Page 74 of Hawk's Sapphire

Her eyes heat.Her pulse is thrumming in her neck.Her breathing has picked up.She may be mad as fuck at me, but Sadie wants this as badly as I do.Weneedthis.

“I don’t want to fight with you.I don’t want to do anything with you.All I want is for you to leave this room and let me finish what I’ve started with Matteo.Let me find Shea so you can take her home and then I’ll figure out my life from here.Without you,” she hisses.

“Not going to happen, Sapphire.”

Her nostrils flare.She doesn’t like my answer.Too bad.“I’m not leaving you and Matteo to do anything alone together.That bullshit stops now.You want to helpusfind Shea?That’s fine.But from this moment on, you won’t be doing a damn thing without me.You won’t be walking into danger.You won’t be following Matteo’s orders.You’re not his to protect.And you, for damn sure, won’t be going to any kink clubs with anyone but me.”Her cheeks turn red, and if I’m honest, I’m not sure if it’s from embarrassment or anger.

“Now, come on.Fight me.Let’s go.Come at me, and when we’re done, I’ll make you comeforme.”I wiggle my eyebrows.My cocky, shit-eating grin is firmly back in place because I know it pisses her off even more.

I want her anger.She needs to get the rage and frustration out.If I have to provoke her to spar with me and settle this shit between us, so be it.Then I’ll get her naked and give her some major release while she’s writhing underneath me.It’s a win-win situation.Or it will be.

“I don’t want to fight.I want you to stop trying to make me feel things I don’t want to feel.Stop trying to force something that isn’t going to happen.You said it yourself.We made a mistake the first time.Why repeat history when it will only disappoint us both?Just chalk it up as another one of your hopeless one-night stands, and we can both move on with our lives.”

Hell no.

The more she fights me on this, the more I want to prove to her I own her.The same way she owns me.

“We were never going to be a one-night stand, Sadie.Once was never going to be enough with you.I had already decided before I got to your house that this thing between us was happening.You’remineand I’myours.Stop fucking fighting it.”

“You can’t just decide to make someone yours, Nathaniel!”she shouts.“Especially when you’re only going to take it back the next day.”Her voice cracks.Sadie turns away to hide the chinks I’ve caused in her armor.But it’s too late.I’ve seen them.

Now we’re getting somewhere.

She thinks I’m going to push her away again.Not a fucking chance in hell.

While her guard is momentarily down, I decide it’s time to make a move and lunge for her.Fuck if she doesn’t pivot quickly, putting herself behind me.She makes a move for the door, and something primal snaps inside of me.I need to catch her and subdue her, make her see reason one orgasm at a time.

A low rumble vibrates up my chest, and just as she reaches the door, I’m on her.My body pinning hers against the hardwood of the door, my feet keeping hers apart far enough she can’t kick me.“You want to run?I’ll chase you, baby.But once I catch you, I’m going to remind you how good we are together.”

Sadie’s lip quivers.She bites it, but it’s too late.I saw it.She’s scared.She’s trying like hell to hide the truth, but I know my Sapphire.There’s more going on here, and the only way I can get her to completely open up to me is to get her naked and vulnerable before me—physically and emotionally.

Is it a prick move to use sex to get her to talk to me?Maybe.Does it change my plan?Not in the slightest.

I grab Sadie’s hair, pulling her head back.Not hard enough to hurt, but enough to make her gasp and gain her attention.I can see her pulse racing in the vein on her neck.“Are you afraid of me, Sapphire?”

“I’m not afraid ofyou.I’m afraid of what you might do to my heart.You can’t claim me, Nathaniel.”My name is a whispered plea.“This is a disaster waiting to happen.”

“I can andI have.And I’m not changing my mind or taking it back.I was an asshole of epic proportions, but the facts remain the same.You.Are.Mine.I know it and so do you.And when I have your ass pinned to the bed, stripped and soaking wet for me, there will be no denying it anymore.”

Placing my hand across her torso, my palm spreading across her stomach, I can feel the heat of her skin through the thin material of her cotton shirt.Her body stills.“You’re trembling, Sapphire.Your body already knows who you belong to.But you want to know a secret?”I push my hard, throbbing cock against her tight little ass and grind against her, eliciting a whimper.“My body knows it’s yours, too.”

She snorts.“You get a hard on when the wind changes direction.You can hardly expect me to take that as an indication that you belong to me.Especially after all the whores you’ve been hard for.I’m not one ofthem.”Her last words are whispered, but I hear the sadness in them.

Sadie begins to struggle, wiggling her hips to twist free.I spin her around to face me, then push her wrists together above her head with one hand so they land against the door.My other hand settling on her hip with my thigh still holding her legs apart so she can’t kick me.

Holding eye contact with her, I want Sadie to see the truth when I tell her, “They were the next fun thing and nothing more, something to distract me from the guilt I carry every day for everything Nate did toour family.I never felt anything for any of them.Maybe that makes me an asshole, but it’s the truth and I never lead anyone on.But the truth is, I didn’t know what I wanted.But I do now,” I admit.“I wanted you, baby.For a long time, I’ve wanted you.I’ve fought myself against my desires to have you, to make you mine.My reasons—like yours—were bullshit.I thought Pres would be mad and Mack would slit my throat, but the truth is they both gave their blessing.”She gasps, a single tear slips down her cheek and her eyes close.“But I’m done playing with all the others.I don’t want them.I wantyou.Only you.”

Sadie shakes her head violently from side to side.“Please.Please stop.Nathaniel.I can’t.You can’t … You don’t …”

Pressing a finger to her lips to silence her disbelief, I kiss her forehead and watch as her shoulders drop, and her breathing deepens.My free hand comes up from her hip to caress her cheek, my thumb slowly rolling over her bottom lip.“I can, and I do.I mean every word.I want you.Every inch of you.Your heart.Your sexy little body.Your sassy-as-fuck attitude.This too-smart-for-your-own-good brain of yours.All of it, Sapphire.Will you let me have you?”It’s my turn to plead with her.

I can feel my heart racing with the anticipation.If she denies me, I’ll just keep pushing, proving to her we belong together.I won’t give up.

“Yes.”Her words come out in a whisper, but I hear her.My lips come down on hers, and I take my time exploring her mouth.Her body slowly melts into mine and I release her wrists to grip her hair, but before I can get a good grip, she bites my liphard.When I pull away, stunned at her actions, she takes advantage, slamming both hands into my chest and forcing me back a step, giving her just enough room to get loose and move away from me.She doesn’t go far, only a few steps, putting the bed between us.

“What the hell?I thought you didn’t want to fight?”I wipe away the blood from my lip and stand with my hands on my hips, watching her.

“If we do this, you can’t change your mind,” she says, quietly.

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