Page 84 of Breaking the Rules
“Excuse me? Why should I give you anything that you need?” he demanded, still looking for that fight. “You’ve done nothing but lie to me this entire time.”
“And I had my reasons for that, which I will get to later with you. For now, you are personally standing in the way of me getting the answers I need.”
“Yeah, well right back at you, baby.”
That shut her up for a second. “Dante and I are not together. Let’s leave it at that for now,” she said.
“This is my life we’re talking about right now. We are not leaving it at that!” Xavier railed. “You’ve strung me along, lied to me, used me. I put my company, my reputation, on the line for you. For what? Why the fuck am I doing any of this?” He shoved his hands through his hair.
She crossed to him, got into his space, and just her physical presence reminded him of why he was doing it. He loved her so fiercely he was willing to sacrifice it all. What a joke it was, to have worked his whole life to build something he could be proud of only to ante it up for Waverly in a game of Jenga. If she slid the wrong piece loose, the whole thing would crumble and he wasn’t sure she’d care.
“You’re letting your personal feelings get in the way of the job, Xavier. I need you to pull it back and help me with this.”
“Thisispersonal. Everything with you is personal, and there’s no way to draw that line. It was personal five years ago, and it’s still fucking personal. Don’t jerk me around, Waverly. You don’t get to use me anymore.”
He didn’t know how it happened, whether she’d jumped or he’d grabbed, but she was in his arms. Her arms were wrapping around his waist and hanging on for dear life and he was crushing her to his chest.
“You make me feel so angry and so possessive I can’t see straight,” he murmured into her tangle of hair.
“You make me so everything, X.”
It hit him then. They’d found Dante, yet Waverly was in his arms. The fear he’d had since the beginning felt looser, less strangling. She wasn’t holding Dante, breathing him in and hanging on. Maybe she and Dante weren’t together. He’d figured that out the second she didn’t shoot him in Petra’s bed. But he’d still had that worry, that jealousy over their history, over her forgiveness of Dante’s abandonment.
He needed one more reassurance before he was willing to let her go, before he’d walk back into the conference room and not punch Dante in his smug, British face. He fisted his hand in her hair, pulling her head back. Those gorgeous gray-green eyes weren’t looking for answers now. They were looking at him, only him.
His mouth was hard when it lowered to hers, unforgiving and controlling. But she knew that’s what she was getting with him. With a hand on her jaw, he forced her mouth to open for him even though he knew she’d give it to him willingly. He was reminding her who she belonged with, who she belonged to. No matter what her history was, Xavier was her present, her future.
He thrust his tongue into her mouth, demanding her response. She sighed into the kiss, their first kiss with no one else between them. There was no nebulous threat of Dante coming back. He was back and she was still here returning heat for heat, need for need. Xavier backed her up until they hit the wall. Her teeth sank into his lower lip, and he felt the growl rumble in his chest.
No matter what, they had this, they had each other.
“Hey, Zave, do you want me to—Ah! My eyes!” Chelsea covered her face with her hands.
Xavier and Waverly sprang apart.
“Get out!” he ordered, turning his back on them both to spare his sister the sight of his hard-on through sweatpants.
“I’m going to go disinfect my eyes,” Chelsea said, practically sprinting from the room. She shut the door behind her.
“Uhh…”
“Don’t say anything or do anything or even breathe too loudly,” Xavier said, his back to Waverly. “Otherwise I’m going to bend you over that couch and the entire office is going to hear it when I make you come.”
He heard her exhalation come out in a whoosh. He took several deep breaths himself. “Do you see what you do to me, Angel? Do you see how crazy you make me?”
“Why do you want me, Xavier?”
“Why?” He turned to face her.
“People have wanted me before. They wanted to tagalong into fame, to take advantage of my connections, to get a front row seat for whatever surrounds me. Tell me why you want me.”
He risked his blood flow and put his hands on her again. He gripped her upper arms. “You don’t get it, Angel. I don’t just want you. I love you. You’re under my skin and you’re in my veins. I’ve been looking for you my entire life. I don’t give a shit about the fame and the drama. It’s you. You’re the girl who talks me into motorcycle rides up the coast and beach picnics. You’re the girl who leads me on a chase and then completely surrenders to me. You’re the girl who takes me inside her and makes me feel like I am finally the man I was meant to be.”
Tears glistened in her eyes. “Damn it, X!”
He cupped her jaw. “I’m in love with you, Waverly, and I’m not going to let you fuck this up for us.”
She threw herself into him, held on tight. “Promise me you won’t let me.”
