Page 37 of Resisted

Vince opened his mouth to argue, but before he could get a word out, Bella had leaned down and grabbed his shirt in her tiny little fists before planting her lips on his. His whole body tensed before his shoulders drooped and his hand shot out to her hip, pulling her into his lap. When he should have pulled away, when I was mentally urging him to do so, he did not. Instead, he tilted his head as he tightened her body to his and deepened the kiss. A groan left Vince as her tongue caressed his lip, and I could not take it.

“Enough,” I roared, except the only person who heard me was Boyce, who lowered his head in submission as he stood off to the corner. I closed the distance between myself and Vince and gripped his hair, pulling his head back as hard as I could, forcing their lips apart. His chest heaved, but he never took his eyes from her or her perfectly swollen pink lips, and his hands never loosened from her waist.

Her tongue darted out and ran along her bottom lip. “I believe now you and Boyce are even.”

“If you kissed Boyce like that at sixteen, baby, I don’t—”

There was absolutely no way I was letting him finish his lust filled sentence. “Enough. Bella, it’s time for bed.”

She looked at the clock, then back at me. “It’s not even seven.”

“Belladonna…” I warned.

The eye roll. She used Vince’s chest to push off of his lap. “Fine. If anyone needs me, I’ll be in my room, looking for some new batteries.”

“Bella,” I said on a growl, warning her to not taunt a room full of predators. “No one will need you.”

Her shoulders rose and fell as if the fact didn’t affect her one bit. “Just, if you need me, you know where to find me.”

Her hips swayed as she walked away, and I had no fucking doubt that every man in this room, including myself, was watching those hips until they disappeared out of sight.

Chapter 15

BOYCE

I watched her walk off,and I was terrified to turn my eyes away. I’d had no fucking clue that something I did five years ago would come back and bit my in the ass like this, but here I was, facing a firing squad, and I wasn’t sure if I was getting a rescue. I didn’t have to turn around to know that Silas was fuming. I could feel it. His anger seemed to pierce into my back.

When I couldn’t stare at the wall any longer, I turned, my gaze going straight to Silas’ furious one. “Is there a reason you never spoke of this?”

Ah, yeah. I could think of a thousand reasons. I swallowed hard. Fuck it, if I was already in the line of fire, might as well be honest. “You. Mainly.”

“You didn’t think it was important to let either of us know that you and Bella had a history before allowing her to move in here?”

A history? Did one kiss count as a history? Granted, it was one mind-blowing, insanely addictive, toe-curling kiss. But it was still just a single kiss. “It was one kiss. Five years ago.”

“What the hell were you thinking, kissing her?” Why wasn’t he asking Vince the same damn thing? He’d literally had to pry the girl from Vince’s fingers, but he wasn’t under attack.

“Truthfully?” Because the truth was, I was weak.

“Do I look like I’m in the mood for lies?” he shot back.

No, but he also didn’t really want the truth. “Truthfully, I saw another guy touching her, and I couldn’t handle it. Couldn’t allow some douche to take her in the fucking barn with no dignity, no class, and no fucking experience. So I stepped in, kicked him out, and fuck… I must have blacked out because next thing I know, her lips were on mine and—”

I paused because I might have taken my confession too far. But Silas wouldn’t let it drop. “And?”

“And I got fucking lost, okay. Is that what you want me to say? That she kissed like a damn angel and that single kiss consumed my mind for weeks?”

Oh, I knew my words were not what he wanted to hear. I could tell. By the time I confessed the last bit, he’d already turned his gaze to Vince. “And you? You are the last person I thought I would have to have a fucking conversation with when it came to Bella.”

Vince didn’t even try to look ashamed. “She’s a fucking adult now, Silas. If she wants to kiss me, their ain’t shit you can do about it. And you know what? You may be my alpha, but being an alpha doesn’t give you a single say in who I fuck around with.”

“You will not fuck around with her.” His voice shook the windows, and a single shot glass tilted over the edge of the table, falling to the floor, where it shattered.

Vince wasn’t fazed, and I wished I had his balls but I was so much more submissive when it came to Silas’ orders. “What bothers you so much, Silas? The fact that we watched her grow up? Or that you want her and won’t allow yourself to even entertain the thought?”

Silas looked taken aback by Vince’s causal accusation. “I would never—”

“And why is that?” Vince asked, daring to cut him off. “Why would you never allow yourself that thought? Is it because she’s family? Technically, she’s not. Because she’s the child of our former mate? Only we had no real connection to her. So why exactly would you never allow yourself the thought of wanting her?”

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