Page 83 of Worth Every Moment
“You’re right,” I admit. “This hasn’t been a friendship since the night at the gallery. When we argued. I should probably never have spoken to you again. It was over.”
“Over? What the fuck are you talking about?” he growls, frustration thrumming in his voice. “Friendships don’t end because you have one argument.”
I tear at my hair, barely able to think straight. “It wasn’t the argument. It was you… you… your tongue…insideme. It broke us. It was… it was—”
“It was what?”
“Wrong. It was wrong.”
Fury flashes over his face, and he gets out of his chair and rounds the table towards me. I back away, but he follows, and the full force of him crossing the room, so much power in every step, steals my breath. My arms flail, trying to wave him off, keep him at a distance, but he grips my wrists, one in each hand, in a movement so precise it’s like he’s been trained to do exactly that. To pin me down. Restrain me. My back arches, my breasts press towards him, our mouths dangerously close. He’s never touched me like this, not once. He’s been gentle, sweet, considerate,always. But the man before me now looks none of those things. He’s every inch the predator, and in the back of my mind, I know I’ve pushed him somewhere new.Somewhere dangerous.As his grip tightens on my wrists, the anger in my blood turns hotter, and beneath it, there’s something fierce I don’t want to name. The same thing that drove me to his bedroom in the first place…
His chest heaves, the warmth of his breath gusting against my cheeks. “Admit it,” he whispers, almost panting.
Arousal coils through me, my pussy swelling between my thighs.Pulsing. “Admit what?” I say, barely a whisper.
“That this isn’t fake.”
“It is. Itisfake.”
“I never took you for a liar, Erica Lefroy.” The way he says my full name chills my blood, and yet it turns me on even more. “Admit that you want me to lay you down on those sheets and fuck you until you scream my name. That you thought about it earlier today. That when I was talking to you over the phone, you were imagining me being there with you. Touching you. My hands. My tongue. All over you. My mouth on your clit. My cock inside you.” A potent ball of heat burnsdown there, like I’ve shoved a hot coal inside my pussy. I’m going to burn from the inside out. He’s hit a bulls-eye, and whatever he glimpses in my reaction confirms it, because he leans a little closer and whispers, “Do you want me to fill your needy little cunt, Erica?”
“No. No,” I murmur, my voice so weak there’s no chance of convincing anyone. I collect myself, and when I say, “No,” a final time, it sounds strong. It sounds like it really meansno.
But it doesn’t fool Seb. Not for a second. “Stop lying. There’s no point. You’ve already given yourself away.”
Arrogant arsehole.The heat of arousal that was licking my insides transforms to a rageful blaze. It’s no longer just my pussy that’s burning, but my entire body, and I’m pinned to a stake in the middle of a bonfire of Seb’s making. It’s violent, but I’m powerless against him. He’s so much stronger than I am.He could do anything with me. To me.And part of me wants him to do it; wants him to push this until I break. “Don’t you dare assume you know what I want. Don’t be this guy,” I spit. “Not with me.”
He raises a brow, stiffening ever so slightly. “What guy?”
“The one who says a few dirty words and expects a woman to get naked. This isn’t you.”
His voice is low and soft like velvet when he says, “How do you know?”
I shake my head.I don’t know. This isn’t the version of him that’s mine. This one belongs to someone else, andGod,that voice makes me want it, want him,every version of him, but I won’t allow it. This isn’t what I do. This isn’tErica Lefroy. But why I am clinging to a version of myself I’ve been trying to shed? I don’t know what’s going on here; all I know is that who we’re being in this moment isn’t who we’ve always been and the abruptness of the change is terrifying. “This isn’tus.”
“Us? What us? I’m confused, because you already got naked, and I didn’t have to say a word. I’m just asking to be there in person next time.”
The sincerity in his expression makes my heart thrum even faster as something close to panic squirms beneath my skin. I snatch my wrists from him, and he lets go but holds me captivewith his gaze. I want to break eye contact, but I force myself not to. “You’d happily ruin this friendship just so you could get your dick wet? That is just soyou.” My voice drips with disgust, concealing the panic that I’m going to lose my friend. Already lost him, probably.
A muscle pops in his jaw like he’s clenching his teeth, holding back a tidal wave of frustration that snuffs out the sincerity. His voice is a low, unforgiving rumble. “I know what you’re doing, and I’m going to call you on your bullshit, Lefroy.”
Unable to help myself, I snarl at him. “What? What am I doing?”
“You’re giving me Ice Queen because you’re frightened.”
“I am notfrightened. You don’t scare me.”
“I don’t mean me. I mean you. That for whatever reason, you’re scared of what you want. Scared of your own desire. Every time something happens between us, you run away. You’re—”
“Don’t psychoanalyse me. If I want that, I’ll pay for it.”
“Maybe you should.”
I gasp. That fucking bastard. I’m so shocked that I don’t respond, standing mute as we stare at one another, heaving breaths that reveal just how much this means to both of us.
“You have me in your bathroom. On the wall.” The words snap out like an accusation.
He rakes a hand through his hair until he’s cupping the back of his neck and bitterness laces his words. “The bedroom wasn’t enough? You had to go in there too?”
