Page 42 of Resisted

“Just because you know every single person in this fucking place does not mean you know every person who passes through. Don’t misjudge any situation because if you get caught off guard, it could be the end of you.” He flipped the seat and put the food containers in the floorboard of the backseat before pushing the seat back and offering me a hand to get inside. I stared at his hand for a moment before taking it. He inhaled deeply before letting out his breath. “Besides, I like you enough to not want you dead.”

I plopped down on the seat. “Thanks. I think.”

“Damnit, Bella.” He leaned in so there was no possible way I could avoid looking at him. “I know I can be an ass, but that doesn’t mean I don’t care, okay? I don’t want the first person you ask for help to be fucking Rig.”

“To be fair, I didn’t ask Rig.”

“My point is I wasn’t the first person you called, and that is unacceptable.”

I tried not to look into his eyes. I really did, but they were so intent on me that even when I looked away, I felt them. “I didn’t want to inconvenience you further.”

“When have I said you were an inconvenience, Bella?”

God, this close, I could smell him, and he smelled…well, he smelled fucking delicious. Like cedar and spices, and fuck if I didn’t lean toward him instead of away. “You didn’t have to say it, you make it known.”

“Make it known?”

“Did I stutter? I said you make it known.” My nails were damn near digging into my thighs, already past the point of leaving bruises.

“It’s that smart fucking mouth that’s so damn infuriating and makes it—” He stopped what he was about to confess. “Belladonna, you are never an inconvenience, don’t feel that way. I know I can be an asshole, but I never want you to pick someone else when you could just call me for help.”

I took a deep breath as I let his words settle over me before I asked, “Makes it what?”

“What?” He blinked.

“You said I am so damn infuriating and it makes it, but you never finished that sentence,” I explained.

“I said your smart fucking mouth is so damn infuriating, not you. Though, I imagine that’s one and the same.” His lashes fanned his cheek for a moment before he brought his eyes back to mine.

“Still doesn’t answer my question.” I licked my bottom lip, trying to distract myself from the warmth I felt creeping in.

His eyes followed the movement. “Oh.” His gaze was locked on my lips as he muttered, “It makes it nearly impossible to resist you.”

Resist me? What in the…? “And resisting me is hard for you?”

“Uh-huh.” He was nearly in a trance as he leaned in, his arms caging my seat. “So many complications come with wanting you.”

His words, his confession, the gentleness they held had me questioning damn near everything. “Is that why you stayed away for so long? Because of me?”

His eyes finally looked up at my own. “Don’t mistake me, Belladonna. I would never stay away because of you, only for you.”

Then, as if a battle he’d been fighting took a temporary truce, he leaned in and kissed me. It wasn’t an all-consuming kiss like Boyce’s, or a deep, soul searing kiss like Vincent’s. It was a quick burst of ownership from the least spontaneous man I knew. But it was enough to prove a point. If I was going to break down these walls and cross boundaries with him, it wouldn’t be by his own will. I’d have to take what I hadn’t realized I wanted until now, and I would. I’d take it all until this man in front of me was mindless with his want for me and he could no longer deny what he’d obviously been trying to—he was attracted to me, and he fucking loathed it.

Chapter 17

SILAS

Well,that was a fucking shit show—a completely unplanned shit show that I had absolutely never intended to happen. Yet here we were, suffocating in the awkward aftermath of my unchecked urges. I’d kissed her. I did the one fucking thing I’d forbid myself from doing, and damnit, I couldn’t bring myself to regret it.

It wasn’t what I’d expected.

It was so much fucking more.

My lips had only touched hers briefly, nothing like the all-consuming hold she’d had on Vince last night. Nothing like the kiss she must’ve shared with Boyce years ago. Nothing like I expected from the sweet innocent pup we’d rescued and watched grow before our eyes.

“Are you planning on breaking the steering wheel in half before we make it home?” If it made me feel better, I would gladly snap it. “I don’t understand what you’re so angry about.”

I rolled my eyes so damn hard that when my eyeballs finally made it back to their correct positions, all I could see was black spots and blurs. “I’m not angry, Belladonna.”