Page 125 of An Inevitable Marriage

But I knew giving in would give him way more satisfaction than it would give me. That was exactly why I didn’t wait for him to walk away before I climbed into my car and slowly drove off.

Not that the calmness lasted very long.

The moment I walked into my apartment, I shrugged off my jacket, roughly rolled up my sleeves, and headed for the gym. I didn’t even bother with gloves. Punch after punch, I allowed the anger to bubble through my veins. Welcomed the onslaught of memories and thoughts.

I fucking fed it.

Every time I saw my dad with his hands wrapped around my mother’s throat, I punched harder. When I heard his voice so clearly warning me that if I ever told anyone, he’d kill me too, I punched harder.

When I relived the relief and happiness I’d felt when the police officer informed us that he hadn’t survived the car crash, I punched harder.

Then just as I thought it couldn’t get worse, couldn’t hurt more, the images suddenly flipped.

It wasn’t my dad’s hands around my mother’s throat anymore, it was my fingers cutting off Snow’s air supply. Her pleading eyes staring at me, begging me to stop.

“Fuck!”

My legs gave out, ass hitting the floor not even a second later. Breathing heavy, I pulled my thighs to my chest and draped my arms over my knees.

“Fuck,” I cursed again.

This time, when the angry word flew out of my mouth, someone hugged me from behind. Strawberries and flowers flooded my senses, and just like that, a calmness I had no right to descended over me.

“Snow.” Breathing her name, I dropped my head in shame. I never wanted her to see me like this.

“I’m here,” she whispered against my back. “I’m here.”

Yes, she was. She was there, and she was the damn calm to my storm.

I needed to see her. I twisted around and maneuvered her onto my lap. I banded my arms around her waist, holding her close while she threaded her fingers through my damp hair.

“Wanna talk about it?”

Where the hell did I even begin? I had no damn clue. That was why I lowered my head and buried my nose in her neck.

She smelled so nice; I couldn’t help but breathe her in.

Fingers digging into her back, I took her scent straight to my lungs. Once, twice, and then one more time.

And when that wasn’t enough, I touched my mouth to her skin. Brushing my lips up along her throat, I slowly smoothed my palms up her spine.

Her body shivered, and a soft moan blew over her lips.

“Snow,” I rasped next to her ear. “Talking is the last thing I want to do right now.”

Chapter thirty-four

Everlee

Ididn’thesitate.

In one swift move, I crashed my lips to Liam’s, kissing him with a bone-deep desperation I never seemed to shake. I eagerly swept my tongue into his mouth, tasting and teasing. It drew a deep, deep groan from his lungs, and the vibration of it sent an exquisite shiver through my body.

One that intensified tenfold as soon as Liam’s big hand slid down to my butt and dug into my flesh. His other hand pushed into my hair, holding my head in place as he took charge of the kiss.

I didn’t mind. I quite liked it when he took control and kissed me and held me with no restraints. How else would I let him take control? I ached to find out.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t say it out loud since Liam chose that exact moment to break our kiss. Like they always seemed to do, his hands drifted back to my face, thumbs gently stroking my cheeks.