Page 108 of Jerk
“She’ll be fine.” He tosses the shell over his shoulder and into the sink behind him. Always precise. “She has her own following now. She’ll survive the scandal.”
“You think she wants to be here without you? And what about me?”
His eyes lift to mine, and I wish I could suck those words back in, my cheeks burning. “Thought you’d be happy about me leaving.”
“I’m not happy with you giving up.” My chest feels heavier and heavier the more I think about it. How hot is it in this house? “I didn’t give up, no matter what you threw at me. You don’t justget to do that. My family is in this scandal, too. And we're not the only ones. Don’t be such a pussy.”
His eyes wander around my face, narrowing. “You didn’t give up because you’re attached to The Hill and SBU. You won't leave your posse. You worked too hard to do that.” He reads me like a book he's read a thousand times. “I don’t even have hockey anymore, thanks to you.”
“Fuck those clout-chasing cunts,” I respond, my voice rising. “And you're so sad you can’t knock a puck around with your stick?” I mock, his jaw tightening. “You’re not so innocent, and you know that. We fucked each other in a way no one’s fucked us before.” That hard stare softens into a smirk, but I continue, my words falling out of my mouth. “Then we fucked our families.” I wince. That one sounds more problematic. “We became a team, and we took that power back. We controlled this shit together. Don’t leave me to pick up the pieces alone.”
Rye stares at me with those laser eyes as I stand in his kitchen feeling more naked than ever. The silence is deafening, squeezing against my heart.
“And if I leave?”
“Simple.” My feet move towards him, the answer hitting me like something I always knew. “I’d leave with you.”
“Why?” He moves toward me, the air in the kitchen thickening by the second.
“I don’t want you to leave.” The words startle me, a tremble in my voice. “It’s just that—just don’t make it worse. For you. For everyone. You still have power here.” The more I talk, the more I realize he still has power over me. Not the kind of power he once fought for. A softer, protective power that I’m not ready to let go of. Not yet. “Don’t underestimate what you can do. I’ve been on the receiving end of what you can do, andgod, it’s a force. You’re a force.”
He steps closer, my heart pounding with every step. “Say that again.”
“You’re a force."
Somehow, he comes even closer, the tip of his socks against my toes. His scent overtakes me. Overwhelming and comforting at the same time. “Not that.”
I search his eyes, laser-focused on mine. “Don’t underestimate what you can do?”
“Not that either.” He moves even closer, his warm muscles pressing against my body in a way that makes my breath hitch. “Try again.”
My ass hits the island, my back next to the bowl he cracked an egg into. He traps me against him. “You still have power here.”
“Not that.” His words land against my skin before his finger does. A shockwave to my heart.
I swallow hard as he lifts my chin towards him, forcing me to fall into those deep, dark eyes. “I-I don’t want you to leave.” A smile spreads on his face as he lowers his head to mine. His soft lips brush my skin. It’s like flames in the living room on a snowy night. Hot. Comforting. Peaceful. And it pulls the next words right out of me. “I-I want you. Rye, I think?—”
His warm lips cut off my words as he presses them against mine. The room spins as my eyes close, and I fall into his kiss. I fall into him.
A soft moan escapes me as that fire erupts inside me again, and I don’t want him to stop. Ever. He claims my mouth as his hands move to my face like I’m no one else’s. Like he’s possessing me. Me and me only.
“I want you,” I breathe against his lips. “I-I think I need you.”
“Oh, Kitten, didn’t I tell you?” He speaks against my lips, brushing a strand of hair behind my ear. “I own you.”
And that’s it. That’s enough to break any further space between us, and our kiss turns into something else.
Obsession.
He parts my lips while my hands ride up his abs to his pecs, my fingers dragging along every ripple of muscle. Then I aim for his robe, pushing it off his shoulders and fuck… weeks without hockey and he still looks likethis? Like a monstrous masterpiece. One I'm determined to keep for myself.
“Then act like it,” I moan against his mouth, his hands moving up my ass, lifting my shirt. His shirt.
“You want it sharp, Kitten?” he asks, his teeth sinking into my lobe. It makes me push harder against his growth as I exhale a ragged breath. “I know how much you like to mess with danger.”
His words bring a searing heat to my face, his velvet shaft pressing against me. Teasing me. “I want you in any way I can have you.”
A gasp escapes me when he spins me around before my stomach presses against the cold concrete of the island.
