”

Her gaze narrows. “He doesn’t have to know.”

She’s right. He doesn’t, but it wouldn’t be honorable to keep it from him.

“When your father comes back from his business trip…” I tell her. “I’m gonna talk to him about Mason, make him understand.”

“He won’t just take your word for it, and you know it. You’ll need something more.”

“I’m trying. Got one of Gio’s friends looking into Mason for me.”

She’s back to staring out the window, like she’s losing hope. I don’t blame her. I can’t imagine what she’s going through.

“I promise…” I grab her jaw and force her to look at me, her eyes welling with bits of her broken soul. “You will not marry him.”

Her lips thin into a barely there smile. “And how will that work? Will you marry me instead? Or should I wait for the next Mason?”

My exhale is heavy, the weight of it all crushing my damn heart.

“Don’t you think I want to?!” I snap, pulling the car to a stop on the side of the road, the tires screeching in the darkness.

I grab the side of her throat, shifting myself closer. “Don’t you think I’ve imagined being your husband? Imagined the way it’d feel to hear you tell me you love me?”

Her lips quiver, those broken eyes staring back at me.

“Since the moment I started to have feelings for you, everything changed for me…”

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