Page 42 of Bully

“Why do you care?”

Scoffing, I let my built-up anger seep out of my lips. “Because you forced your way into my life! You bought the Den and then demanded that I play a role in your reopening. You demand, demand, demand, demand, until I have no choice but to comply! And when I don’t, you threaten me and those that I work with to get what you want. You’re like a spoiled little brat with all the money and power in the world to make everyone bend to your will! And the other night was a perfect example of how far you’ll take things to serve yourself!”

He watched me with those piercing blue eyes for a while before he finally blinked and broke the silence. “I won’t apologize for sleeping with you. You were for hire, and I hired you. Paid bloody damn well for your time, too.” He started and my mouth fell open at how out of touch he was when he held his hand up to silence me before continuing. “But I shouldn’t have hidden my identity from you to do it.”

I snapped my mouth shut so hard my teeth clanked, and I fell back into my back rest. “No. You shouldn’t have.”

“Trust should be something you always have with your clients. And I broke that by lying.”

“You did.” I deflated even more, shocked by his admissions. Wasn’t that all I wanted from him all week long? Validation that what he did and how he did it was wrong?

Then why the hell did it feel lacking now that I had it?

Still holding my stare, he rested both elbows on the table and tilted his head to the side. “But like I said, I won’t apologize for finally breaking that tension between us and pushing us both into ecstasy. Because I haven’t felt that kind of high in years,” His pupils dilated until the blue was a thin line around the black inky depths. “And I’m guessing by the marks in my flesh that still burn when I think of you, that it was just as different for you. Despite whoever you let touch you after me.”

“I didn’t.” I shook my head slowly, letting the alcohol rule my lips instead of my brain. “No one has touched me since. Not since I met you.” He growled, the darkness of it matched everything about him I knew so far. “Show me.”

“What?”

“The marks I left on you.” I swallowed, “Show them to me.” He leaned back in his chair, tempted but unconvinced. “Please, Tamen.”

“Fuck it.” He hissed, giving in to my pleas, and pulled me to my feet before dragging me through the crowded party scene at a breakneck pace.

I had provoked the bear, and I knew what was about to happen, even though I was buzzing like a light socket and high on the sexual chemistry of being in Tamen’s presence all night long.

There was no turning back for me. No stopping it. No changing my mind.

I wanted whatever I was about to get.

Tamen shoved his way through the bar and out the exit without a word spoken, and when we made it to the dark parking lot, I could think of nothing more than the need burning inside of me.

This should have been how our first time together went. It should have been raw and rushed, hungry and angsty, ruled by need and excluding thought.

This was us.

“Come here.” His husky voice cut through the darkness as he spun me around and pushed my back against a dropped ladder from a fire escape in a dark alley. There was an old outdoor light behind me, giving him an ethereal glow that highlighted the sharp angles of his features. “You want to see my scars, Rainbow?”

“Only the ones I gave you.” I panted as he caged me in, pressing the front of his body against mine.

“Do you think I have any others?” I could make out the glow of his smirk in the darkness as he lurked over me.

“Dozens.” I whispered as he took my hand in his and slid it under his shirt to his hard abdomen and I let my fingers trail over the ridges of his abs. “You’re the kind of guy that doesn’t go through life without getting marked by it.”

He chuckled and then reached up behind his head and pulled his long sleeve sweater off over his head, revealing his upper body to my eyes. Immediately, I soaked in every defined muscle in his shoulders and thick arms, down to the veins that protruded under the thick black ink that covered every inch.

“Here, Rainbow.” He guided my hand to his side, curling my fingers into claws as he ran them over the raised scrapes that were healing. My heart felt like it was going to explode in anticipation as he flattened my palm against his stomach and rubbed it up to his strong, defined chest. “And here.” I dug my nails in over the marks that I could just barely feel under my fingertips.

“Damn.” I licked my lips, and his eyes fell to them as I leaned forward and ran my tongue over one particularly deep gash, running straight to his nipple and bit it. His fingers buried themselves into my hair, tightening, and we both groaned. “This is how it should have been, Tamen.”

“I know.” He growled, tipping my head back with the hand in my hair, and his lips hovered right over mine. “I know.” He hadn’t kissed me before. The man had fucked me and ate my pussy like a sweet, delicious treat, but he had never kissed me. For some reason, I hesitated to lean in for it too, because it felt personal. And I wasn’t sure I was ready to be that personal with him. Finally, he moved my hand to the center of his chest and pressed my forefinger over a scar that was deeper than the others, more raised and tactile.

Jesus. It was from the cut I gave him with his knife that first night in a dark parking lot. His display of all the places I’d branded him left me soaked and aching.

“Thank me for them.” I purred, repeating a phrase so similar to the one he demanded of me when I was unaware of his identity at the event. “Thank me for leaving my mark on you.”

I didn’t think he would, in fact, I was sure he’d throw some power move over me to regain control of the situation.

His hot breath tickled my lips as his fingers expertly pulled the button on my jeans apart and slid the zipper down, all the while his eyes stayed locked on mine. My heart raced as he slipped both hands in at the sides of my jeans and pushed them and my panties down while he whispered, “Thank you, Rainbow.” I didn’t breathe as he pushed my pants to my ankles and off one foot before gently forcing me to sit back on the ladder step as he slowly sank to his knees in front of me. “Thank you so much for branding me with your touch.”

---