Page 66

I fail to regulate my rage when I growl, “Van and I were standing right here, and he was practically eye-fucking you, Everly.”

Her mouth falls open and she seems momentarily stunned. I think I’ve won when she puffs up. “You know what, Mr. Shaw? I’m a single, twenty-five-year-old woman. Maybe I’m okay with it. Maybe I want him to eye-fuck me. Maybe I’ll even let him—”

It’s like I black out because the next second, I have Everly pinned against a shelf. The delicate line of her neck is clamped under my hand and I’m staring down into her upturned face with a boiling fury I can barely see through. It doesn’t help that she’s glowering up at me with her pouty little mouth pursed and her eyes spitting fire like she’s daring me to do something insane.

“You’ll let him what, Everly?”

The control in every word astounds me when I am a snarling, ravenous beast inside waiting to rip something open with my teeth.

I know she can sense just how close to the line she’s toeing just from the erratic flutter of her pulse under my hold, but Everly isn’t backing down. It’s as clear as day in her eyes.

“Let him have me,” she spits out, defiance dripping from each syllable.

I feel the rumble in my chest before the growl curls up in my throat. I feel the tremor in my fingers before I still them. I am so close to doing something I’m not entirely sure I’ll regret.

“Try it. If he puts one finger on you,” my free hand sinks into all those gorgeous curls and fists, “I’ll kill him. I’ll bury his body deep in the woods, and lead the search party trying to find him.” My face lowers over hers. Far enough that I inhale every ragged pant like a drug. “But not before I cut off that finger and gift it to you.”

“Lachlan...”

Her sharp, shaky inhale of my name spears through me with the potency of whiskey on an empty stomach. It tears through the red haze. The thundering between my ears. Circles my cock with barbed wiring.

“You think I’m kidding? Do you think because I’m fine with Van touching you that I’ll let anyone else have you?”

The smooth column of her throat flexes sharply under my palm. It could be from fear, but her eyes are molten. Caverns of scorching desire so vast I’m burning in them.

“Say you understand, Everly,” I threaten.

Her head gives a jerky nod. “Yes, sir.”

Fuck, the way she says that consumes me. It pets a deep, sadistic part of me lying dormant in the darkness. Hearing her whisper it with such sweet submission fucking kills me.

“And that...” I bend my face until my lips are sealing the next words into the skin of her cheek, right next to her willing lips. “Who else do you call sir?”

Her lashes flicker down to my mouth. “Everyone.”

I exhale the growl in my throat. “No, you don’t. Not anymore.”

I can see it in her eyes before she retorts smartly, “Anything else I’m not allowed to do,sir?”

I have to grind my teeth to bite back the shot of amusement at her sass.

“I’ll make you a list.” I bump my nose to hers.

She only lifts an eyebrow. “And do I get to make you a list?”

My head cocks to one side as I study her. “No other woman exists to me, Everly. But you can.”

The tip of her pink tongue drifts over her bottom lip and I have to fight the urge to sink my teeth into the plump fold.

“If I can’t let other men touch me, am I converting to nunhood?”

“Yes,” I blurt before she can even finish.

Everly snorts a laugh. “Will you become a priest then?”

“Will you confess all your sins to me on your knees, Everly?”

The smirk vanishes. Her pulse jumps under my fingers. I can smell her sweet pussy growing slick and ready for my cock.It’s so potent, a musky drug filling my senses. Even if she wasn’t driving me mad with her scent, the way she’s trembling has me aching to slide inside her and feel her shudder around me.