Page 20 of Wild Claim

Mina’s eyes widened, but she didn’t pull away. “I’m not trying to fix you. I’m trying to understand you.”

Her words hit me like a punch to the gut. I released her, taking a step back. “There’s nothing to understand,” I muttered, turning away.

But she wasn’t done. She moved in front of me again, her chin tilted up. “I don’t believe that for a second. I’ve seen glimpses of who you really are. When you defended me against Gladys as a turkey, or the way you taught me today, how patient you were. The man who pulls me back from danger without hesitation. There’s kindness in you,andstrength. That’s not nothing.”

I swallowed hard, fighting against the warmth her words stirred in my chest. “You’re seeing what you want to see.”

“Am I?” She took a step closer, close enough that I could feel the heat radiating from her body. “Then show me.”

Her words hung in the air between us. I knew I should walk away, slam the door on whatever this was before it was too late. But something in her eyes held me there, rooted to the spot.

“Show you what?”

“Show me who you really are. Not the mask you wear, not the walls you’ve built. Show me the man underneath all that.”

There it was again. She stood before me, offering me something I’d convinced myself I could never have.

Making me think I had a chance in hell. “Sweetheart, you don’t know who you’re dealing with here. I’m not a good man.”

“I’m not afraid of you.”

A dark chuckle rumbled from my chest. “Maybe you should be.”

Chapter Nine

MINA

I know exactly whathe’s doing. Rory is trying to push me away again, thinking he’s protecting me from him. But every time he does, it only pulls me closer. He wants to keep me at arm’s length, but I know sparks when I feel them. Maybe I’m imagining it, projecting my own desires onto him, but there’s no denying the fire that ignites between us. It’s a magnetic pull that I can’t ignore. And I won’t let him ignore it either.

“I know what I’m asking.”

“You want to see the real me?” Rory growled. “Fine.”

Before I could blink, he yanked me against him, one hand fisting in my hair. He jerked my head back, forcing me to meet his gaze. “This is who I am,” he said roughly. “A man who wants things he shouldn’t. Who can’t stop chasing what’s off-limits.”

My breath hitched, but I didn’t pull away. Instead, I pressed closer, my hand coming to rest on his chest. “Is this about me?”

“Yeah, you did this,” Rory growled, his free hand guiding mine to his crotch. He was hard and thick, straining against his jeans. The fall chill bit my skin, but the heat from him made me dizzy. “This is allyou.”

My breath came in shallow bursts. His eyes were dark, almost feral, and I could see the war raging behind them. He wanted me as much as I wanted him. My fingers curled around him, tentative at first. A shock of something electric shot through me, and I bit my lower lip. God, thefeelof him.

A guttural groan rumbled from Rory’s lips as I gripped him tighter.

I’d been walking a dangerous line ever since he saved me from falling to my death. There was always that underlying tension, that unspoken thing between us. But I’d convinced myself it was one-sided. That I was imagining things again.

Now, with him pressing hard against my hand, I knew how wrong I was.

Rory’s hand yanked mine away from his crotch, and for a fleeting moment, I panicked, thinking it was over. That he’d regretted it all. But then, in one fluid motion, he shoved me against the rough bark of a nearby tree, wedging his muscular thigh between my legs. He bent down, his mouth crashing down on mine, hungry and demanding.

My hands went to his chest, fingers splayed against the coarse fabric of his flannel shirt. I clutched at him, pulling him closer. And I whimpered, a needy sound I barely recognized as my own as his tongue swept between my parted lips. The taste of him-wild and masculine- made my head spin. One large hand cupped my breast, thumb brushing over my hardened nipple through the fabric of my shirt.

Every inch of me was on fire. I could feel the hard lines of his body, the unyielding press of his muscles. The kiss was a bruising, breathless thing, leaving me dizzy and weak-kneed. This was madness. Iwasplaying with fire, and I knew it. But some reckless part of me didn’t care. Some part of me, the part I had always denied myself before,welcomedthe burn.

“Rory,” I gasped when he finally broke the kiss. His lips moved to my neck, nipping and sucking.

“Tell me to stop,” he growled against my skin. “Tell me you don’t want this.”

But I couldn’t. God help me, I couldn’t.

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