Page 63 of Under Pressure

As her voice crept higher, more enraged with each word, he tensed. The muscles in his arms contracted, like their own beast, and he found himself gripping the mirror on the side of HMMWV, grasping harder at whatever humanity he had left.

“I can’t control it,” he warned. “I never could.”

She inhaled, sharp. “These scientists… They are going to kill you for this, aren’t they?”

“They are trying to.”

“Matteo—”

He searched her—and he felt her pain—her deep and insurmountable pain that he’d caused and was continuing to cause. It only drove him further over the edge, out of control. He shook his head, pushing her away. Rejecting her.

It was all he could do.

“I am not doing this.” He pushed her away before twisting to leave.

“You never could, could you?”

Silent, he turned back, locking eyes. She was damn right. Too right.

Her beautiful blue eyes batted out a tear, her face twisting in agony. He felt her aching. It was in him too. He regretted so much. He wanted to nod in understanding, but his twitching jaw wouldn’t bow down. He couldn’t let her in, not even an inch. It was too fucking dangerous.

He was ready to fucking explode.

“Why weren’t you just honest with me?” she demanded, pointing her finger accusatorily at his chest. “Why did you keep lying to me?”

“You’ve been lying to me too.”

He jutted out his jaw and cocked his head, looking down at her like all he saw was meat. And damn, she always made him fucking hungry. His chest heaving and his shoulders flexing, he trailed her body with his gaze. He was about to do something they’d both regret.

Scorching fire and glacial ice were mixing together, and the eerie sensations darted up his limbs, deep in his blood, as he felt his predatory scowl land on her luscious lips. His jaw slowly dropped, his eyes twitching, everything inside him ready to crack.

The wildfire she lit only fueled spite in his heart. A cruelty that he hated, but needed, reared its ugly head. Darkness fell over him. He felt it. There was no turning back.

“Please—” she panted, widening her eyes in fear as she realized what was happening.

“Tell me your fucking secret,” he growled.

“I don’t know what you want me to say.”

“What the fuck happened while I was deployed?”

“You don’t deserve to—” she started snapping back, but froze, watching him.

It was too late.

He sensed panic racing through her body, and she tried to lunge backward. He seized her arm roughly with one hand, and with the other, he intertwined his fist in her hair. Tears burst from her eyes, and she gasped as he yanked her into him. Velcro and stiff corners of his pocket flaps crackled as they scratched against her, the only sounds other than her cries.

“Please…” she implored, tensing in his rough hold, her body immobilized. “All I’ve ever wanted was your honesty. Couldn’t you just have given me that?”

The words crashed through him. His actions in direct contradiction to his words, he spun her hard, slamming her against the metal side of the HMMWV. He wasn’t nice. He wasn’t gentle. Her body was up against his, and she winced as something sharp in his gear pressed into her hip—the pointed corner of my riggers’ belt.

“I just wanted you to confide in me,” she cried. “To treat me like I was something more than a one-night stand. I just wanted you to want me.”

As he gripped her, his needy cock began to throb, filling and tightening the crotch of his pants. He had few words, few emotions—just bitter intensity. Her fear-filled eyes still locked on him, he found his lips hovering low over her neck while he inhaled her feminine scent.

Before he could decide yes or no, she shoved at him, trying to flee, provoking his uncontrollable ire. When she was unsuccessful in her attempt, an exasperated sound escaped her mouth that only drove him wilder. She should know just how competitive he could be.

To teach her one final lesson, the lesson she seemed to desperately need, he dropped his mouth on her neck, taking and tasting the sweet skin. Biting and kissing up her delicate neck, he enjoyed her writhing body in his grasp. Letting out a rogue moan, she twisted in his locked arms, tilting her head back as he worked, giving him a better angle to rough up her throat. She didn’t stop fighting him, though, not for one second.

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