Page 71 of Blood & Throttle
I shoot him a look. “What’s he gonna do, ground me?”
Ghost raises both palms in surrender and backs off, muttering under his breath like he’s already praying for me.
We step inside. The second Riot lifts his head and sees me, theair changes.
His jaw’s locked. That tick in his temple is back. His nostrils flare once, slow and sharp.
Ghost lifts his hands. “She found me. I just thought I'd walk her back.”
Riot doesn’t even blink. Just gives a nod—get out.
The second Ghost dips out and the door slams shut behind me, I know I’m in deep shit.
Riot’s standing there, arms crossed, jaw clenched, heat rolling off him in waves like he’s been standing in the center of a fuse waiting to blow.
He doesn’t speak.
He doesn’t need to.
Thatlook—the one that could stop a freight train dead in its tracks—is aimed square at me, and it says one thing:You’re mine, and you fucked up.
I lean my shoulder against the wall, all casual defiance. “What? No welcome-back kiss?”
His head tilts slightly. Dangerous. Deliberate.
“You left.”
I shrug. “I got bored.”
“You disobeyed me.”
“Again,” I say, flicking an imaginary speck from my sleeve, “bored.”
He steps forward and the air shifts.
I don’t move, but my body goes tight. Alert.
Because Riot Carter doesn’t just walk toward you. Hedescends.
Towering, broad, carved from violence and bad intentions. Dark hair wild from the wind, a slash of stubble across his jaw, that scar running down his collarbone barely hidden beneath the stretched black shirt clinging to every muscle in his chest.
He’s heat. Fury. Chaos in a cage.
And when he gets close—close enough that I can feel the raw power of him radiating off his skin, I feel my pulse spike like I’ve beenmarked for death.
Or worse—for him.
“You really think this is a joke?” he growls, voice rough as gravel. “You think walking out was some cute power move?”
I smirk, even as the heat coils low in my stomach. “I think you like the chase.”
His hand slams the wall beside my head, cage tight around me.
“You fighteverything,” he spits. “Every order. Every command. Every fucking look I give you. You can’t take a step without testing how far I’ll let you go.”
I smile sweetly. “Isn’t that half the fun?”
His other hand grabs my jaw, forcing my head back until I’m staring straight into those storm-filled eyes. They burn. Alive, and untamed.
