Page 11 of Savage Heart

Her daughter’s father.

Her gaze slid over the hard, massive chest incased in a black t-shirt that stretched over his muscles like Saran wrap over a pan of brownies—and they looked just as yummy, too. Tattoos snaking up his forearms and thick biceps, made her want to trace the ink images with her fingertips…then her tongue.Dammit!Forcing her gaze away from all that enticing, forbidden deliciousness, she finally looked at his face. And she bit back a gasp.

His brilliant green eyes burned down at her, anger filling his expression with heat that scorched her.

What the hell did he have to be angry at her about?

Indifference! Don’t let him see that he gets to you! Never let him see!

“Pardon?” she asked, thankful that her voice didn’t rasp.

His lip curled into a sneer, which did nothing to distract from just how juicy and kissable said lips were. She’d always been fascinated by the fact that a man who was all man had a set of lips that could rival any female. The bottom lip plump and pouty, the top lip a perfect curve that met the bottom one like to pillows pressed together in a bed. And, Lord, the way his beard and moustache framed his lips, the thick, blonde hair was like a golden stage on which decadent acts of unholy pleasure were performed.

She fought back a full body shudder. God, she really needed to stop thinking about him. About what he’d done to her those long, blissful nights—back before he’d ruined her for any other man.

Erik Skaarsenwasruin. He was trouble.

The sneer on his face flipped to a smirk and she flicker her gaze back to his eyes. They were darkening yet glittering with humor. The fucker knew she’d been staring at his mouth…remembering.

“You, up and around. Didn’t think I’d see you today, not after last night,” Trouble accused, his tone sharp, prodding.

She sighed again, refusing to rise to the bait. He wanted her to admit she was still attracted to him. It gave him power over her.

Hell no.

“Did you need something, Trouble?” she asked, ignoring his remark, and making to turn back and finish resupplying the medical supply closet so she could get the hell out of there.

He stopped her with a hand to her shoulder. She tensed.

This was the first time he’d touched her in ten years. She couldn’t stop the shudder this time, but she was able to fake it as an attempt to shake his hand off.

He did remove his hand, but he did it slowly, his fingers sliding over the fabric of her violet silk blouse, one she’d picked that morning with professional comfort in mind, not a barrier against the touch of a man she despised. His green eyes were darker now, more forest than emerald, which told her that something was working behind his gaze.

But she didn’t care what he was thinking about. They weren’t together anymore. Technically, they never had been, since the asshole had been unfaithful from the start. Only using her to get off because she was easy.

Yeah, she still remembered every word he’d said that night. Every painful word uttered to Bonnie had been etched into her bones. She would never forget.

Anger searing through her, she met his gaze with hers. She pushed blankness, emptiness, apathy into her expression. He would never see the real her again.

Finally, he dropped his hand completely, his smirk gone.

He cleared his throat. “Surprised you were able to crawl out of bed, with as much as you drank last night,” he gritted out through a jaw clamped so tight, Liz wondered if it had been wired shut.

Then his words registered.

Her body tensed, her fingers curling into fists at her sides.

I will not punch him in the face. I will not punch him in the face.

“Pardon?” It was her turn to grit out. “I don’t believe that anything I do is any of your business.”

Not taking his burning gaze from her face, he took a step closer, every taut muscle in his body bunching and flexing with the movement, stealing the breath from her lungs, stoking a fire she wished had burned to embers long ago. He continued toward her, closer, and closer until he was standing centimeters from her, his face above hers, his mouth too close, his heat too overwhelming—but she remained where she was. He would not force her to step back. He would not see her weak. He’d scoured the weakness from her years ago when he’d made her a single mother with the words:“If she ever got pregnant, I’d make her get rid of it. No kids. Never….”

For a beat, he was silent, his eyes never once moving her from face. His green eyes once again shifting from forest green to clear, stunning emeralds. But there was fire there as well…flames that could consume her if she wasn’t careful.

When he spoke, the warmth of his breath brushed over her cheeks…sliding over her lips like a lover’s caress.

“Next time you get that fuckin’ sloppy, I’ll spank your ass,” he growled, his voice guttural, like he was dragging every word over jagged rocks. “And I’ll make sure you like it.”

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