Page 119 of Light the Fire

I hadn’t brought any new clothes in with me and was about to head into the cabin in my towel when the bathroom door opened abruptly.

Zane crowded me instantly.

It wasn’t a big bathroom to begin with, but his enormous body, larger-than-life presence and that elephant-size chip on his shoulder had me feeling smothered in seconds.

I swallowed and glanced up at him. “I’m just leaving,” I said, not sure where we’d left off and what kind of a mood he was in now.

He closed the door and barricaded the exit with his body.

A tremble of unease tinged with excitement shot through me, and my nipples pebbled.

“I’m not afraid of you,” I said, despising the fact that my voice shook a little when I spoke.

His grin was wicked and made my core heat instantly. “I think you are a little, Kitten,” he said, prowling toward me. “Afraid of how good I made you feel and how now you want more.”

Well, he wasn’t wrong about that.

But I wasn’t going to give him that much satisfaction without pushing a few buttons first. “You seemed pretty concerned with my orgasm there, Sunny. Looked worried you weren’t going to get me off. Rix and Jorik have never been concerned about that. Is that an ongoing problem for you?”

Fire filled his eyes until the silver gleamed and flickered in his irises. He had my damp hair in his fist and my body pressed hard up against his before I could even take a breath. If I didn’t know his facial expressions so well by now, I’d have missed it. But right at the corner of his full, delicious mouth was the smallest tick of a smile.

“Never had an issue with that, Kitten,” he said, his words a purr that made those tendrils of fire in my belly whip up into an inferno. “You just took longer than my past conquests. Thought there might be something wrong withyou.”

Oh, he was trying to hurt me. Ha!

First, by calling me a “conquest” and then insinuating that my lack of a rapid-fire orgasm was a problem with my body and not his prowess.

I grinned at him, our mouths so close as he held me tight by the hair that we were forced to breathe each other’s air. “Nothin’ wrong with me, Captain. If you haven’t heard, I comejustfine and multiple times. At least I do with your brothers.”

His grip on my hair tightened, and the space between our bodies—not that there had been any to begin with—disappeared completely.

I could smell the arousal leaking from his cock, the salty, sour tang of it filling the air, mixing with my own female musk.

His heart pounded—so did mine—and the way his nostrils flared, I could tell he’d caught my scent, just like I had his.

“Make me a promise,” I said, forcing the words out of a tight throat decorated with razor blades.

All that got me was a lone brow lift.

“If they capture us again and there doesn’t look to be any way we can get free, you’ll kill me if I can’t do it myself.”

Zane’s eyes widened.

“I’m not going back to a compound. I’d rather die than not be free. And I don’t trust Rix or Jorik to go through with it.” I clenched my molars tight, holding his tortured gaze.

“Why do you think I’ll do it?” he asked, his voice just as hoarse as mine.

“Because a part of you still hates me … hates my kind and may always. So I trust that you’ll tap into that part if the time comes and do what is necessary.”

His eyes remained on mine, unblinking, for a long, painful moment. Then finally, he grunted, gave a sharp, barely discernible nod, and with a growl and a tug to my hair, he crashed his mouth against mine.

When our tongues touched, it was a silent pledge, impossible not to hear. He would do what was necessary. He would keep me from being taken prisoner again, by taking my life, if I couldn’t do it myself.

As we kissed, a tear slid down my cheek. I felt every ounce of pain that coursed through him. He poured the agony he felt committing to that promise into my mouth, through his kisses, letting me know it wasn’t an agreement he took lightly.

As much as he might hate me, just like I was falling in love with him, there was love for me hidden deep in the corners of his heart, too. I could feel it with every stroke of his tongue and the way he held me so possessively against his solid frame.

The towel dropped between us, and he palmed my breast roughly with one hand, tugging on the nipple and pinching it between his fingers until I broke our kiss and gasped.

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