Page 68

Tess
I came here to fight.To kick Declan’s ass for meddling. For thinking he has the right to buy me so much as a stick of gum. For treating me like some charity case.
I don’t need his money.
I don’t want his money.
I never did.
He changed the entire trajectory of our confrontation when he opened the door. He looked wrecked. Half drunk. Mostly angry. At himself because he knows what he did was wrong. At me for having the audacity to turn up on his doorstep and tell him so.
Suddenly, I didn’t want to fight anymore.
Because I didn’t come here to fight.
Not really.
I came here for this.
For him.
The finger tailing the length of my spine, moves lower and lower, until it reaches the small of my back, to toy with the laces holding my bustier together.
He gives it an impatient tug. Hooks his finger between them and pulls them loose, working his way up until it comes apart in his hand. “Turn around,” he commands quietly, tossing it aside.
I do what he says, turning slowly. Not because I’m trying to tease him but because I’m afraid if I move too fast, he’ll come to his senses, like last time. He’ll push me away. Tell me to leave.
I lift my chin to find him leaning over me, face tipped down so he can look at me. “Christ,” he mutters it, his dark blue gaze, skimming over my face. My throat and collarbone. My bare breasts.
I didn’t have tattoos when we were together. The tangle of flowers and vines that wind around my arm, from my shoulder to my elbow. The hummingbird on my collarbone. The dandelion tied with a pink ribbon, inked into the skin covering my ribcage, tucked under my heart.
Everything about me is different.
Changed.
He did that.
Made me who I am.
And he’s right. I want to hate him for it.
But I don’t.
I can’t.
No matter how hard I’ve tried, I can’t make myself hate him.
So, I’ll have to settle for making him pay.
I hook my thumbs into the waistband of my panties and ease them down my legs.
His jaw goes tight and for a split second, I think he’s going to push me away again. Tell me to get dressed. Get out.
But he doesn’t.
Declan drops his hand away from the door to slip both of them around my waist. Pulling me closer. Lifting me until I’m wrapped around him. My legs around his waist. My arms around his neck. His hands slide around the curve of my ass to mold themselves around me. His thick, blunt fingers teasing me from behind. Slipping past my juice-slicked entrance just enough to make me shake.
Suddenly, payback is the last thing on my mind.