Page 16 of Lost in Me

“It is none of your business,” I state through gritted teeth.

Jesse takes a step forward, keeping his fisted hands at his sides.

“Actually, it fucking is.” He keeps his eyes locked on me.

“No, actually, Jesse, it isn’t. You lost her the moment you laid your hands on her.” I am calm, watching my words hit him like a million knives. There is no reason to act as if I don’t know what he has done to her. He already knows we are together. He can put the pieces together.

“You really believe that, don’t you? She belongs to me!” Jesse screams, showing his lack of control already. He came here to get under my skin, but he is showing me that I am getting under his.

I take a deep breath and step forward. Jesse stands still, refusing to back away from me. I do have to give this guy credit. He has some big balls. But my balls are bigger.

I stop in front of him. I am close enough now that I can feel his breath on my skin. I just need him to give me a reason. Just give me a fucking reason to rip out his fucking throat.

“Just leave. You can start over anywhere, dude. Just let her be,” I state, feeling my heart racing so fast I can hear it in my ears. I can feel eyes on my back, but I don’t turn around. Jesse has my full fucking attention.

“No,” he snaps back, not needing to think about my words. I feel my blood starting to boil.

“Seriously?” I ask, tilting my head to the side. This dude really wants to fucking die.

“Yes, seriously. I am not leaving until she leaves with me,” Jesse states with confidence that makes my stomach turn into knots. I will never fucking let her leave with him. He will have to kill me to take her away, and I don’t die that easily.

“That is never going to happen,” I say, walking into him. We are now chest to chest.

“We will see. I will make your life a living fucking hell,dude. Eventually, you will throw up your hands and throw her away, and when you do, I will be right there waiting for her,” he states in a low, dark voice. A small smile forms across his lips.

“That will never happen.”

“We will see, Shawn. We will see what you are willing to do to keep her. Because I am willing to fucking do anything.”

“You have no idea what I am willing to do, but you will soon find out.” I take several steps back, making some distance between us. I quickly turn around, open the door, and walk inside.

I lock the door behind me, grab Em’s hand, and make her turn around and follow me toward the counter. The staff and clients are watching me as I tighten my grip on her hand and make my way past the counter down the hallway toward my office. I walk inside, forcing Em to follow me. As soon as we are both inside my office, I release my hold on her hand and slam the door shut, locking it. I take a deep breath and lift my hands, placing them firmly against the door as I try to calm my heart. It took everything inside me not to fucking snap his neck.

I feel a set of warm hands reach around me and rest against my chest. I drop my hands from the wall and grab onto hers as she squeezes me from behind. I can feel her heartbeat racing against my back. Both of us trying to calm ourselves. I should be the one comforting her, but this time, she is the one confronting me.

Chapter Ten

Emory

I take a deep breath as he lowers his hands from mine, and I release my hold on him just enough that he can turn around in my arms. He rests his back against the door as he looks down at me. There is no reason for words right now. We are both unhinged, and our emotions are becoming more out of control.

I drop my arms to my sides and stand into him, just feeling the warmth from his body start to spread across mine. Shawn is like no man I have ever met, and he makes me want him more and more. Even though our wanting each other is forbidden and doesn’t make sense, it makes the pull to him that much stronger.

Our love should be forbidden—a girl like me with the past I have and him being a millionaire drug dealer, criminal, murderer—to the outside world, we are breaking the rules by being together, but I don’t care about the rules. I don’t care if people talk about us and what we are doing. The only thing that matters to me is him.

Shawn leans down and kisses me. I open my mouth for him, feeling his tongue enter and taste me. I hear the moan escape his throat as I lift my arms and wrap them around his neck, pulling him down to me. He reaches between us, unbuttons my pants, and starts to pull them down along with my underwear. He pulls back until they are down at my ankles. I release my arms from his neck and lean down, pulling the pants and underwear over my boots and throwing them off to the side. I stand and watch him quickly unbutton his pants and pull them down with his boxers. I reach back up and wrap my arms around his neck. He grabs onto my legs, lifting me off the ground.

I wrap my legs around his waist, feeling my heat againsthis warm body. He releases my left leg and moves his hand between our bodies, grabbing onto his cock and positioning it at my entrance. He looks at me for a moment. All I can do is nod as he leans back in and smashes his lips to mine. I feel him push his dick into my entrance filling me to the rim. I feel myself wrap around him like we were made to fit together. He releases his dick and lifts his hand, placing it gently against my face as the kiss deepens when I open my mouth, inviting him back inside.

He pulls back his lips and leans in, resting them against my ear as I tighten my grip around his neck. We both start to move together as one. “I love you,” Shawn whispers into my ear, making my heart stop and speed up at the same time.

I never thought I would hear those words again, not from him. Not from any man. I kept my distance for a reason. I kept to myself for a reason, but in this moment, in this perfect moment, I can feel his love. Feel his desire for me, his longing, his wanting to protect me, his wanting to claim me in a way Jesse never did.

I pull back just enough to look at him. He continues to move in and out of me, hitting just the right spot for my eyes to roll back in my head. I lean in, resting my forehead against his as we slam into the door. The entire center can hear what we are doing, but I don’t care. I don’t care that they know I am giving myself to Shawn. I don’t care that they know we are together. There is no turning back now.

I open my eyes and look into his. He is patient and kind. “I love you too, Shawn.”

He doesn’t respond. We both just lean in and reconnect our lips, wanting to show each other just how much we love each other. Just how much we need each other. I never believed in falling in love too fast or the whole love-at-first-sight thing, but right now, in this moment, I feel I am seeing Shawn for the first time. The real Shawn, the vulnerable Shawn, and I will never be able to explain in words what it means that he has openedhimself up to me.

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