Page 9 of Only for You
Chapter Four
“Payback. Take it. All that I’ve denied you these past five years. My body. Yours for one night.”
She heard the words echoing in the room, and part of her balked at saying them. Cringed as she waited for him to reject her. Waited with a pounding heart in hope he would take her up on her offer.
He terrified her. Because he could break her into so many pieces with his passion, she wouldn’t be able to find all of them.
And yet, he thrilled her. Because he could break her into so many pieces with his passion, she wouldn’t be able to find all of them.
Gabriella shivered, caution warning her not to push. But the erotic shudder reverberating low in her belly and between her thighs shut the caution up with a resounding bitch slap. Her sex clenched, as if preparing itself for his special brand of possession.
“What the fuck are you saying?” he growled. “No.”
She should leave it at that. Turn around and walk out of here. But she couldn’t. Desperation, guilt, need…more…kept her there, refusing to accept his rejection.
He wanted her. He could push her away, deny it. But his cock couldn’t lie.
Tilting her head back, she stared into his narrowed eagle’s gaze. “What did you imagine while in jail? Did you want to use me? Make me pay for every hurt, pain, and betrayal with my body? Did you want to tie me up? Spread me wide? Spank me ’cause I’ve been a bad girl?”
His wide chest rose and fell on deep, harsh breaths, and he studied her with an intense focus that stroked her cheeks, nose, and lips. Hope and anticipation whispered through her. Oh, yeah, she had him now. “Why?” he rasped.
“Absolution, maybe,” she murmured. “Penance. Not just for you, but for me.”
And then there was the other, more selfish reason. Five years. Half a damn decade. She missed him. Craved him. After tonight, she’d never have him again. And she was desperate enough to take this opportunity to be with him again, whether in retribution, in a twisted semblance of justice, or absolution of her perceived sin. She’d take it…take one more memory to hoard and tuck away for the years to come.
And it would have to be enough.
She was returning to L.A. and the life she’d built for herself out west in three days. Boston had once been home, but not anymore. And she’d placed down roots in California. Had started over where no one knew her as the daughter of Colleen James, the local hooker. In L.A., no one assumed that when she served drinks, she was also on the menu. Even being Killian Vincent’s girlfriend hadn’t shed her of that stigma. Now, she stood on her own, didn’t lean on her uncle. Now, for the first time in her life, she hovered on the cusp of owning something that was all hers. Even Killian hadn’t been all hers—she’d shared him with the O’Bannons. This bar symbolized her independence, her victory over all the shit and shitty people who’d expected her to be slinging drinks and ass for her life. She’d won.
And then, of course, there remained her secret. The one she hadn’t been able to reveal to Killian before he’d rushed out the night their lives had imploded.
After her numerous attempts to visit him in the jail and his refusals to see her, cutting her out of his life, she hadn’t been able to reveal the identity of the person she’d overheard conspiring with the First Street Gang members at her uncle’s bar.
Michael Hughes, the son of Jamie, the O’Bannon gang’s boss. The man had turned against his own father, had been willing to cut him and other members down for his own gain. She or her uncle wouldn’t have been anything but a footnote in his personal murder book. And, she had no doubt, Michael would have threatened Uncle Garrett to get to her…or worse. So, she’d left, to protect her and her uncle’s life, taking her secret with her.
And now, staring into Killian’s face, she made the decision to keep that information to herself.
This club, his new life…he’d escaped the mob and their world that had revolved on an axis of violence, despair, and slavery masked as loyalty. Revealing Michael Hughes had planned that hit could possibly send Killian reeling back into the filth he’d washed off. Send him back to the hell that had ruined his voice and two years of his life. It was possible, but could she say for certain? No. This Killian seemed harder, harsher, fiercer, and more controlled than the man she knew. Which made him more unpredictable. Which meant she wasn’t risking it or him.
Which meant tonight really was all she would have with him.
“Well, Killian?” she pressed, slipping her fingertips along his waistband. Dipping between his shirt and pants, caressing his taut flesh for the first time in… She sank her teeth into her bottom lip, biting back a groan. He was hot to the touch, like a furnace burned within him.
Hard, firm fingers wrapped around her hand and removed it from him. Disappointment flashed within her, heavy and dark. No. His answer was still no, and he was sending her away…
“You know what I need. What I want.” His hold tightened, not hurting her. God, no. That firm grasp reminded her of what it’d been like between them. Hard. Pressing the limit. Blending the lines between pleasure and the bite of pain. “Do I want you tied up and spread wide? Do I want to spank that pretty ass? Hell yeah. Spank it. Take it. Your mouth. Your tight little body. No part of you would remain untouched. Unfucked. Do you remember how I’d hold you down and tongue you until you screamed, begged me to stop? Did I stop?” He didn’t wait for her to reply. Why? They both knew the answer. Hell no. Not until she’d come against in his mouth at least three times. “And I’m not going to stop. Not when I have your mouth full of me. Not when I’m so deep inside you, you’ll forget what it is to not have my cock tattooing your pussy. Have you gotten soft in five years, Gabriella? Can you handle it? Whatever I want. No matter how hard or filthy?”
Oh God, yes.
She nodded.
“I need the words,” he insisted.
“Yes.”
“Then, yeah,” he said, lowering his head until their faces were less than an inch apart. All she had to do was slick her tongue across her own mouth to touch his full, lush bottom lip. “One night. Whatever I want and need to get you out of my head once and for all. I haven’t been able to push you out, so I’ll fuck you out.”
His statement vibrated through her like a discordant cord.I’ll fuck you out…I’ll fuck you out.Painful and sweet. He was giving in, but only to be rid of her, then he would forget her, go on living without her as he’d been doing for the last five years. And she had no one to blame for that but herself. Yet, she was willing to pay the price.
