Page 24 of Tethered Souls

He pulls something black out of his pocket. “Then put these on,” he says, handing me…

My jaw drops. “I’m not wearing your boxers.”

“You’re not talking to another man naked.”

“I’m wearing a dress, and it’syourfault I’m not wearing anything underneath it.”

He doesn’t say anything, but I can hear his ultimatum. Put them on or don’t talk to Dayne. Glaring at him, I bite back the words,Go fuck yourself.Snapping the boxers out of his hand, I lift one foot to put them on.

But I sway, nausea hitting me hard on the curtails of pain, and he grabs me with his other hand. Steadying me. Holding me up in a mock embrace.

I stare at him as the moment extends, growing too fast, too quick for either of us to contain it. Until it grows into something it shouldn’t be. Something heavy and hot and wicked.

His gaze darkening, he slides his hands down my arms, leaving goosebumps in his wake. His eyes dip to my lips, and I suddenly realize he hasn’t kissed me yet. He fucked me like a lover, but he never kissed me.

My cheeks hot, I glance away.

He doesn’t move for a moment. Then he’s tugging the boxers from my weak grip and dropping low to put them on me. With his underwear around my ankles, he looks up. My breath catches. He’s on his knees. His eyes are hot.

He might say he just wants a womb, but there’s no doubt that in this moment, he wantsme.

Rising slowly, he slides his boxers up my legs, his eyes growing hotter with every inch they cover. My skin is too sensitive, the brush of the fabric making me shiver, and I’m forced to grab hold of his shoulder to keep my balance. His eyes dip to my pussy, and I’m suddenly aware of just how close his mouth is.

Gods, I want to just climb onto his shoulders and ride his face.

But I don’t.

Because he’s a jerk.

And the pain in my side is a brilliant reminder of that. Like a hit pop song telling me not to go back to my asshole of an ex because I dumped him for a reason.

Grabbing the hem of his boxers, I yank them up. The moment breaks, shatters, is gone, and I hiss in a breath as the burn on my side flares in agony. The elastic sits right over it, and walking with it constantly rubbing against me is going to be a bitch. But there’s nothing to be done. They’re too big to sit any lower; they need to be under the tight part of my dress or else they’ll slide right off.

I start to turn to walk back to the car, but I’m suddenly in the air, cradled against a chest that’s hard and hot andclose.

Too close.

“Put me down,” I snap.

“I’m not waiting the hour it’ll take you to hobble back to the car.”

“And here I thought you were being a gentleman.”

“Agentlemanwouldn’t fuck your face to shut you up.”

I open my mouth for some witty comeback, but all that escapes is a strangled, “And you will?”

“Yes.”Short. Sharp. Honest.

My pussy spasms, and I remind myself I made it twenty-seven years without dick. I don’t need it.

Then again, even if I didn’t want it, I’m still going to get it. My life is no longer my own; I’m just the prize of a mafia Boss, a thing to be bred whenever he wants an heir.

“Tell me about Dayne,” Varius says as he walks through the woods, taking twisted paths so I’m not whacked by all the twigs and branches blocking our way. I’m just hit by about ninety percent of them instead.

But it is, I begrudgingly admit, thoughtful. For an asshole neanderthal.

“He’s gay,” I finally say.