“He?” she asks, confused .
“The man you’ve slept with. Who is he, Jenny ?”
“I really don’t think we should talk about this, Carson. I’m a grown woman and my sex life is not your concern — ”
“Your sex life? Jesus Christ! Has there been more than one, Jenny?” I growl, feeling nothing but pain inside .
“More than one what?” she asks, exasperated .
“Have you had more than one man between your legs ?”
“Carson! I just said I’m not talking about this with you !”
“You will answer the damn question. I’m done playing here. You haven’t realized it yet, but you need to .”
“ Realize what ?”
“You’re mine, and I’m done waiting—apparently, I’ve waited too long already .”
“I’m yours ?”
“Exactly .”
“When did you decide I was yours, Carson?” she asks, and I think I hear a hint of anger in her voice. I’m handling this wrong, I know it, but I’ve gone too far to turn back now .
“Since that night on your eighteenth birthday, when I first tasted your lips .”
“Since… Carson .”
“What?” I growl, not about to back down .
“That was almost four years ago! It will be four years in a day or so !”
“Doesn’t change the facts. I knew with that one taste that you were mine, Jenny .”
“Don’t you think you could have told me ?”
“I was trying to give you time to grow up and spread your wings a little. I owed that to your father and to you—even if it did kill me .”
“I was eighteen! Most people consider that the age of an adult!” she huffs, clearly angry .
“You were a sheltered eighteen. You needed time to come into your own,” I growl, getting frustrated. She’ll never understand how much self-control it took to let her go to college after that kiss. How much discipline it took not to claim her right then. Nor could she understand how much it’s killing me to know that she gave her body to another man during this time. I hate that I waited now. I should have claimed her back then and planted my child in her. If I had, Jenny would have never looked anywhere else for comfort. She would have had me and our child, and that’s all she would have ever wanted .
I fucked up. I have to fix it .
“So you let me go, letting me think that the kiss was nothing…that you weren’t interested in me… like that . ”
“I had to. It was for your own good .”
“My own good. How nice of you to decide what was good for me, Carson! You could have at least asked me how I felt about your plan!” she growls and unbuckles her seatbelt, turning to look at me. “Did that thought ever occur to you while you were making major decisions about my life ?”
“I was doing my job, Jenny!” I growl back, not thinking the words out and I wince at the way they sound .
“ You job ?”
“I’m your guardian, Jenny. It’s my job to make sure you are — ”
“That I’m what? That I get to spread my wings? That the first kiss I give a man feels like a rejection when he doesn’t bother to react to it and proceeds to act like it meant nothing ?”
“Jenny—you have to understand…” I start, feeling defensive .
“What I understand is that you’re insane. You apparently decided I was yours four years ago, but you didn’t let me in on the secret !”
“Damn it, Jenny !”
“Now you’re acting like a caveman because some faceless man got what you claimed years ago, but again…didn’t bother to tell me! Do I have that right, Carson? You know I’m not adult enough to figure these things out on my own, I need your help. It is, after all, your damn job !”
“Jenny …” I stop, not sure how to explain things to her without making it worse. I get she’s upset, but hell…so am I! Before I get the chance, however, she turns and opens the truck door. “Where are you going?” I bark .
“I’m walking home! I suddenly feel the need to spread my wings!” she mutters, jumping out of the truck and slamming the door .
She takes off walking, but she’s going the opposite way of the house. If she thinks she can go back to that pretty boy in town, she’s got another think coming. I get out and stride over to her, my long legs swallowing up the distance before she can get too far away from me .
“You’re not leaving !”
“Watch me!” she huffs, not bothering to turn around .
I react on instinct. I hook my arms around her waist and pull her back against me. I pull her in tight so she can feel the hard ridge of my cock against her ass. I lean my face down close to hers, unable to resist a small kiss along the side of her neck, which turns into more of a bite, because after the night I’ve had I feel the need to mark her damn body .