He lifted one hand to rub his forehead. “Please don’t do this, Ariel,” he stated in a surprisingly calm voice. “Tell them you’ve changed your mind. Don’t go. Do it for me,” he pleaded.
He almost tugged at her heartstrings. Almost. A part of her did feel sorry for him. Maybe he’d had some sort of experience in the past that made him overprotective. It made sense. Maybe his mother or his sister didn’t come back from a mission. She had no idea since he was so clammed up that no one knew if he even had a mother or a sister.
Except for Tarin. Ariel suspected Tarin knew more than anyone, but he was a good friend and didn’t share people’s private information.
“I’m going, Stu,” she stated as gently as possible.
He started pacing. “If you need to get out of here so badly, let me take you. Let me protect you. Don’t go with that group on the clothing run. It’s not worth risking your life.”
“No one is risking their life, Stu.” She rolled her eyes.
He stopped pacing to glare at her. “Every step out of this bunker is a risk to your life, Ariel. Don’t be naïve. If you’re going to be flippant about it, then I damn well will treat you like a child.”
She shook her head. “No. You won’t. You don’t own me. You don’t even have a casual relationship with me because you’re too stubborn. You’re nothing to me. I’m nothing to you. Not even friends.”
“You’re everything to me,” he shouted. “Everything.”
She gasped and took a step back, nearly stumbling and falling on her butt. “Prove it.” She lurched forward, getting in his space, planting her hands on his chest, and tipping her head back. “Prove it,” she yelled louder.
His arms remained locked at his sides, his hands fisted, his jaw tight.
“Prove it,” she repeated. “If you can’t do it with words, at least do it with your mouth.”
She’d barely finished her sentence when he grabbed her biceps, spun them around, and flattened her to the wall. The wind was nearly completely knocked out of her as his lips crashed into hers.
She grabbed onto his waist, mostly because she needed something to hold on to in order to keep from swaying to one side and falling. It seemed like she might faint.
God, Stuart could kiss. He didn’t slide in gently and nibble along the seam of her lips or tease her with his tongue. He consumed her, delving into her mouth without any warning. His hands were on her shoulders, but they slid down to her waist and then up her torso.
She gasped into his mouth when his thumbs stroked the undersides of her breasts. Rising onto her toes, she angled her head to the side to give him better access to her.
She was shattered by him. Devastated. Ruined. From a kiss.
He was hot and demanding and powerful. He didn’t kiss. He devoured.
It was nothing like the other kisses she’d experienced. When Stuart kissed, he put his soul into it. He stepped closer, tormenting her with his thumbs while he pressed his torso against her. His erection was impossible to ignore, the enormous length pushing against her stomach.
And still, he kissed her, grinding against her until she couldn’t think or remember how to breathe.
When he slid one hand down to her butt and then reached between her legs from behind to cup her heated core, she cried out and jerked free. His touch set fireworks off in the room, but warning bells joined at the same time.
Part of her wanted to strip off her clothes and let him fuck her like the out-of-control beast he was right now, but she came to her senses and remembered the two other men in her life who didn’t deserve to have her rutting against Stuart without their knowledge.
She was panting, trying to catch her breath as she wiggled free of him and shoved him aside so she could break contact. God, she wanted him. He’d brought to life feelings she’d only read about. Her clit was pulsing inside her jeans. Her breasts were heavy with the need for direct contact.
“Don’t go, Ariel,” he whispered, not meeting her gaze.
“Fuck you,” she shot back as she inched along the wall to get more space between them.
When he turned toward her, there was so much pain in his eyes. He reached out a hand, but she batted it away. “Don’t touch me.” She moved farther away from him until she was jammed into the corner of the room, still breathing heavily.
“Ariel…” There was a plea in his voice. “I’m not…”
“What? You’re not what?” she demanded.
He turned to fully face her, hands fisted at his sides once again. She didn’t dare let her gaze roam down his body though. “I’m not good for you. You’re soft and kind and sweet and generous and so damn innocent. I’m the opposite of what you deserve.”
“You don’t get to tell me how to feel, Stu.”