Page 43 of Cruel Vows

There’s a small pain in my chest at the sight of her willing to walk through a thunderstorm to get away from me.

I hurry to catch up to her, stepping in front of her and blocking her path. “I don’t care how pissed you are at me. You’renot walking wherever the hell you’re going in the middle of a thunderstorm.”

“Fuck off.” She shoulders past me, her voice breaking.

“Get back in the damn house before you get a cold!”

“No!”

I don’t have time for this.

Arguing with her is going to be pointless.

Without another thought, I catch up to her again and toss her over my shoulder, my leg banding above the back of her thighs just above her knees so she can’t kick me.

“Put me down.”

I take large steps toward the house, the torrential downpour blurring my vision. “Not a chance in hell. You don’t get to run away when you have a problem with me.”

She pushes against my back, trying to raise herself up. My grip tightens on her as I carry her up the stairs. Her overnight bag drops as soon as we’re in the house and I shut the door, but I keep her over my shoulder until we get to the living room.

The way her body slides down mine, soaking wet dress clinging to all the right places, has the blood in my body rushing straight to my cock.

I’ve always liked Ellie best when she was pissed off, claws out and spitting like a kitten incapable of doing any real damage.

Her breath hitches, nipples pebbling and straining against the thin material of her dress. “I don’t know what you think you’re doing.”

“Enough. It’s time that you listen to me.”

She looks away from me, taking a step back.

In a flash, I grab her hips and haul her back against me. “No. I said that you were going to listen to me.”

My cock swells, pressing against her lower stomach. Her eyes light up with heat as she glares at me, her full bottom lip rolling between her teeth.

I keep my grip on her, knowing that the moment I let her go, she’s going to run again.

Hell, even if I wanted to let her go right now, I’m not sure that my body would let me. It seems to have a mind of its own when it comes to her.

“Ellie, I don’t know why the hell you care about whether I cheated on you or not.”

The look in her eyes would have another man backing away from her. She’s a caged animal right now and I’m not entirely certain she isn’t going to lunge and rip my throat out.

“I told you that I wouldn’t put up with you cheating on me. You did. I’m not going to keep living this bullshit life where the men fuck their way around the city and their wives are expected to just sit at home and allow it.”

I grind my teeth. For a moment, the truth is on the tip of my tongue.

Right now, I don’t think she would believe me even if I did tell her why I’ve been at the strip clubs. She seems to have a set idea of who I am in her mind, and she’s unrelenting in that belief.

Ellie juts out her chin, defiance shining in her eyes. “I may not want anything to do with you, but we’re trapped together. So, if you want someone to fuck, take control and tell me you want to fuck me.”

My hand sinks into her hair and I pull her head back, loving the way her hands fly to my chest to steady herself.

With an aching cock, I drag her bottom lip between my teeth. “So, that’s what this is really about. You’re jealous. You’re dying for my cock, and you can’t just swallow your pride and admit that.”

She scoffs. “In your dreams. I just want sex. I’m not spending the next however many years only screwing my vibrator.”

I pull tighter on her hair, throbbing as she gasps. “You’ll have to put on a show for me later.”

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