A strained, sarcastic laugh left my dry mouth as panicked nerves fought against the excited butterflies. “That’s hilarious.”
His hand tightened again like he had tied a rope around my delicate skin and pulled on the end. Dust flew from the bookshelf as I pulled back, and it landed on us like little specks of embers from the fire we were creating. “Hilarious? You think it’s fucking funny what you did to me?”
My jaw unhinged, and I pushed against him again, bucking with anger. “What I did to you?”
I dropped my eyes to his lips that pulled back into a snarl, like he was just as angry as I was, and it confused me. I bounced my attention down to his rapidly rising chest, feeling his heartbeat through the thin, white shirt. “You really don’t know, do you?”
“Don’t know what?” he gritted.
He doesn’t know.
“I thought you knew me better than that, Cade.” I swallowed, sliding my arm down and out from his grasp. Both of my small hands wrapped around his thick wrist as he continued rubbing over the pulse point on my neck. “You truly think I’d tried to kill myself because you stood me up?”
His hand left my neck as he pulled back quickly like I’d branded him. His strong browline hooded his eyes even further, hiding every emotion on his face. “And here I thought you were the only person who truly knew me. I thought you knew me down to my very core.” My eyes prickled from behind as I swiftly bent down and grabbed the scattered papers from the file along with my leather jacket. Wavy tendrils flew into my face as I stood up and rushed over to the office door. “You didn’t know me at all, Cade Walker.”
The straightening of my spine was the only thing I allowed Cade to see as I turned my back to him to shove my leather jacket on. My shoes were like boulders in my shaking hands, and the file with messy papers shoved inside crinkled between my fingers. A cool rush of air entered the suffocating office as I opened the door, but before I could breathe it in, a loud slap against wood hit the side of my ear, shutting out the hall, and I was suddenly flipped around.
His hands were around my face, and my heart clawed as it climbed to my throat. It was a race to see who could make their move first, and I let him win as his lips crashed to mine in the most intimidating, intimate way possible. Mine. That was all I heard when his tongue dove in, lapping up my mouth like he had been dying without my taste. The prickles were back behind my eyes as something deeply intimate filled me up to the brink of death. It was a silent type of death—the kind you couldn’t escape from but didn’t want to. His hand wove into my hair as he continued to kiss me and suck me, making me lose all train of thought as desire and warmth swarmed me. I was so close to kissing him back just as feverishly, allowing the flame to quicken from his mouth against mine, but he pulled on the long strands of my hair, and we broke apart.
Through rushed breaths and a flushed face, he bit out his next question. “I do know you. Now, tell me why you’ve been afraid since coming back?”
Emotions clogged my senses, and my voice was strained. “You don’t get to do that.” I glanced away, stomping on the hurt and disappointment from constantly being let down. I was disappointed in myself as I let myself enjoy his kiss a little too much. “You can’t just demand answers from me. You don’t deserve to know, and unless you care to explain your reasoning for standing me up that night, you never deserved me to begin with.”
Silence was shared, and it was so loud I wanted to cover my ears. My lips were swollen, and my soul felt branded, and suddenly, I felt seen. Cade’s fingers untwined themselves from my hair, and he took a step back. I couldn’t look at him. I didn’t want to, so instead, I bent down and grabbed my shoes that had fallen, turned around, and stalked out of the office.
His hoarse voice hit the back of my head as I began traveling back down the hall. “I sure as fuck don’t deserve you, Journey. But I want you.”
And what Cade wants, Cade usually gets.