Page 71 of Hellbent
A creak of the couch. The sound of boots on hardwood. And then—
Ryder’s hand closes over my arm, yanking me back around. He towers over me, shoulders blocking out the room behind him.
Something flashes in his dark eyes, but it’s something softer than I’ve seen before.
“Will you just sit down, please?” He gestures to the living room, waiting for me to follow.
I try to yank my arm free, but his grip tightens.
“Let me go!” I snap, my voice high and sharp.
“Stop acting like a child,” he hisses.
Oh,a child, is it?
That’s exactly what they want me to feel like. Small and ashamed.
I hold Ryder’s gaze, pulse hammering, as spite coils in my stomach.
I tilt my head, my lips curling into something almost sweet. “Why don’t you just spank me and get it over with already?”
The shift in the air is instant.
Ryder’s expression goes ice cold.
“Say that again,” he says, low and lethal.
My breath locks up. The fight in me evaporates in an instant.
Angry Ryder is terrifying.
He takes a slow step closer. “You think this is a fucking joke?”
His voice is smooth. Controlled. Deceptively calm. And still terrifying.
I keep my chin high, but my legs feel unsteady.
We stare at each other, the weight between us thick and suffocating, but it’s Ryder who breaks the moment, letting go of my arm and turning away.
“Get her out of here,” he says to Wyatt.
Wyatt stands, walking toward me, giving Ryder a brief clap on the shoulder before tilting his head toward the door. “C’mon, you hellcat. Get in the truck.”
For the first time all day, there’s the tiniest trace of warmth in his voice.
I let out a sharp breath. “Oh, I don’t have to walk?” I bite out.
Wyatt doesn’t respond. He walks outside and unlocks the truck without a word.
I follow him and get in.
We drive back to the garage in silence while I stare out the window, my pulse still hammering, my skin still hot from the fight. My thoughts should be racing, but they aren’t.
They settle on one thing.
I can stay?
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
