Cali snatches up a pan to dry it. “Sawyer is bipolar as fuck. Miles thinks he’s my fucking knight in shining armor. And you…obsess over dishes and laundry?”
I grip the sponge so hard it flattens completely in my hand. I didn’t realize she was paying attention when I folded.
Cali gives a small shake of her head, twisting the towel in her hands. “I expected worse, honestly.”
It floors me for a second. I fully expected her to make fun of me. Mock me. Throw some fire in my face about how fucked up I am.
But she doesn’t. She just throws the towel on the counter. “I’m going to bed.”
For a second, I feel something like respect for her. I don’t unfreeze until I see her heading down the hall toward my room.
My dick jumps at the thought of having her in my bed again. That absolutely cannot happen. I can’t get involved. I can’t.
“Get your own room,” I growl at her.
Cali stops. “Weiner is in there, so that’s where I’m going to be.”
I switch immediately from respect to lust. Oh, this insolent fuck. Christ, if I don’t want to wrap my hand around her pretty throat and choke her until she changes her little tune. I growl, “I’ll throw him and you out.”
Cali turns back, and I catch a sly look. “You’re scared of him. I don’t think you will.”
She turns on her heel and stalks out.
Heat flares under my skin. She noticed that too? So she wants to fuck around and find out? I’ll play her game. I’ll play Sawyer’s game. Fuck it, game on.
I march after her down the hall, and Cali slams the door right before I get there.
Oh, hell no.
I rip the door open. Cali is stripping off her shirt, exposing her small, feminine back. She doesn’t even look back at me. She pulls her pants down and steps out of them as she walks out of them, completely naked, toward my bed.
I’m frozen, drinking in her beautiful body. If possible, my skin gets hotter. She’s so much smaller and softer than my men, and it makes me so hard it’s uncomfortable. Her ass is perky and sways with every step she takes. I want to put my handprints all over it. Bite her until she bruises. Make her scream.
Fuck it, I’m done holding back. I’ll teach her to turn her back on her enemy.
Chapter 76
Cali
Suddenly, a huge hand wraps around the back of my neck, and I’m whirled to face him. I gasp. Ryder walks roughly into me, backing me until my body hits the wall. Just as quickly, his hands wrap around both arms, and he picks me up until I’m eye level with him. He presses me into the wall.
“You want to play, Cali?” he growls, his voice dark and rumbly, sending goosebumps all over my skin. He holds me up like he doesn’t even notice my weight. I know I’m supposed to fuck him to play Sawyer’s game, but a shiver of fear runs through me.
“Answer me.” Ryder shakes me, staring me down with those dark, ruthless eyes. My pussy soaks, and I bite back a moan.
“Put me down.”
Ryder’s eyes crinkle in a mean smirk. “No.”
I kick my feet, but it does nothing.
“Now, now.” Ryder tosses me on the bed. I bounce and immediately scramble to get up, but he’s on me in a flash, pinning me down with his heavy body.
Ryder chuckles as I fight to get away. “You want to tease me with that fine ass body and think I won’t just take what’s mine?”
I shove against him, trying to push up on the bed. “I’m not yours!”
“You’re lying in my bed. Naked. With my man’s brand on your chest and collar around your neck. How does that make you not mine?”