Page 55 of Reckless Pawn

"That's why I've asked Axel to teach me how to fight. It's high time I start learning how to take care of myself. I can't be protected by the club all the time. I'm also not staying there forever. Don't you see that?"

His thought processes momentarily fizzled and his brain lurched into overdrive at the mention of Axel. He could see Izzy asking him and his "friend" agreeing readily. Izzy was just his type.

Beautiful. Curvy. And very sweet.

Except she wasn't for Axel. She. Was. His.

"You don't need to go to Axel for that or anything else. I can provide whatever you need."

Instead of the grateful smile he expected, Izzy rolled her eyes.

Frustration exploded in his head. His hotheaded Italian princess was going to press every one of his buttons tonight or this morning or whatever the hell time of day it was. He was having trouble keeping track. He was functioning on a dangerous lack of sleep.

"Look, Houston. I've kind of had enough of people telling me what I can and cannot do. You might want to wrap me up in some sort of safe cocoon, but it's not going to happen." She glared up at him, eyes flashing. "I lived my whole life that way. I may be slightly safer on the Wrath compound, but that doesn't change the fact Ineedmy freedom. I want my own life. So if that means I need to learn to protect myself, then that's what I'm going to do and you can't stop that."

Houston growled in response to the anger in the words she flung at him. She wanted to fight? He growled again.

"Not with Axel."

Izzy sighed and tossed up her hands and then slapped them down on her thighs in some sort of dramatic show. "Please tell me you aren't pulling some crazy jealousy card right now. There is nothing going on between me and Axel. I mean…not really."

Not really.

Those two words pinged and ricocheted through his thoughts in a dangerous pattern.

He clenched his fists at his side and counted to ten in his head. He was beginning to think coming out here was a bad idea. They were alone in the middle of nowhere. He was pissed off, tired,andhorny. And he knew he could have her naked and under him in seconds. Did he really have to prove that?

"Whatexactlydoes 'not really' mean?" he asked.

She crossed her arms over her chest and glared at him a moment before she finally answered. "It means I have considered every possible scenario for my future while sitting alone in that tiny cabin.Alone. Try to remember that. So it shouldn't be that big of a surprise to learn that one of those scenarios included becoming an old lady."

"You have got to be kidding me." He grit out through a clenched jaw.

"What the hell was I supposed to do? We were over! You left me."

"We were not over. You were fucking taken away from me before we had a chance to get started."

She must have thought they were done with this conversation because she turned and started walking away. That pissed him off more. He charged after her, wrapping his arms around her waist and pushed her towards the closest tree.

Izzy braced her hands against the bark and struggled against him. He ignored it all, pressing his lips to her ear so she could hear his strangled whisper. "We are not over. I don't know how or even why, but we might never be over."

To his surprise she didn't fight him as he held her with his arms. Their body heat melded together and his need for her grew urgent. "You're driving me crazy, Izzy. For only the second time in my life, I don't know how to handle this situation." He buried his nose in her hair and inhaled deep. He should have been over her by now.

Except he wasn't and even worse he was addicted.

"I was alone," she whispered.

He cringed against her continued accusation. "Babe, you gotta start listening. I made a deal for your life." Then because he couldn't stop touching her, he trailed his hand down her stomach to the edge of her short skirt until his fingers met silky smooth skin.

She gasped. "I don't want to be a part of any deal you make ever again. I'm not a bargaining chip, Houston. I'm a person. With feelings."

"I'm afraid it's too late for that. You already struck one yourself with the club. They aren't going to let you out of that and even I can't stop them. Not if there's a chance we can find that girl."

"Not what I mean." She whimpered when he began stroking the inside of her thigh. "Houston."

He knew what she meant and didn't really care at the moment. Not with the harsh sound of her labored breathing filling his head. His one-track mind now had an entirely different focus.

"I'm not leaving you again. I swear it. That shit's over. It's you and me from now on." He slid his hand farther until it reached the edge of her lacy underwear. At this point, the rational side of his brain was telling him to back off. Reminding him that she still needed space. Not that he was listening.

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