Page 127 of Crave
Anger raged inside me as I turned my head?—
Gabe was no longer standing in the doorway. He was moving toward us.
Fast.
Before I could react, he grabbed Jude by the collar and yanked him back, hard and punishing.
In this moment Gabe was no longer the baby brother. He breathed raw, terrifying rage. His shirt stuck against his skin, thesheen of sweat still glistening across his brow as he stood there still dressed in the clothes he wore to the gym.
I hadn’t heard him leave, but he must have. Now he was back and desperate for an outlet for his anger.
Jude let out a sharp grunt as his back hit the counter, but Gabe wasn’t looking at him.
He was looking at me.
His breath was fast, too fast.
His fists were clenched at his sides, his entire body tense. I swore I could feel the heat rolling off him.
His eyes.
His maddening eyes.
Dark.
Wild.
Desperate.
And I knew.
He had seen everything.
His chest heaved, his pulse a visible, violent throb at his throat. Then—before I could move, before I could speak, his hand shot out.
I barely had time to react before his fingers curled around my waist, yanking me against him, too hard, too desperate, too much.
I let out a sharp, shocked breath, my body crashing into his, my hands flattening against his chest.
He didn’t move.
Didn’t breathe.
And neither did I.
The heat between us roared, electric and unstoppable, re-igniting the desire between us from hours earlier. But this was different now, no longer silent, no longer able to be ignored.
His grip tightened, his fingers digging into my skin like he was trying to anchor himself to something real. But didn’t he know by now, I wasn’t real?
I was whatever they wanted me to be.
A liar.
A betrayer.
Something to use.
Anyway they wanted.
