Page 58 of Tempt

There was shuffling and then, “So nice to see you again, Theo. You’re a hard man to get to.” Toni’s voice was the cold, dead kind you expect from a killer. His Scottish accent was so thick I had trouble understanding it. “I just want to talk,” Toni said.

Theo laughed. “The last thing you want to do is talk.” I could imagine the death stare Theo was throwing at him.

“How would you know? You never give me a chance to say anything.”

“The last thing you said to me was that you were going to kill me.”

I heard the sound of feet shuffling and then a chair moving. “We can’t change the past.”

“No,” Theo agreed. “We can’t.”

“I like your new girlfriend. She’s pretty. And feisty. I like the way she walks—”

“Shut thefuckup.” There was scuffling noises. By the sounds of it, Theo had Toni by the throat.

My heart was stuck in mine. There was no question now—Toni had been following me.

“What are you going to do to me, T?” Toni’s voice was much thinner now. “I thought you weren’tthat mananymore? Didn’t you promise daddy dearest?”

A chair clattered to ground. “You go near her again and you’ll find out exactly what kind of man I am.”

Toni’s chuckle was strained. “Oh, you really like her. That’s good to know—”

I jumped as I listened to the sounds of fists landing over and over again. I slid around the corner until I could see Theo on top of Toni, beating him unconscious.

He was going to kill him if I didn’t stop him, and while that was definitely one solution to our problems, I didn’t want Theo to add convicted murderer to his list of regrets. Plus, I was pretty sure that a small town homicide (with me as the only witness) was not the grand master plan Theo had in mind.

“Theo,” I yelled.

He paused mid-punch, then landed another blow, tossing Toni’s unconscious body to the floor. His eyes were black and cold as he stalked toward me—his fists raw and bloody, every muscle rippling beneath his shirt. He stopped silently in front of me and carefully peeled my fingers away from the knives. Then he picked up the napkin and wiped them clean before setting them on the nearest table. “C’mon, let’s go.”

“Is he—”

“He’ll have a helluva headache when he wakes up.” Then he pulled out his wallet and withdrew a stack of bills. “Out the door with you,” he said with the tilt of his chin.

It was like I was working on automatic. I turned and walked out the back door. Susan’s niece and nephew stood huddled together under a tree. Theo walked quickly over and handed them the cash. I heard the hushed apologies and assurances from both parties and then Theo was back at my side, hand on the small of my back, pushing me toward the hotel. “We need to get back to our room.”

And so that’s what we did. We practically ran and said nothing else until the door to our room was closed and locked. That’s when I threw myself at Theo, pressing my lips hard against his as I pulled him into me.

I needed this. I desperately needed the reassurance that Theo was all right.

He groaned and leaned into my kiss, as if I’d just taken away all his defenses. Maybe it was the adrenaline, or maybe it was the fear and doubt eating away at me, either way I was frantic and strangely needy to feel him inside me. There was truth in the way we were together. Vulnerable, naked, and open. I needed that. Without it I didn’t understand anything that had just happened.

“Fuck, Allison… we need togo.”

I shook my head and kissed him harder. Pulled at him more desperately. We were not leaving. We couldn’t. “No,” I gasped. “Please?”

He groaned. “Fuck it all.” I was on the floor and on my back so fast I didn’t know what was happening until my shoes were yanked off my feet. “Naked.Now.”

A shudder of desire coursed through me. Theo like this was so hot. He was angry and demanding, but also focused and so very, very primal.

So I did as he asked and pulled my sweater over my head and shoved my jeans down my legs. I didn’t even get both legs off before Theo was inside me. It was fast and it was rough. It was everything I needed it to be: Theo proving to me that he was a man.

Yeah, it was foolish to ask that from him in that moment, but he needed it too. He was ready to explode when we left the restaurant. So we exploded together in the most basic of human ways.

“Harder,” I begged.

He responded immediately. I clawed at his ass, pulling him deeper, encouraging him to go faster. He grabbed my thigh and pushed my leg up higher. I cried out as he moved, hitting new places inside of me than he hadn’t hit all weekend. The change was shocking and precisely what I was searching for.

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