Page 14 of Dove

“We both know I can.”

I flew from the table without thinking. The need to get away clawing at my chest, making my heart race. My bare feet hit the stone patio as I rushed towards the glass doors. I pushed them aside and raced through his bedroom. I ripped the door open only to run into a strong body.

I stumbled back, almost falling before hands gripped me in place. I looked up into Henry’s boyish face. Oh thank God it was him. I don’t know what I would’ve done if I’d run into Tristan.

“Do you need something, Miss Kincaid?” Relief exploded inside me at his words. I had an escape.

“Yes.” I rushed. “I need to go home. Can you take me back to my apartment?”

His eyes flicked behind me before settling on my face again.

I deflated, sagging against his arms. He wasn’t going to take me anywhere. I might like him, and he might respect me, but he worked for Maddox. Maddox had saved his life. He wasn’t going to turn away from him.

Anger burned in my blood as I yanked from his hold. I slammed the door in his face before whipping around. Maddox was clearly visible through the windows, leaning against the railing of the balcony. His sleeves were rolled up, revealing the tension in his veins where his arms were crossed over his broad chest. His dark hair curled just above his eyes.

Everything about his body portrayed his casual power. He could keep me here without moving a muscle. Without a second thought. And no one would stop him.

I wanted to run to him and take comfort in his arms just as much as I wanted to slap the smirk off his face. I might have walked in this cage willingly, but he’d closed the door. I wasn’t free to leave.

My foot pounded the ground as I ate up the distance between us. I shoved at his chest, trying to do anything to alleviate the anger boiling my blood. “I was perfectly safe there before you.”

His hands flattened mine against his chest, trapping me to him. Trapped. I was always trapped. The warmth of his body burned where we touched. “Safe, but not alive.”

“I won’t be alive much longer if I stay with you.” I screamed in a panicked rage. “You made me a target. They took me because of you. If you had left me alone, none of this would’ve happened. I didn’t want any of this.”

I snapped my mouth shut as my eyes flicked down. Regret intensified these feelings of being caged. It wasn’t fair to put it all on him. Maybe he’d started this, but I’d become a willing participant. He lowered his head until his mouth rested on the shell of my ear. Intoxicating me with his warmth and smoky scent.

“Seemed like you wanted it when you begged me to claim you like the good little slut you are.” My heart felt like it was beating in my throat. “When you asked me to fill up your cunt with my cum. Maybe I need to remind you.”

I didn’t have a second to breathe before his lips crashed onto mine. His tongue invading every corner of my mouth. His presence encroaching on my space. All of him threatening my mind.

Maddox gripped my throat as he reversed our positions. Suddenly I was shoved up against the railing. The harsh metal cutting into my spine. My head and upper back hung over the edge as my fingers clawed at his shoulders. I ripped his shirt as I tried to cling to him. I could feel my hair swaying behind me.

I was at his mercy. If he wanted to, he could push me over the edge. No one would ask questions. No one would come for him.

The fear turned into a twisted sense of desire as he continued to claim my mouth. His tongue thrust into every corner as if he couldn’t taste enough of me. His teeth nipped and bit until I tasted the metallic tang of blood. My pulse thrummed under his hand, part desire, part fear, as I ground my hips into his. I moaned into his mouth as his thick cock pressed into my stomach.

I hooked a leg against the back of his calf as I tried to climb him. I wanted to pretend it was because I didn’t want to fall, but I knew it was because I wanted to press my aching pussy against his bulge. I wanted the friction. I wanted him to make me come.

I whimpered as he wrenched his lips from mine. The loss of his warmth making me shiver. But the look in his eyes made goosebumps break out across my skin. There was none of the softness that kept me safe with him. They were dark. Endless.

He stepped back until the only thing that held me up was his hold on my neck. His fingers flexed, squeezing the air from my lungs. My back was bent painfully, the metal railing digging into my spine. My hands gripped his forearm, clawing at him. I was nothing compared to his strength. His muscles barely strained underneath my fingers as he held my life in his hands.

“You’re mine.” He growled. I saw the fury in his eyes. He shook me enough to prove his point without hurting me. “You’re not going anywhere.”

“Maddox. Please.” I croaked as I loosed my hold on him.

My touch turned gentle as I skimmed my fingers up and down his arm. I traced the veins and tattoos. I savored how my fair skin looked against his olive tones.

We were opposites in every way. My emotions were constant, churning on the surface, where his were buried beneath. I was soft where he was hard. Innocent where he was deadly. But my darkness mirrored his. A perfect reflection.

We fit together, as much as I hated it, we matched. A single tear fell as I looked up at him. His fingers flexed on my neck, letting me take a deep breath.

“You said you didn’t want to do this.” I pleaded. “That you didn’t want to force me.”

Immediately he dropped his hand. My head was dizzy from the rush of oxygen as I slid down the railing until my ass connected with the stone balcony. I brought my legs to my chest and wrapped my arms around them.

“Little dove, I—“ I held up one hand to make him stop. I didn’t want to hear what he had to say. An apology or an argument. I didn’t care. I knew why he did it. To make me feel alive. To remind me why I had been drawn to him in the first place.