Page 25 of Ramsey & Emerson

Ramsey was beyond livid. “Do not fuck with me, Emerson!” he thundered. “What the fuck are you doing here?!”

“Ram, dude,” Liam intervened. “Why don’t you take her-” Liam didn’t get to finish.

Before I knew it, Ramsey was hauling me up out of the chair, then dragging me across the dance floor. I looked back and saw Liam and Deketaking a seat with Roselyn, none of them following us to ensure that we didn’t kill each other. Or rather, to make sure that Ramsey didn’t kill me.

Ramsey dragged me through the club and past the restrooms to an open alcove that led to some storage room or offices, I wasn’t sure. He threw me into the nook of the wall, caging me in between his arms with my back against the wall. His large frame hid me from everything and everyone else in the club, but I wouldn’t necessarily claim privacy for this.

“Tell me why?” he demanded.

“Why, what?” I asked, glowering up at him.

“I honestly didn’t expect you to show up at the party, Emerson. I had hoped, but deep down, I knew that you would defy me,” he told me honestly. “But why did you comehere?Whyhereof all places?”

I could admit that I didn’t fully understand his tone. I’d known that it was going to irritate him that I hadn’t followed his command to attend the party, but what did he care if I came to a club? “What’s wrong with this club?”

“Why did you come here?!” he roared, and I knew that he must be holding on by a thread.

I straightened my back. “Roselyn suggested it,” I snapped back.

His brows shot straight up. “Roselyn wanted to bring youhere?”he asked incredulously.

I bit my bottom lip as I shrugged a shoulder. “Well, not here,specifically, I don’t think,” I caved and explained. I didn’t care what Ramsey thought of me, but I didn’t want him causing any problems for Roselyn. “There’s a guy she sees, and I think they meet up here some-”

“So, you’re not here to hook up with anyone?”

“What?”

What the hell was he talking about?

“Have you been with anyone else?” he asked, his jaw ticking in the worst way, and it finally dawned on me that Ramsey thought that I was here to pick up some dick.

The wise thing would have been to say no. The wise thing would have been to swallow my pride and just admit that I wanted him. The wise thing would have been to just give in and work this dangerous attraction out of our systems.

However, did I do the wise thing?

Uh, that would be a big, fat NO.

“That’s none of your business,” I spewed instead.

The next thing that I knew, his hand was holding my jaw, and he was squeezing until I thought it was going to pop out of place. “That’s where you’re wrong, Emerson,” he said, looming over me. “It’svery muchmy business.You’remy business, and I already told you not to test me when it comes to you and other guys.”

I couldn’t speak because of the hold that he had on my jaw, so I just stared him down until he released my face. His touch was bound to leave some bruising, and it was disturbing how much that didn’t bother me, because that would bother most normal girls.

“You’re not my boyfriend, Ramsey,” I reminded him. “That means that I can touch, kiss, or fuck whoever I want.”

After a few seconds of silence, Ramsey punched the wall next to my head, and it took everything that I had to stand there and trust that he would limit his violence to the club’s structure. He didn’t stop until his hand was a right bloody mess, and that’s when he finally stepped away from me.

With his chest heaving, his eyes blazing, and his hate palpable, he asked, “Do you really want me to leave you alone, Emerson?”

I blinked in surprise at his question. His voice sounded like he was in complete control and in complete contrast to his physical demeanor. I wanted to say no. I wanted to tell him that I didn’t want him to ever leave me alone, but this was a game. This was a game to him, and I would not go down without a fight.

I couldn’t afford to.

So, instead, I said, “Yes.”

Ramsey nodded his head once, then demanded, “Say the words, Emerson.”

Suddenly, my mouth was dry, and my throat didn’t seem to want to work. Though it took a bit of effort, I finally got my lips to work. “I want you to leave me alone, Ramsey.”

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