Page 49 of Now Streaming

But that wasn’t fair. Especially after everything she had been through before they had met, after everything that fuckhead Alex had done. Hayden found that if she didn’t want to stay, he wasn’t going to try to change her mind. Her last lover had taken a lot of choices away from her. Hayden could at least give her this.

The elevator dinged, and they were suddenly there, on their floor, the promised security guard seated in the lobby area, nodding at them before he went back to his newspaper. Hayden followed Min down the hall toward their rooms, the walk feeling both too long and too short at the same time. Once there, she froze, turning toward him but still not meeting his eyes. Her mouth opened a couple times, then closed, like she couldn’t figure out what she wanted to say. The silence, once awkward, was now deafening. Hayden couldn’t stand it anymore.

“Look, I get it. It’s been a long day, especially for you, on top of how tiring the con usually is. Plus, the final tournament is tomorrow. We both need to be on our A games. If you want to call it a night and just… well, I get it.” He couldn’t even look at her when he said it, infusing as much nonchalance into his voice as he could, all the while hating the taste of the words in his mouth even though he knew they were what she was wanting to hear. “It’s up to you.”

Her eyes were on him then, but he couldn’t figure out what she was thinking. Only that Min was holding back. She exhaled a long breath. “Okay. If that’s what you want. Can I… can I just grab my stuff from your room?”

Hayden closed his eyes and turned, unlocking his door and opening it for her. She walked in, her scent of apple and promises hitting him like a punch to the gut as she entered. He took a deep breath in spite of himself. He let the door shut behind him, leaning against it as he watched her grab her clothes, her leggings, her bag of things she had managed to save from the vandalism. It wasn’t a lot, and he was disappointed at how quickly she managed to completely erase her presence from his room.

But then he watched as she shoved everything into her bag a little too violently, the movement jagged in a way that he wasn’t expecting from her. When Hayden dared to look at her face, he found her eyes were flashing with anger. She was practically vibrating with it.What the hell?

“You’re mad.” He kept his voice neutral, not sure why she was mad, but needing any excuse to keep her here, talking to him, for even a little bit longer.

“Yeah, Hayden. To be honest I’m fucking furious.” She looked up at him then and he almost recoiled with the fire he found there, all aimed at him. He couldn’t hide his surprise.

“Why?”

“Look, if you’re not interested, I’d prefer if you’d just, you know, act not interested all the time. This hot and cold waffling, one minute pushing me away and the next treating me like I’m fucking precious—”

“Youareprecious.”

The words slipped out of him with no thought from his brain. He couldn’t have stopped them if he tried. But that clearly pissed her off even more.

“Fuck you.” She finished zipping her bag with a violent swipe and swung it over her shoulder. For a second, Hayden wondered if she was going to hit him with it.

“I’m gonna need you to walk me through this, baby, because I’m lost.”

She pointed an accusatory finger at him. “Don’t call me that. Not when you’re in the middle of kicking me out.”

A jolt of lightning went through Hayden’s body, and he jerked up, no longer leaning against the door. His heart started beating again, loudly. She could probably hear it.

“I am not kicking you out. You’re choosing to leave.” He was cautious, not wanting to get too hopeful but hell if this woman’s temper didn’t ignite him.

“After you told me to, Hayden. What do you expect me to do?”

“I didn’t tell you to leave. I gave you the option. You’re the one packing.”

“Well, fuck you, because I don’t want to leave.” She stormed up to him, barely coming to his chin even in those ridiculous heels she was wearing, and she poked him in the chest so hard he was sure there would be a bruise. In fact, he hoped there would be.

He stood straighter, looming over her, bringing himself so close he could feel her breasts against his chest. Could feel her nipples harden against him in a way that had him fighting for calm.

“Good,” he told her, his voice dropping several octaves. “I don’t want you to.”

That statement somehow seemed to let the air out of her tires, the fire leaving her eyes, replaced by confusion.

“You don’t?”

“Of course not. I just don’t want you to feel like you don’t have any options other than to stay with me. You haven’t been treated well in the past, Min. It makes me crazy to think about.” His hand came up to cup her face, and he leaned closer, inhaling her. “But I want you. I want you so bad my fucking teeth are rattling with it. If you want to leave, I’ll respect your choice. But if there’s a chance you’ll let me inside you, then, baby, I’m willing to beg.”

Hayden was close enough to watch her pupils blow wide, her gorgeous brown eyes swallowed by the darkness of desire. He could feel her breath come faster, her chest heaving against his, those fucking lips so close he wanted to drown in them.

She rattled out a breath as she ran a shaky hand through her hair. “You talk too much.”

The words were barely out of her mouth before Hayden was on her, his mouth slamming against hers, his arms wrapping around her, scooping her up against him. When Min wrapped her legs around his waist, holding him tight and hot, he was fucking lost. There was no coming back from this.

Not breaking their kiss, he walked them the few steps to the large, floor-to-ceiling window before letting her feet down on the ground, making sure to slide her down his body to torture them both. She moaned in his mouth as his tongue stroked hers. His hands slid up her body, needing to touch every part of her, frantic to memorize the shape of her. Hayden caressed her arms locked around his neck before pulling them away, pressing her wrists against the tall window behind her. The curtains were wide open, and the glass felt cool where it brushed his hands, but his entire focus was on Min as she pulled back, her eyes flaring with confusion.

“Gee, this feels familiar.” Her tone was sardonic and it had him smiling, his mouth already watering for another taste of her. Hayden couldn’t resist giving her one small peck on her nose before he grabbed her hips and spun her, quick, wanting to hear her gasp of surprise. He slid up to her hands again, setting them on the window on either side of her head, pushing her into the window with his hips.

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