Page 77 of Riot

“I hate it.” Saying it is easier than I thought it would be, but the way she looks at me tells me I need to clarify what I mean.

“Hate what?”

“The flowers. I don’t likeboysbuyin’ you that shit.”

Boy, because he’s sure as fuck not a man. A man would never make a woman feel so bad that he has to apologise for it.

“It doesn’t mean anything, Riot.”

“He shouldn’t be givin’ you that shit,” I grumble, and I can feel her smile as she stares at me.

“You can buy me flowers anytime you want. It’s not his fault you haven’t.”

I grab her chin, forcing her attention to me, and her eyes widen slightly. It’s not fear in them. If it was, I’d let her go immediately. It’s something more carnal, something dangerous that I should back away from. She’s not mine, and yet I have an overwhelming urge to find Jackson and slit his fucking throat for trying to make a move on her.

“Riot…” she whispers my name.

“I’ll buy you flowers every fuckin’ day if you want them. I’ll fuckin’ hand pick them and deliver them to you, but that cunt does not do that again.”

“I can’t control him.”

I loosen my grip, leaning in, every pump of my heart urging me to seize what I want. Her mouth begs for my attention, those plump lips pleading for me to taste them.

Fuck.

What am I doing?

There’s a line ahead of us that I’m more tempted than I’ve ever been to cross. If my mind was rational, I’d pull back, make an excuse, and leave the room, but I’m balanced on a knife’s edge, and I won’t yield room for that prick to take what I want.

“If he touches you, I’ll rip his dick off and feed it to him.” The warning isn’t a joke.

Her brow arches, and she turns, placing Seren in the cot at the side of her. “Very descriptive, but hewon’t. He knows I’m not interested. You don’t have to be the protective big brother. I can handle myself.”

It feels as if she’s tossed an ice-cold bucket of water over my head. My hand slides around her nape, lightly holding her captive. She can pull away if she chooses, but she doesn’t. “Trust me, I’m not tryin’ to be your big brother.”

Her eyes widen, and the heat between us grows.

“Jackson’s not a threat,” she says quietly.

I won’t allow him to become one. I’m already plotting how to end his fucking miserable existence because the thought of Ivy with him makes me want to burn this entire city to ashes.

My fingers flex on her nape. Before I can consider the ramifications of what I’m about to do, I crush my mouth to hers.

FIFTEEN

IVY

He claimsmy mouth with a desperation that leaves my body singing. Sparks crackle through my veins, my brain short-circuiting as every thought disappears beneath the only one that matters.

Riot is fucking kissing me.

He’s kissing me.

There’s nothing soft about how he takes me. It’s desperate, the kind of possession that leaves fingerprints on your skin and marks on your heart. The frantic need pulsing from him has my vision spinning and my heart hammering.

I moan against his mouth, melting into him as he takes everything and leaves more behind.

Everything tunnels to this moment, to him, to what it means to have him kiss me like I’m the air in his lungs.

---