Page 68 of Crush (Deadly Hearts 1)

He reaches over the desk and clamps his hand around my neck. “I told you before, sweetheart, that you are it for me. Don’t go looking for shit that isn’t there. Do I make myself clear?” He squeezes, making me gag slightly. My hands automatically go up to him, but my eyes are blazing with heat.

“You are mine,” I choke out. “Don’t ever forget it.”

“Oh, I won’t,” he says quietly. “You don’t have to worry about me.”

“Good,” I rasp.

He lets me go and turns to exit my office, leaving me panting and aroused beyond belief, but dissatisfied that I didn’t get to finish what I’d started. I wonder if having Layton use my body like a gory sketch pad might do the trick. It’s worth a shot because this will niggle at me now until the need to hurt is sated.

I sit back down and wait, drumming my fingers on the table.

Moments later, Declan appears, not quite as drunk as Layton made out. Maybe he has excellent control, or perhaps he can just hide it better than most.

“Ruby,” he rasps, his voice hoarse. “I’m sorry…”

“Forget it,” I clip out. “I was being overly dramatic earlier.”

Wariness fills his eyes as he gives me a cautious look. It’s almost as if he is waiting for me to say I’m joking and that he is dead to me.

“I want you to know that I don’t care about that sex. Not really,” I say carefully. “I didn’t know you. I definitely had no claim on you. You were free to do whatever you wanted with whomever. It’s the fact that she knows you better than I do that has shat on my parade, but Layton has made me see that it’s not the end of the world and all I have to do is ask.”

“I will tell you anything you want to know,” he murmurs.

“We’ll get to that,” I say briskly. “Right now, I just want to continue with my night the way it was set out. I need you to sober up so you can drive me to Canal Street later and then drive me home afterwards, where I will expect more groveling in the form of some kind of gratuitous sexual act that satisfies my darkest desires. Can you do that for me, or is it asking too much?”

“Consider it done,” he says instantly. He waits a beat and then comes around to my side of the desk to take my hands. “I don’t deserve you,” he murmurs.

“Yeah, well. We’ve all got demons, Declan. Mine are big, scary ass motherfuckers and we take comfort where we can, when we can. But let me make one thing very clear to you right now…if you ever go to her again seeking that comfort, I will fucking slice your throat open, reach in and pull your tongue out of the opening. Is that something you understand?”

“Completely,” he says seriously. “But you never have to worry about that. You are the only one I need to give me peace, Ruby. I look at you and my soul feels settled in a way that a million conversations with a million different people won’t provide. Is that something you understand?”

His penetrating stare touches a part of me, I never even knew existed anymore. It was squashed so long ago by an act that ripped away any sense of peace I had inside me.

“Yeah,” I mutter. “I understand.”

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