Page 61 of The Apprentice
“Boy—” I started to advance, but he held up his hand.
The smile fell off his handsome face and his eyes went wild with rage. They flashed dangerously and he became perfectly still. “I don’t give a flying fuck that you loved my father. Hell, you could’ve fucked him for all I care.” The pure agony in his voice ripped me into shreds.
He stalked forward and pointed an accusing finger at me. His usually beautiful, flawless face had turned a blotchy red, and moisture was caught in his eyes. “But you broke my heart. All because you were feeling guilty that you had sex with me? Thought you were using me as a replacement for a father I neverknew well? You’re selfish. You could’ve come to me and told me, but instead you chose to be a coward and hide. It’s been over eight years, Daire.Eight yearsof me pining for you—desperate for more. Youtookmy virginity.”
He didn’t cry, but I realized it was furious tears that flooded his eyes.
I froze, his words echoing in my head.Virginity?
“What?”
His laugh was manic. “You were my first. I gave my everything to you.”
I wanted to reach for him, to fall back on my knees and apologize and beg for forgiveness. I’d deserve it if he walked away, but I couldn’t let him. Desperation wouldn’t let me. He was mine and I wasn’t going to let another man have him.
Yet...I fucked up. He was a virgin? How didn’t I know? I should’ve been gentler with him, took it slow. I didn’t deserve his forgiveness. I swallowed around the emotions that lodged in my throat, making it hard to breathe or speak.
“You were the only one I ever slept with. I never wanted anyone else.” His voice broke and his glare intensified.
“I had no idea. Fionn, you should’ve told me. I thought—shit.” My head was a mess.
He stared at me for a long moment. “You are weak.” He stepped back again.
The sharp, angry words hit their target—my vulnerable heart. I flinched. Ouch.
“You could’ve had me, but never again. I’m not your boy anymore. You don’t get to tell me what to do. You’ve had enough chances.This—” He gestured between us. “—is done.”
Fuck, what could I do? How could I show him that I’d changed, that I wouldn’t hurt him again? I would kill any man who touched him. Despair tore at me from the inside, shredding me until I felt wretched in a thousand different ways. This wasn’thow it was going to happen. The only way we’d be apart was in death.
When he went to walk away, I grabbed his arm again and slammed him back against the wall. He aimed a fist at me, but I caught his wrists and pinned them against the wall above his head.
He writhed when I pressed my full weight against him. We panted as we struggled, his chest heaving. A rush of adrenaline swept through me as need had my cock throbbing. The hard-on that nudged me said he wasn’t really interested in pushing me away.
“You. Are. My. Boy.” I nipped his earlobe, and he sucked in a breath. “You’re right. Iwasa coward, and more than that, I was an idiot who made the biggest mistake of my life. I fucked up bad. I hurt you, but not anymore. I’m going to make it up to you, sweet boy. I won’t let you go to Scotti because you’re mine. I own your body—your ass, your mouth, and that spicy attitude of yours.” I brushed a kiss across his lips,needinghim to see my hunger but also my love for him. “I can’t wait to spank that feistiness out of you. I’m your Daddy, and you’remyboy.”
“All those pretty little words and empty promises. You think I should believe them? What are you going to do if I don’t?” he snapped. “Do you even have the balls to do it?”
The challenge stoked a fire in the pit of my belly, and I growled before I threw him over my shoulder.
Fionn kicked and nearly got me in the balls, but I managed to keep a hold of him as I walked toward his room.
“I’ll show you what I’m going to do, boy.” I slapped his ass—hard—and he moaned. It was the prettiest sound I’d ever heard, and my cock thrummed with need. My entire body was alight with lust, goose bumps prickling over my arms. “And by the end of the night, you’ll only be calling me Daddy Daire again.”
“Never.”
I smirked. We would see about that.
13
FIONN
I gasped when Daire dropped me back on my feet and shoved me against the inside of the bedroom door. His mouth was on mine, sucking the life out of me with a kiss so poisonous it left my knees weak. I was desperate for his touch. I could never get enough.
I wanted more.
So much fucking more.
I grabbed a handful of his shirt and tugged him closer until our bodies were nearly melded together. I tilted my chin back to gain better access to his sinful mouth, and we ate each other’s lips like we were starving men. Having Daire against me felt like taking a drug after years of being clean, and I needed himinside me. I wanted to crack open my chest and bury him deep in the cavity because he was already my beating heart.
