Page 73 of Stick It
Her jaw clenches, and I see the moment she realizes arguing with me won’t be easy, but my hurricane never backs down froma fight. “You humiliated him,” she bites out, her hands curling into fists. “Publicly. You made him a joke.”
“So?” I say, unbothered. Honestly, he’s lucky I didn’t do fucking worse. If he continues to fucking mess with her, what I did in the cafeteria will look like child’s play in comparison to what happens next. It’s only going to get worse for Kyle until he stops. Even then, I might completely destroy him just for daring to ruin what’s mine. “He’s been gunning for you since the minute you showed up here. Don’t think I don’t know that he’s got those dumb-ass freshmen going after you too. One of them nearly snapped your fucking arm!”
Her breath hitches, eyes widening in surprise.Yeah, sweetheart, I saw that. Iseeeverything.She shakes her head, refusing to let me sway her. “That’s not the point.”
“It’sexactlythe point,” I snap, taking a large step closer. “You can ignore him all you want, but he’s not going to stop coming after you, Dylan. Not until you’re incapacitated. Until he’s wiped you from the board—for good.” Another step forward has me close enough to catch a whiff of her shampoo—peach and bergamot. It’s perfectly Dylan—sweet and fresh with a zesty tinge. But sometimes that sharp edge of hers just needs an extrabite. “People like Kyle only understand one thing—power. And right now, he knows you have none.”
She glares up at me, furious, but I see something else beneath it. Something raw. Fear? Pain? I can’t tell, but I hate it.
“I know exactly what people like Kyle understand,” she seethes, damn near bristling as her eyes burn into mine. Still, her fury only coaxes me closer, her throat bobbing at my proximity. “And I don’t need you, or anyone else, fighting my battles.” There’s not the same grit behind her words this time, not the same conviction.
It tugs at me, the hint of weariness in her tone. How manyother fuckers like Kyle has she had to go up against? To fight on her own.
I laugh. Actually laugh. Low and dark and mocking. “Yeah, you do, Hurricane. You just don’t want to admit it.”
Her breath shudders, and I take a final step forward, crowding her and forcing her to crane her neck to meet my stare. “I protect what’s mine,” I tell her, my voice dropping to something rough and unyielding. “And you? You are mine.”
Her lips part, a shaky breath escaping, but she doesn’t pull away.
I reach out, skimming my fingers along her jaw, my touch light but possessive. “You stormed into my life, wrecking every ounce of control I had, and you think I’m just going to stand by while someone else tries to tear you down?” My voice drops lower. “Not a chance in hell, sweetheart.”
I trail my fingers down the side of her throat, feeling the unsteady thud of her pulse beneath my fingertips. She should push me away. Tell me to fuck off. But she doesn’t. Instead, she sways closer, just enough for me to feel the warmth of her breath against my lips.
It’s all the permission I need.
I crush my mouth to hers, swallowing her startled gasp. There’s nothing soft about my claiming. Nothing tentative about the way I drive my tongue into her mouth. I kiss her like I own her—and I’m just reminding her who she belongs to.
At first, she’s rigid beneath me, but then her hand comes up to fist the front of my hoodie. A broken little sound escapes her throat, andfuck, it drives me insane. It’s the sound of surrender, of frustration, of need, and it snaps whatever control I have left.
I dive deeper into her, wrapping an arm around her waist and walking her backward until we hit the nearest wall. She gasps, breaking our kiss. Breathing hard, I rest my forehead against hers. “You’re mine, Dylan,” I murmur, voice rough andpossessive. “Mine to watch. Mine to protect. Just goddamnmine.”
Lips swollen and breathing haggard, she shakes her head, defiant as ever, but I can feel the way her body betrays her—her sharp intake of breath, the shiver that runs through her when I press my thigh between hers. “I belong to no one,” she argues, but the hitch in her breath betrays her.
I drag my mouth down the side of her neck, letting my teeth scrape her pulse point. “Fight me all you want, Hurricane, but I know the truth. I see it every time you look at me—the lust. The intrigue. You want this as badly as I do.”
Licking into her mouth, I kiss her again, deeper this time. I don’t ease in, don’t take my time. I take what I want, tilting her head back and swallowing her moan like it belongs to me. Because itdoes.
I slide a hand up her side, feeling the dip of her waist, the way she fits against me like she was fucking made for this—for me.
“Admit it,” I growl against her lips.
Her fingers tangle in my hair, nails scraping my scalp, and I groan, pressing harder against her. I can feel how wrecked she is, how torn between whatever war she’s fighting in her own head and the way her body is begging for more.
“Fine.” I chuckle darkly as my lips skim the angle of her jaw, my fingers sliding into her hair and tugging just hard enough to move her into the position I want. “I don’t need your words when your body is screaming loud and clear just how badly it wants this.”
She huffs out a shaky breath, her chest heaving as it brushes against mine. “You’re impossible.”
I smirk darkly down at her. “And you love it.”
I bite her lip, then soothe it with my tongue, teasing her, testing her. Although she doesn’t push me away, she glares up atme, her breathing uneven and her body tight, like she’s holding herself back. Like she’s still trying to fight me.
“You don’t need someone to fight your battles,” I murmur, dragging my knuckles down her side and relishing the way she shudders beneath my touch. “But that doesn’t mean you don’twantsomeone to fight for you.”
Her brows pinch together.
“You like the thought of my hands around Kyle’s fucking throat. That I’m making him suffer for every time he’s gone after you. Every time he’s tried to tear you down.” I shift impossibly closer. Every ridge of my body pressed up against her soft edges as I let my lips brush the shell of her ear, my breath ghosting over her skin. “Pretend you hate it all you want, but youlikeknowing I’ll hurt him for you.”
Her hands fist in my hoodie, her breath coming in rapid pants.
