Page 12 of Sins of Autumn

“You need to leave,” I repeated, my voice firmer this time, though it still wavered under the weight of his stare. I was starting to sound like a broken record, but I didn’t care.

“I’m not going anywhere. Not until we talk. You owe me that much.”

I couldn’t do this. I wasn’t ready. I didn’t want to. I’d blocked him for a reason. God, I wanted him close as much as I wanted to put his beautiful face through a wall. Is this what they meant by there was a thin line between love and hate? Did it apply when you were trying to force yourself to stand on one side of it?

“I owe you?” My voice cracked. “I’ve given more than enough, and it wasn’t—.”

He was suddenly right in front of me, his arms pulling me in before I could stop him. His warmth, his scent, it hit me all at once, like a battering ram on the resolve I was clinging to.

“Get off me.” I pushed against his chest, but it was useless. He didn’t budge like he had before.

“Calm down.” He spun me around, pressing my back against his front.

He carried me to the bed like I weighed nothing and sat down, pulling me with him until I was perched on his lap, my robe rising up. My pulse raced, my breath shallow as his hands gripped my hips, keeping me in place.

“Wilder,” I ground out, my voice shaking with frustration and nerves.

“Mint,” he countered playfully. “We’re going to talk.” He moved some of my hair aside and brushed his lips over my shoulder blade. “I’ve missed you. Missed us.”

“And all the bitches in your phone seem to have been missing you too.”

I felt his lips curve into a smile. “Right. That’s what I wanted to talk about.”

I stiffened instantly, my body going rigid. “I don’t want to talk about them,” I snapped, fighting against his hold. “Let go of me!”

He ignored my struggles and held onto me with ease. “Do you honestly think I would cheat on you? Riskus? Risk you?”

His hand pressed firmly over my mouth, silencing my next tirade of protests. My chest heaved in a way that made my pulse hammer in my ears.

“I never would have touched Hughes if I’d known I would one day have you. The thing with her can’t even come close to what you are to me. She is nothing. You’reeverything.”

At the mention of Amber, a fresh surge of fury bubbled up inside me. I jerked my arm, trying to free myself, aiming to elbow him, but his grip only tightened, pinning me more firmly against him.

“None of that,” he chided. His lips brushed against my neck this time. “I know you’re angry. I know you’re hurting. That is the last thing I ever wanted. We’re going to have to work through this together until you’re better because, above all else, you’re mine.”

My anger flared again, but so did the traitorous ache inside me, the one I hated for being there at all.

The way he claimed me without hesitation left me feeling maddeningly conflicted.

“You don’t get to fix this by sweet-talking me,” I seethed against his hand, my voice muffled but no less defiant.

“Of course not.” His lips grazed the curve of my neck again. “I’m going to show you exactly how committed to you I am.” He pressed a kiss just below my ear. “But first,” he continued, his hold on my mouth loosening just enough to let me speak clearly, “tell me how much you miss me.”

“Go to hell.”

He laughed as if I’d said exactly what he wanted to hear. “Only if you come with me,” he countered, his grip tightening on my hip.

“I haven’t missed a damn thing.”

“Lying to me will you get fucked until you forget what you just lied about,” he teased. In one swift, fluid motion, he shifted his weight, pushing me flat onto my back.

His body covered mine instantly, a wall of heat and power pinning me down. “Why don’t we start with the fact that you’ve been crying yourself to sleep?” His tone shifted to something dangerously intimate. “You’re barely eating. And those fingers you’ve gotten so acquainted with?” His lips hovered just above mine, his breath warm against my skin. “A pitiful imitation of what I give you. No matter how hard you ride them, they’ll never be me.”

How did he know any of that?

“That’s not--.”

He cut me off by sealing his mouth over mine. The kiss was hot, and demanding, a collision of dominance and unrestrained need. His tongue slipped past my lips, claiming me in a way that left no room for argument.

---