Page 131 of Fixation
Nothing about it feels warm and fuzzy. My heart rages on her behalf. She was bullied.
Controlling my expression, I step toward the window. Now it’s my nose that almost touches the glass. “I was curious about you.”
“Yes, I see that. I’m sorry I didn’t earlier,” she whispers.
“And I was dead serious.” My eyes cut to her hand, silently demanding that she line it with mine. “About killing them.”
“Trust me, I believe you.” It’s a slight movement, the rise of her hand. It hangs in the air as Harper considers whether to obey me or not. “You terrify me.”
A sharp nod is what I have to offer her. I won’t ever apologize for being the man she needs me to be.
“I should file for a restraining order.” She puts one finger to mine. Just one, as she stares at me beneath her thick lashes.
Her cheeks flush, and my mouth goes dry.
My body is overwhelmed by how much that one finger means to me.
“Why do you keep lying to yourself, kitten?” I pull it together, straighten to my full height. Tower over her. Making her feel small and mine, just the way she likes it. “Your nipples are hard. Your heart beats so loud I can hear it from here.”
Her arm flies up to her chest.
“Don’t do that.” My voice cuts through, and she obeys. “Don’t ever hide yourself from me.”
“Okay.” Finally, she presses the rest of her small hand to my much larger one.
The move isn’t a conscious one. It’s her fear and submission that push her into this monster’s arms.
“Good girl,” I praise her. “So tell me, Harper, if I were in there, next to you, shoving my fingers in your cunt, you’d squeeze them, wouldn’t you? You’d cry and beg me to stop so I wouldn’t feel how wet you are for me.”
“Anderson.”
“Harper.”
“What?” She scowls.
“That little restraining order fantasy you cling to every time I scare you?” My brow lifts, daring her to lie. Her mouth tightens.“It wouldn’t save you. No piece of paper would stop me from coming for you. There’s no lock, no law, no distance that would keep me away. You’re already mine. Better learn to live with it.”
She gulps. Shudders. Her pupils are blown, despite the sun that begins to rise behind me. It’s as if her irises are a blend of green, gold, and black.
Royalty.
“Okay. Okay.” Her gaze sharpens. She isn’t a little lamb anymore. She’s the shark who runs an empire. I won’t ever choose which of these two sides of her I like more. “I’ll learn to live with you. But you owe me.”
“Of course. What can I get you?”
“The truth. Last night.” The way her tone turns conspiratorial has my jaw ticking. I wish I could sink my teeth into her. Every part of her. “What was that? When you?—”
I talk before she can finish the sentence, hoping to see more red blooming on her cheeks, “When I fucked you?”
“No.” A new, darker shade of red springs on her cheeks. Her neck. “The person you protected me from. Who was that?”
“That man shouldn’t have been there.” I clench my fingers on her window, furious that I can’t break it. I have the Bratva leader as an enemy, and yet this window, this goddamn piece of glass, is my most vicious opponent. “They don’t usually have anyone watching me. Except now that I’m almost done fulfilling my father’s contract. My debt is about to come to an end.”
My answer clears up exactly nothing. I like having her confused like this.
The questions won’t stop rising in her throat.
Harper is trying so hard to choose which one she should ask first.
