Page 58 of Hostile Cravings
“That’s my girl.” He let me go, his fingers capturing the scarf and skimming it as I backed from his embrace.
“Casey gave it to me. It was in your pocket with my rings. Is that okay?”
“Your rings?” he asked, his brow raising.
“My rings, my husband, the man I love and have loved since the moment I saw him standing in the foyer of our home proud and sexy, even with his tattoos, old age, and rude comments.”
“I’m not an old man, baby. I’m experienced. Experienced enough to make you come undone like you never have. Now get your sexy ass in this bed and let me touch that body.”
“You just woke up! You have stitches, your wound?—”
“I don’t give a shit, wife. Get your ass over here and let me touch you.”
I curled into the bed next to him, trying not to disturb all the tubes and monitors that were hooked up to him.
“What are you wearing?” he asked, kissing my nose as I looked up at him. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you in so much clothing. Where’s all your skin?”
“You said you wanted me covered up so no other man could see what’s yours,” I said, noting the strength that still sat in his chest and being careful not to disturb his wound.
“So I did. Now, tell me what happened after that asshole shot me, why my best friend isn’t here and my sister… Shit, is he fucking her when I’m in here with all this shit attached to me?”
Laughing, I said, “No, although I’m not sure they haven’t. They take shifts but Casey left to get showered and changed. Mason is meeting with my father, Tony, and Strint to figure out what to do with Tirenti’s territory. Now that they’ve toppled his family, his hold on the territory has left it open for the Omens. They’re working out a plan to either split the territory between us and Strint or hand it over to someone else.”
“Huh, likely Rinagi. He was part of Tirenti’s crew, but Tirenti pissed him off a year back and he’s been building his own empire on the outskirts of the territory. He’s young, and he’s smart. And Mason has him in our pockets already. Makes sense to move him into power.”
“Rinagi? That name sounds familiar. I think I hooked up with someone by that name a while back,” I teased. His arm squeezed tight around me, his heartbeat monitor pinging loudly.
“Do I need to kill someone when I get out of this place?”
“I think you’d have too many to kill, just like I think I would. And I’m just playing. I don’t know him.” I kissed his cheek. “I’m all yours, Tyson. Body, heart, and soul.”
He peered down at me, the amber in his eyes sparkling. “You love me, Anj?” he asked, his voice a soft whisper that tingled along my ears.
“Yes, completely. Do you really love me?”
He was quiet for a moment. “Is that scar big?”
I scrunched my brows. “What?”
“The scar from that bullet I took for you. Is it big?”
I nodded, not sure what that had to do with loving me.
“Good, I think I’ll get a new tattoo to cover it. A long black viper.” My breath caught, my chest growing tight. “And you can get a matching one, someplace that marks you as mine, Angela Donelli, because I’m not letting you go again. No matter how much you fight me or how loud you complain. I’ll smack that ass red if I have to, but I’m never letting you go.”
Bringing his face close, I held his cheek, gazing into his eyes. “Then I expect you to make this marriage real, Tyson Raines. I want a pretty dress, lots of flowers, and horses.”
“Horses? What the hell do horses have to do with a wedding?”
“We can’t have it on the beach like I really want, so we’ll have to have it on your stinky horse farm.”
He stopped my words with a kiss, pulling me into him even though I knew it was hurting him. “My girl wants a beachwedding, my girl gets a beach wedding. My girl gets whatever she wants, and I’ll kill anyone who stands in the way of me giving it to her.”
“I love you Tyson, and all I want is you.”
“Good, because there’s no way I’m ever letting another man touch this body again. It’s mine. You belong to me, little viper.”
He kissed me again, his hand sliding along my body.
