I braced myself, legs wide, and drew her against me to twist her arms securely within mine. I pressed a hand to her neck to prevent her from smashing my face with the back of her skull and said evenly, “Emily, I don’t want to hurt you.”
It was probably mostly true.
She didn’t speak, simply raised her legs from the floor, forcing me to hold all of her weight. I sighed.
“Give,” I said. “Give and have a conversation with me or so help me—”
My threat was cut short as her bare right foot shot out to connect with the corner of the flatscreen television. I caught the move just in time to save her from flipping it toward us and spun around to throw her onto the bed. She’d no more than had a chance to roll over before I was on her, pinning her down on all points beneath me. She jerked, but it was too late, I had her. I sat atop her hips, my knees pinning her forearms while my legs, bent behind me, trapped her just above the knees.
Were she able to move, my free hands could discourage the notion, but she wasn’t, so I simply sat there, staring down at her, reminding her that she never had a chance.
She was furious. I wasn’t sure exactly when she’d lost her cool, but her cheeks were flushed and her jaw tight. Her hair had gone wild, splayed over the mussed blue comforter behind her. Her chest heaved, both her and the bed covered in bits of scrambled egg. Spots of something dark had splattered her shirt. I felt a tug at the corner of my mouth, but the look in her eye told me I was about to get an earful of something.
I’d never know exactly what though, because, suddenly, three loud knocks rang through the room and the atmosphere transformed entirely.