Page 56 of Cody

Chapter 27

Cody

I knew why Max had dragged Alina to the dance floor, why he’d pulled her too damned close and wrapped his arms around her. I knew why he’d kissed and fondled her in front of me. Becausehe knewI’d been watching. He was making a point. And knowing all of that, I still decked him.

I purposely held back because he was a brother, and I loved him, but I still wanted the satisfaction of hitting him for daring to touch Alina. His point had been received loud and clear, and I’d reacted like a jealous boyfriend before I’d had a chance to think of what my response would reveal.

To everyone.

I no longer cared.

Ignoring the shocked look on her face, ignoring the disbelief in her voice as she demanded to know what I was doing, I snatched up Alina’s small hand and pulled her behind me to fuck knows where. I had no destination in mind as I stomped through the room toward the entrance door. Thank God it was dark outside, because the way I was feeling I was going to make a scene. My blood had reached a boiling point when I’d seen Max grab her ass and plant a kiss full on her lips.

I needed to erase that image from my mind, but first I needed to set some things straight.

It was time I manned up.

“Cody,” Alina said breathlessly as I pivoted around the corner of the hall and we moved away from the lighting. “What are you doing?”

Deciding we’d gone far enough away from the crowd, I pushed her up against the building wall and held her there by curling a hand against her throat. We were both panting with emotion now, and I imagined Alina was a little frightened by my sudden move. It wasn’t painful, just enough pressure to show her that I wasn’t fooling around and she wasn’t going anywhere.

“Why don’t you tell me whatyou’redoing?” I rasped the words close to her face. “Did you move on to Max? Is that it? Are you fucking him now?” Hell, I already knew the answers to that, but I couldn’t get the image of them together out of my head.

Her eyes rounded before she made a sound that was a mix of laughter and a snort. “No! Max and I are friends!”

I tilted my head and raised a brow. “Like we are?”

She knew exactly what I meant. Her hands came up to wrap around my arm, which told me that I’d tightened my grip around her throat. I let up a little. Hurting her was the last thing I wanted.

She released a sigh of resignation. “He’s not a friend with benefits, Cody. But then, neither are we.”

“Then why was he all over you?”

She scoffed, not the least bit of concern in her voice. “I think you know the answer to that.”

I clenched my jaw. Fuck, I wanted her, and I was no longer confused abouthow.Putting it into words, however, admitting it out loud, would seal my fate. I held back, years of staying in the same commitment-free box taunting me to stay there.

What the hell was I so afraid of?

“What are you doing, Cody?”

It was as if she knew what I was thinking. Keeping my hand around her throat, I leaned in close. “I’m claiming my woman,” I said simply against her lips before kissing her. I kept it soft, tentative, content to run my lips lightly over hers before taking her lower lip between my teeth. She was so soft. So sweet. Her soft whimper of need fueled my arousal, and my dick punched forward.

She wasn’t fighting me, and yet her hands flattened against my chest as she pushed me away. “Your woman? Like your other women?”

I didn’t blame her for pushing me away. I’d expected her protest. But what I hadn’t been ready for was the confusion that laced her soft words or the hurt I saw in her eyes. Thanks to the move Max had made on her inside, I realized that it was time to get my head out of my ass. “Not my other women Alina. Just you,” I clarified. “I want you.”

I could see in her eyes that she still didn’t believe me. “For now. Tonight. Because I’m available. Tomorrow it will be someone else.”

I shook my head. “No, baby.”

“Don’t call me baby!” she hissed. I could feel her little body stiffen with anger.

She’s said that to me once before, and I finally understood now what I hadn’t then. She was under the impression that “baby” was a meaningless term that I used on the women I was involved with, and it didn’t mean anything. I shook my head. “You’re the only woman I’ve called ‘baby’ in recent history.” It was the truth. For me, calling a woman “baby” or “babe” implied that I had feelings for her. I’d known the first time I’d slipped up and called Alina that that she was going to be different, that she was going to mean something different to me.

Her mouth opened with surprise, and I knew that she was going to have more questions, but I wasn’t in the mood to answer them. Not right then. I swooped in and effectively shut her up by slamming my mouth down on hers. I felt the slight stiffening of her body but ignored it, determined to make her accept what was happening.

When her submission finally happened, we melted into each other in a series of moans, lost in a hot kiss that revealed more than words ever could. I tried but failed to curtail my roughness, but a week without Alina had felt like a lifetime. I was hungry for her, and she was so responsive. She opened her mouth, drawing my tongue inside, and that ignited a fire in my blood that threatened to consume us both. Suddenly we couldn’t get close enough.

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