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Which was great. Just fucking great.

After making sure Felicity was safely tucked away in her vehicle, Theon reached out a hand to Tessa where she was waiting for him near the doors. He could have let her get into the vehicle with Axel and Luka, but no. She had to stand here and wait for him. Trying to brush past him, she ignored his outstretched hand, but then his hands were on her waist, spinning her and pushing her up against the side of the vehicle. He rested one of his arms above her, leaning in close. His other hand stayed on her waist.

“We have much to discuss tonight, Tessa.” His voice was low, and the cord was vibrating wildly after having been ignored for much of the night.

She swallowed thickly. “One would think you’re talked out after so much conversation with Miss Davers.”

Theon’s head tilted to the side, a lock of dark hair falling over his brow. “Are you jealous, beautiful?” He brushed his nose up the length of hers.

“No, I’m not.”

“You’re not?”

“I’m tired, Theon. This day was… Well, it was uncomfortable.”

Unbearable was more like it, but she already knew he was upset with her small outburst at dinner.

Too wild. Too impulsive.

“Hmm,” he hummed, running the tip of his nose along her jaw. “Do you want to tell me about that?”

“On the side of the car outside of a restaurant? Not particularly,” she rasped, tilting her head back as his lips brushed along the column of her throat. She was trying to ignore the heat coursing through her.

“Then I suppose we will need to finish this…discussion back in our rooms,” he replied, his teeth grazing her collarbone.

Tessa fisted her hands beside her, pressing her body back against the vehicle to support her trembling legs. “I would rather just go to sleep when we get back,” she managed to get out as that hand on her waist began roaming lower. And gods, she hated that she thought about urging him to take more. Just so she wouldn’t have to feel anything right now.

She felt him smile against her flesh. “I am sure you would, but that will not happen. You have some secrets I need to know.”

He pulled back, reaching over and opening the door to the backseat, leaving her breathless. The bond was like a magnetic force inside of her, trying to pull her back to him.

“I don’t know why you think I’m keeping anything from you,” she retorted, pushing off the vehicle and climbing in.

“Mhmm,” he murmured, sliding smoothly in beside her. She tried to move across the seat to put distance between them, but his arm snagged her around her waist again. “Don’t even think about it.”

He didn’t even leave her on the seat. He pulled her directly into his lap, one hand coming up to her nape and beginning to massage the muscles there.

“So…” Axel started, dragging out the word. “How did it go?”

He and Luka were both twisted around in their seats, looking at them, and Tessa felt her cheeks heat. Did she really need to be in his damn lap?

“It went fine,” Theon answered. “Felicity is quite…unanticipated.”

“Unanticipated?” Axel repeated. “That’s how you’re going to describe her?”

“She just wasn’t what I was expecting,” Theon said.

“She was like Tessa then?” Axel asked, his gaze darting to her quickly before focusing back on Theon again.

“What? No. She was nothing like Tessa,” Theon said, his hand stilling on her neck. “Why would you think that?”

“Because you described Tessa as being unexpected. And unexpected and unanticipated mean the same thing,” Axel said, arching a brow that Tessa could barely make out in the glow of the dash.

“I know what unexpected and unanticipated mean,” Theon snapped.

“So…she was like Tessa then?” Axel repeated, and Tessa heard Luka snicker as he turned back and put the blinker on to merge into traffic. Was Axel really teasing Theon over this?

Theon kicked the back of Axel’s seat with his foot as he muttered, “Prick.”