“You could. But you and I both know it’s not what you want. And I’m not going anywhere until you do.” He kept me pinned with his gaze as his voice was barely above a whisper, yet I heard him loud and clear. “You should warn him about losing fingers if he continues to touch you.”
I huffed out an audible sound of frustration.
“I’m not your property,” I said and spun to stomp away.
Only he caught me around the waist inches away from the wide trunk of a tree. Through the thick wool of my coat, I still felt his hard cock at the base of my spine and above.
“No, you’re not property. You’re much more valuable than that. You’re MINE.”
He growled out the words like a final warning, and time seemed suspended between us.
“You’re giving him false hope when we both know he can’t give you what you want.”
The truth of it got me moving. I twisted in his arms and tried to shove him away, but he didn’t move a muscle. Desperate for space, I leaned back into the tree and tried to catch my breath.
“Your cheeks are as pink as your pussy after a good, hard fuck. And I intend to give you just that.”
His mouth slammed onto mine with total possession. As much as I didn’t want to give him entrance, I let out a gasp before his tongue invaded me like the commander he was. There was no love in the kiss. It was a little desperate and a lot angry. His hands found my hips and jerked them to him.
It took more than gravity to stop my liftoff onto my toes as his hands found my ass. The press of his cock molded against my throbbing clit and I lost all reason. When I felt air on my ankles as he fisted the fabric of my dress, I bit his lip to stop both of us.
He pulled back and wiped his mouth as his focus never left mine.
“You don’t love me,” I declared.
“Let me count the fucking ways.”
For all his bravado, there was nothing friendly in his predatory gaze. We held there in a standoff because I couldn’t allow myself to believe what I’d heard. I swallowed, trying to clear my throat so I could breathe and think at the same time, which felt impossible.
I closed my eyes because I should have been running fast and far. This man had a hold over me I didn’t understand.
My eyes sprang open when the pad of his thumb traced my lips.
“You, lass, are my undoing.”
“No,” I asserted, shifting until his hand fell away. “You need to leave.”
I ducked under one of his massive arms that had braced on the tree above my head.
“We aren’t done here, lass,” he said, catching my arm. “There is still more I need to say before we’re not alone.”
“The problem with that is, I’m done.”
I cocked my head to the side, so he got my point.
He licked his lips as he took a minute as if he was measuring what he’d say next.
“You have one day to leave on your own before I take you.”
He let go. My feet scraped the ground as I fled the scene, managing not one look back in his direction. He was right about one thing: my need was palpable as evidenced by the wetness between my legs. A cold shower was in order, and I headed for the sanctuary of my childhood home.
Twenty-Six
Dawn bloomed with a gray that blanketed the sky. A slate-colored tufted titmouse, a non-migratory bird, called a song above, and I longed for its freedom. As much as I loved my family, my home, I knew I didn’t belong here.
I’d been roped into mending garments yesterday after fleeing Kalen. I hadn’t had a chance to call Lizzy to check on her. I’d purposefully crashed at my parents’ last night, much to my father’s dismay.
Father stepped out onto the front porch just as I walked onto the worn path to the door.
“Bailey,” he said. The gray of his eyes matched the pallor of the day. In them I saw that he knew just who Kalen was.
“Dad.” It wasn’t a term I’d often used, but it slipped out.
He hadn’t asked me to come to him, so I stayed as he made his way over to me.
“That young man is really worried about you.”
I nodded, knowing I should leave this place for the greater good of the community.
“I’ll be out of your hair soon. I just need to take care of a few things.”
His hands gripped my shoulders. “You don’t have to go. We take care of our own.”
It was so unexpected, tears ran like a waterfall down my face.
“I didn’t think you wanted me here.” The admission tumbled from my lips. My emotions grew raw over things that needed to be said. I was unable to hold them back any longer.