Page 57 of Reckless Pawn

Which didn't exactly work because his limbs shook like a weak kitten as their heat melded them together.

"Fuck, princess. I need you so bad," he groaned, burying his face in the silky depths of her hair as he flicked open the button of his jeans, unzipped and freed his cock.

Rock hard and dying to be inside her, he could barely think straight. The anticipation of thrusting into her sweet, tight cunt struck him nearly blind and dumb.

He fisted himself and pressed toward her opening. Warmth spread through his chest as the confusion and wonder he felt for her took over, binding them together even more.

"Say my name again, princess. Tell the world who you belong to." Despite the feeling he would die without the sensation of her wrapped around him, he hesitated—waiting.

"Hou-ston."

That's when it happened. Reality or something like it snapped in his mind. Hearing his name on a broken cry brought everything rushing back into his brain. He pulled back, stumbling a step or two and stared at Izzy shoved against a tree.

A rough, dirty tree.

God Fucking Damn.

What had he done?

He looked around and remembered where exactly they were. Maybe fifty yards from a public parking lot on a trail that led to a popular stop for road travelers. He grabbed his head and pushed his hands through his hair. Didn't matter that it was five o'clock in the morning with not another soul in sight.

What the hell had he been thinking? This was Izzy. His perfect, beautiful and sweet Izzy. Not some club whore he could do with as he pleased.

She was fucking fragile. She was damaged…

"What the hell?" Izzy turned around and pressed her back into the tree, her skirt falling back around her hips.

Houston squeezed his eyes shut and refused to look. He couldn't bear the thought of seeing the much deserved disgust for him across her face. That same disgust for himself was already ripping through his insides and shredding his guts.

She had to be in agony. He'd been rough and angry and only focused on teaching her a lesson in which man she belonged to.

He was no better than the man who had kidnapped her.

"Houston," she repeated.

He opened his eyes to see her coming towards him, her face flushed pink in the barely there morning light filtering through the trees.

When she got close enough to reach out to him he couldn't take it anymore. "Stop," he said, holding up his hands. "Don't touch me. Just give me a minute."

He shut his eyes against the information spinning in his head as he tried to make sense of it. Unfortunately, it wasn’t easy as the memories of his bad decisions the night his mother died mixed with his bad decisions today.

Her head jerked up, confusion written all over her face. When he didn't say anything more the softness of her expression gave way to something ugly. Disgust maybe. Probably shame. He could almost see her heart breaking with every passing second when she finally realized what he'd done.

"Jesus Christ, Izzy. I don't know what got into me. I am so sorry. Fuck. I can't believe I did that to you."

Her eyes widened as he tried to think of something to say—anything to make it okay. But no words could take away the pain he just caused the woman his heart ached for.

"Why are you apologizing? What's wrong?" She reached for his hand and he jerked it away.

"I'm what's wrong. I'm so fucked up I can't see straight. Dammit. Izzy." He had to fix this. He'd had no business taking her away from the club compound and even less business taking her somewhere this intimate. He didn't want to admit to her that he'd lost his mind the minute she brought up Axel. It had reminded him of his mother and JD and the fucked-up relationship that resulted from their connection.

His stomach churned. He definitely had no business being this alone with Izzy. And of course he had no one to blame but himself.

He rubbed a hand across his eyes. “Are you—did I hurt you? That shouldn’t have happened. You’re still—"

She stared at him, eyes narrowing. "I have no idea what you're talking about. Are you actually saying what just happened was some kind of mistake?"

“Shit, not a—no, it shouldn’t have happened. I didn’t bring you out here for this.”

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