Page 11 of Wicked and Claimed

She shook her head, tears falling down her cheeks. “Please believe me… It’s better this way.”

When she tried to push past him, he grabbed her arm. Yeah, he knew he was riding a dangerous line. No meant no, and he respected that. But he wasn’t trying to force her to have sex with him; he just wanted answers.

“The fuck it is. Why did you walk away?”

She yanked free and retreated. “It’s in the past. Leave it there.”

Without another word, she fled, disappearing into the throng of partygoers.

Nash watched, cursing under his breath. He ran a hand through his hair, bitter regret burning his tongue. Why wouldn’t Haisley talk to him, tell him what had upset her? Why wouldn’t she tell him what the hell had torn them apart?

As he had for the past two years, he thought through their last days together. At the beginning of that week, she’d been as welcoming and hungry for him as she’d been from the start. By the weekend, she’d told him to fuck off. In nicer language, yes, but the end result had been the same. She’d claimed he was too rough, too overbearing, and too kinky. Since she’d embraced those sides of him for the previous twelve months, he’d intended to call bullshit and make her be fucking honest—before he proposed.

Instead, he returned from an op that Monday to the news that she’d left town for good.

Nothing in his life had been right since.

With burning eyes, he watched Haisley grab her purse, hug her girls, and leave the bar.

For the past two years, he’d sworn that if he ever saw Haisley again, he wouldn’t let her go without getting answers. Then he would fight tooth and nail to win her back. But as he watched her disappear into the cold, humid night, he couldn't help but wonder if he was too late. If he’d lost her for good.

Cursing, Nash turned away, his every step weighted with despair, as he returned to his brother and his gang.

As he approached the table, Trees whistled. “That was a hell of a show.”

“Bite my ass.”

Laila laid a gentle hand on his forearm—a huge step forward for the woman who had once been a prisoner of a drug cartel and, until Trees crashed into her life, had known only abuse and violence at the hands of men. Thanks to his brother’s protective embrace and marshmallow interior, his sister-in-law was no longer afraid. “She has feelings for you.”

He turned to the petite Hispanic beauty with a shake of his head. “I know you’re trying to make me feel better, but?—”

“She does,” Tessa seconded. “I may not know Haisley well, but women understand women.”

Were they insane? “She wrenched away from me and ran as if her ass was on fire.”

I can’t do this. Again. With you. The finality in her tone had been like a knife sliding between his ribs, gouging out his heart, and shattering the last of his hope.

Laila sighed. “Sí,but how did she kiss youbeforethat?”

Tessa pointed at his sister-in-law as the women exchanged a knowing glance. “What Laila said.”

The reason seemed obvious to him. Every time they’d had sex, it was off the chain. Of course he loved pussy, but with Haisley it had been so much more… Every moment with her had been scorching. Consuming. Indelibly etched into his memory.

The ladies were suggesting her reason for clinging to him had less to do with her genitals and more to do with her heart. Nash wanted to believe that, but honestly, he didn’t fucking know. And he needed to.

Now.

“Damn it.” He spun around, bumped and shouldered his way through the crowd, then footraced out the door, bursting outside and sweeping the parking lot with a frenetic scan.

She was gone. Goddamn it.

Nash stood there, his breath misting in the frigid air as bitter regret damn near choked him. He had been a fool, complacent and cocky, when he’d let her walk out of his life two years ago without demanding answers. And now, when she finally showed up again, she’d slipped through his fingers once more.

Never fucking again.

Clenching his fists, Nash let out a ragged sigh, his gaze fixed on the twinkling lights of the city. Haisley was the other half of his soul, the one woman who had ever truly seen him, the good and the bad. She was out there. And he wasn’t letting her go a third time without one hell of a fight.

Steeling his resolve, Nash turned and headed back into the bar, scanning the crowd for Madison. Haisley might be gone…but her bestie would know exactly where to find her.

---