Page 66 of Tamed

I should. I should turn around and walk away because I knew better than this. Isabel wasn’t some little brat I’d picked up for the night. She wasn’t a stranger from a bar. She was Ten’s daughter and I’d made a promise to him to look after her. To keep her safe. And I wasn’t safe, not any part of me.

You never promised Ten to protect her from you.

Desire coiled thick and hot inside me, my fucking cock deciding it was just going to ignore twenty plus years of self-control and get hard for a woman it should never have gotten hard for.

I couldn’t believe I was still here, that I hadn’t left.

Already, I’d let my emotions to get the better of me when it came to her. I’d allowed my fury at her for putting herself in danger overcome every good sense I had, propelling me over lines I should never have crossed.

And now I was allowing my regret at her hurting to keep me here, when what I should be doing was walking the fuck away.

You can’t keep her out, no matter what you do. Which means there’s only one way to take this.

Something shifted and hardened inside me, a knowledge that I couldn’t escape. Because no, I couldn’t keep her out, not now. I’d tasted her and I’d let her taste me. I’d bound her wrists and I’d fucked her. I crossed that line, and I couldn’t cross back over it.

Nothing was going to change that night at Arcadia or erase what we’d done together. It was burned into my memory like a brand. Isabel Fox had gotten under my skin and there was no getting her out.

I couldn’t walk away from her. I didn’t want to, and while another night might ease the hunger, it wouldn’t solve the fundamental problem.

She’d never be that kid I babysat again. She’d never be Ten’s daughter. She’d never be the red-haired, rebellious teenager sharpening her claws and spitting curses at me.

No, she’d forever be the fiery, passionate woman I’d had on the floor in Arcadia, whose mouth had been hot, whose pussy had been hotter, and who’d screamed when I’d made her come.

And because of that, whatever would happen between us couldn’t be for a night. It couldn’t even be some week-long, month-long affair. It couldn’t be casual; I couldn’t do casual with her.

She was right when she said she was yours. She always has been.

Yes. She was. She was my responsibility. And I wasn’t a man who walked away from my responsibilities.

Naturally, there’d be consequences. Ten, for example, wouldn’t be happy with me claiming his daughter, to put it mildly. But too bad, he’d have to deal. I wasn’t going to go sneaking around behind his back like a teenager. I was too old for that shit.

I’d also have to be careful around her too, make sure I kept some kind of emotional distance. Because it wasn’t only our enemies and the Hamiltons I needed to protect her from. I had to protect her from me as well.

“It could never be just a night,” I said, ignoring her. “You do understand that don’t you?”

Her gaze flickered. Obviously, this was not the response she’d been expecting. “I know. You told me. You don’t need to keep going over it.”

“So, if you want more, Isabel, you’d better be clear on what you’re getting yourself into.”

She stilled, green eyes widening. “What? What are you saying?”

“I’m not boyfriend material.” I held her gaze, let her see the demon in me. “All those rumors you’ve no doubt heard about me, about my past as Old Nick’s right hand… They’re true. Even the darkest ones. And yes, Arcadia’s a bar, but it’s also a sex club and I’ve owned it for years.”

“Caleb, I don’t know—”

“I told you I wasn’t a romantic ideal and I’m not. I don’t do tender or gentle, and I certainly don’t do love.”

She went quiet, her expression taut.

We were standing close, and I could smell the sweet scent of her body, feel her heat. Desire burned steadily inside me, a hunger that felt insatiable. As if some part of me had always known she was mine and was impatient for the rest of me to get the fuck on board.

Yet I didn’t make any attempt to touch her, not yet. She had to know what she was getting herself into. Ten held her too tightly, but I wasn’t any different. I was a territorial bastard and if Isabel was mine, I’d keep her close. My cage might be less rigid than Ten’s, but it was still a cage.

“I like control, Isabel. And I’m possessive,” I said, laying it all out for her. “So, if you’re looking at me as a way of getting out from under Ten’s thumb, that’s a mistake. Once you’re mine, you stay mine and I don’t let go.”

The pulse at the base of her throat was beating very fast now and her green eyes were darkening. “I…Caleb, I…”

“If you want to be with me then understand that there’ll be no hiding and no sneaking around. I won’t lie to Ten or pretend it’s not happening. He’ll have to know. And you need to be clear that you won’t be his responsibility anymore. You’ll be mine.”

---