Page 26 of Regret

Hunter walked over and stared down at her. “Yeah…I don’t think so.” With a quick swoop he lifted her off the bed and into his arms. As he turned around, she slapped him against the shoulder.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing? Put me down, you fucking caveman.”

“Okay.” And then he dropped her roughly on the couch. She winced from what he could only assume was the pain she was still feeling in her side. Too bad. If she wanted to act like a spoiled brat, he would treat her as such.

“Rule number three,” he started. “No one sleeps in my bed unless I’ve been inside that person, multiple times. And, unfortunately for you, I’m not planning on being inside you any time soon—or ever.”

The flabbergasted look on her face was fucking priceless. If he had one wish, it would be to take a damn Polaroid.

“Yeah, well,” she roughed up the couch, trying to make herself comfortable, “it didn’t seem that way when you had me pinned against the wall just a few minutes ago.”

Hunter walked over to the bedside table and opened the drawer, grabbing what he was looking for before making his way back to her. Scarlet punched the pillows.

“One would think that since you live in such a huge-ass apartment, you could afford some decent scatter cushions or something.”

Without hesitating, Hunter grabbed her wrist and locked the handcuff around it before securing the second cuff to the rail stretching down the back of the couch. He knew that damn rail would come in handy someday.

“Hunter, what in God’s name do you think you’re doing?” She tugged hard at the cuffs.

“Making sure that your ass stays right here.”

Scarlet kept on pulling, and for a second Hunter thought he saw the tiniest glimmer of panic in her eyes as she stared at her cuffed hand.

“Please, Hunter. Take it off. Take off the cuffs. I swear to God I won’t go anywhere.” Blue eyes stared at him—no, they stared right through him, and all he could see washerface.Hereyes. How was it possible that he had been able to suppress most of the pain for years, and then a stranger, who was nothing but a thorn in his fucking side, walked into his life and his pain seemed like it had intensified threefold whenever he looked at her?

“Hunter, I swear. I won’t leave until we’ve talked. Just don’t cuff me.”

He narrowed his eyes. Even though he was pretty sure she wasn’t faking her little look of panic, he was also sure that at this moment she couldn’t be trusted. She was scared, vulnerable, and her natural fight or flight mode was currently in overdrive. He couldn’t.

“Get some rest, Scarlet.”

“I don’t get why you feel the need to handcuff me to your fucking couch. You can trust me. It’s not like I have anywhere else to go anyway.”

“You’re right, you don’t. But don’t think for a second that I trust you, Scarlet Woods.” He leaned down, his lips once again mere inches from hers, the need to kiss her back with a damn vengeance. “Or should I say, Blanchette Wolfe?”

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