“I’m just tired,” I said, panting.
“You need to work out more.” He laughed at me as I bent over, trying to catch my breath.
“Are you calling me fat?” I asked him indignantly.
“No.” He grabbed me and picked me up.
“What are you doing?” I struggled against him.
“I’m carrying you up, of course.” He walked up the stairs easily with me in his arms. When we got to the fifth floor, he walked directly to my apartment and then put me down. “Open the door,” he ordered me.
“Yes, sir,” I muttered back to him.
“I like it when you call me sir.” He grinned.
“Don’t get used to it,” I shot back.
“Trust me, I know.” He followed me into the apartment. “You like to be on top too much to be a submissive.”
“Shut up!” I gasped and hit him in the arm. “You can leave now.”
“I don’t want to leave.” He shook his head.
“Shh.” I made a big deal of telling him to be quiet. “Meg is probably sleeping. I don’t want to wake her.”
“Then let’s go to your room.”
“Sorry, but I have someone coming over.” I stared at him. “He won’t appreciate you being here with me.”
“Who’s coming over? Matt?”
“No, the guy in the bar. He was a bartender. He’s coming here after work. So I need to go shower and get ready for him now.”
“Are you trying to bait me, Katie?” His voice was low as he took a step toward me.
“No.” I shook my head and took a step back.
“What’s his name?”
“Whose name?” I blinked at him, trying to think fast.
“The bartender.”
“I didn’t ask him his name.” I swallowed hard. “We kissed and then f**ked and then I left to get the apartment ready.”
“You didn’t f**k him.” Brandon shook his head, looking furious.
“Maybe not, but I thought about it.” I stared at him straight on. “As he kissed me, I thought about f**king him hard. I almost came just thinking about it.”
“I’ll make you pay for that.” His voice was low as he grabbed my arms and pulled me toward him.
“What are you doing?” My breathing was hard and my body was trembling in sweet anticipation.
“I’m going to make you wish you had never met that bartender.”
“He tasted like cotton candy and gin,” I whispered against his lips. His eyes darkened as he gaze turned murderous. His lips crashed down on mine hard, his teeth biting my lower lip aggressively as his tongue plunged into my mouth. His kiss was all-consuming and devastating. This wasn’t a sweet kiss of lust; this was a kiss of passion and domination. I melted into his arms as he made me his once again. My every nerve ending responded to his colonization, and I whimpered when he pulled away from me slowly, running his hands through his hair as he stared at my lips.
“You’re bleeding.”
“It doesn’t hurt.” I licked my lips and tasted a faint drop of blood. “It’s nothing.” He bent down again, and this time his tongue licked my lips softly before he sucked on my lower lip. ”What are you doing?”
“Licking the blood away.”
“Are you a vampire?” I joked and he laughed as he pulled me toward him and kissed my forehead.
“When I’m with you, I feel like I could be one.”
“What does that mean?”
“Nothing.” He shook his head. “Let me see your room.”
“No.”
“That’s not go through this again.” He grabbed my hand. “Take me to your room.”
“I can’t.”
“Stop with the games. We both know no one is coming tonight. I’m already mad enough that you kissed someone else.”
“Whatever.” I tried to pull away from him as my insides grew warm with desire.
“Katie.” He pulled me toward him again and looked down at me seriously. “Don’t push me.”
I wanted to whisper, “Or what?” but no words would come out. He squeezed my hand and led me to my bedroom door. I frowned as he walked in and locked it behind us. He pushed me down on the bed and then lay down next to me. His hand ran up my stomach and to my breast, and he gazed at me with lust in his eyes.
“I’m going to make sweet love to you, Katie. Like you want me to.”
I stared at him, unable to deny that I wanted him.
“Don’t kiss anyone else.” His voice sounded strangely bleak.
“I can kiss who I want.” My heart started pounding.
“I’ll leave Maria.” His words were soft, but they grinded my heart to a stop.
“What?”
“I’ll break the engagement off with Maria.” He held my hands. “If that will stop you from being with other men.”
“What about Harry?”
“Let me worry about him.” He averted his gaze from mine.
“I don’t understand.” I looked back at him. “Do you still love me?” I was hopeful as I stared at him in front of me, all broody and dark. I felt like I was at the edge of a cliff about to jump into the water and only he could stop me from jumping.
“I never stopped loving you, Katie.” The words made my heart jump, but his expression was still dark and tormented. “It’s never been about me loving you.”
“Then what’s it been about?” All color left my face as I stared at him.
“It’s been about you and if you’re ready. If you’ve finally grown up. If you see love as a real and deep emotion that can’t be toyed with or if this all still a game to you.” His words sounded angry.
“I see.” I swallowed hard, upset inside. His words had hurt me. I couldn’t believe that once again he was harping on about my age. Was I never going to be able to move on from that one small lie?
“Your skin is so soft. It reminds me of rose petals.” His fingers trailed down my cheek and his lips nibbled on my ear.
“Why are you changing the subject again?” I breathed out, running my hands through his hair.
“What do you want to talk about?” he whispered in my ear.
“Are we getting back together?” I whispered back, turning my lips to his.
“Let’s talk about this later.” His lips came down on mine and I closed my eyes as I melted into him. My brain was happy and my heart was dancing. Brandon was going to leave Maria, and that was all I cared about. Maybe we really did have a shot at a future together. And then I felt my insides freeze. There was still the issue with Matt. How did he know Matt? How could I be sure he wasn’t playing me again?