Page 35 of Desperate Actions

The car jerks, coming to an abrupt halt, the air between us electric, volatile, dangerous.

I go rigid, frozen solid.

Did I just make the biggest mistake of my life?

Chapter 9-Sammy

Avirgin.

A fucking virgin.

As if this woman couldn’t be any more perfect—then she goes and tells me she’s been saving herself for me.

For me.

There’s a desperate, dark part of me that wants to howl to the moon like an unhinged beast, to stake my claim right here, right now, to make damn sure she never questions who she belongs to again.

But I can’t go there.

Not yet.

Not when I have a woman to claim.

My woman.

So instead, I press the button and growl the order.

“Stop the fucking limo.”

She goes still, her face falling like I just ripped the ground out from under her.

Fuck.

I see it.

The way her shoulders drop.

The way her hands clench in her lap like she’s trying to brace for rejection.

Like she thinks I don’t want her.

Like she doesn’t understand that I am two seconds away from losing my goddamn mind over her.

I don’t know how to tell her that.

I can’t let her see how mad I am for her.

Not yet.

So I use the time it takes the driver to pull into a space to gather my thoughts.

When the limo comes to a halt, I don’t even wait for him to step out and open the door.

I jump out first, turning back to her, hand extended.

For a beat, she just stares at it, sucking in a sharp, uneven breath.

Something flickers across her face—relief, maybe?

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