Page 18 of Unhinged Cravings
The specifics on the one I took for panic attacks and my anxiety were next. I didn’t know if I would need the one, but given my situation, it was a likely chance.
“That’s all?” he asked, as if he expected more. I’d thought I had given him plenty.
I nodded, yet he waited.
“What?” I asked, putting my hands out.
“No birth control?”
I slammed my mouth shut too hard and the shock of my teeth clanking made me cringe. “I don’t need it. Unless you’re planning to do something…” I backed up, remembering who he was and that reputation that had bothered the other bosses. Swallowing too loudly, I took another step back, seeing the understanding in his eyes.
I needed to get out of there. This game of flirting was nothing more than a way to ease me in before he sold me off to someone or passed me around to his men. Fear hammered me, and I spun on my heels and ran.
“Damn it. That’s all,” I heard him tell whoever was on the phone as I passed through the deck doors.
His hand was on my arm, stopping my movement and spinning me around before I got further.
“Ava, stop.”
A stern warning, but one I didn’t want to heed because the thought of being traded and used terrified me like nothing had before.
I tried pulling away, but his other hand took my free arm, and he tugged me toward him.
“Let me go, Emerson. Please. You can’t do that to me. I’ll fight you and whoever buys me. I will not stop fighting until I’m?—”
“Stop.” He glanced up at Breaker, who had been blocking my way out of the main room to the door that stood not far from him, then dragged me back out to the deck.
Dragged was the best term because I dug my heels into the floor and clawed at his hands. Shoving me toward the table, he looked down at his hands, grumbling, “Fucking calm down. Goddamn you’re a wildcat.” He sucked his bloody knuckle, his eyes dark as they stared me down.
My chest was heaving from my struggle, but with his focus on his knuckle, I made a break for it. His arm came out and slammed into my stomach. My back hit his chest hard enough to knock the air from my lungs when he flipped me around. A firm hold kept me from wiggling.
“Settle down, wildcat.” This time, his voice was low and gravely, a sound that caused an annoyingly warm sensation between my legs.
“Why should I? You must think I’m a fool. Well, I’m not, Emerson Tides. I’m smart and on to you.”
He chuckled, an unexpected reaction and one that only further infuriated me.
“You think that’s funny?”
“I think it’s funny how you have the nerve to call me by a name only my shithead brother calls me. And that you think you’ve got mefigured out.”
My body was enjoying his arms around it entirely too much, and I relaxed further into him. His voice against my ear informed me of where my body’s allegiance fell when he said, “I find it humorous that you can look so adorable and sweet, yet there’s a fucking wildcat with wicked words and sharp claws underneath.”
The heave of my chest was entirely too noticeable. “So I’m adorable?” Oh no, there I went again, flirting with a man I was just running from. This man was eviscerating my common sense.
He removed his hand and flicked the messy knob of hair on the left side of my head. I had ripped strips of fabric from a shirt in my room and used them to tie my hair up in two knots.
“With pink streaks and these things? Not sure there’s another word that accurately describes you.”
Huffing, I said, “I’d take beautiful or gorgeous. Adorable makes me sound like I’m a kid.” I glanced over my shoulder at him, my forehead scraping against his stubble. “Oh no, don’t tell me you’re into kids.”
The yank to my knot caused an uncensored yelp.
“No, I’m not into kids. What the fuck is wrong with you?”
“Just checking if I needed to add something even more disgusting to your rap sheet.”
A noise similar enough to a growl came from him, eliciting a fuzzy sensation in my stomach. Wiggling from his hold, I turned to find his features stiff. His eyes flicked to my chest, and there was a slight tick to his jaw.
