“You’re squeezing too hard.” Gemma pushes my chest, but I don’t let go. “Lucas. That hurts.”
“You deserve it.”
“Quit being such a caveman.”
I growl in her face. “You like it when I hurt you, remember?”
Gemma grants me a grunt in return, a little angry sound that stirs something in me, yanking on my impulsive instincts. My grip on her biceps flexes and I eat up her wince as retribution for the shitty afternoon I’m having. It’s a step in the right direction.
She’s so godda
mn stubborn. She makes my veins burn with fire. I’m going to consume her until there’s nothing left that isn’t mine.
“How the hell did you get my keys, huh? Who helped you?” I’m trying to make sense of how she pulled off her stunt with my Jeep. There’s no way she did it on her own. “I only saw you at lunch.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Gemma, I fucking swear if you don’t tell me, I’ll—”
“I did it all alone.”
She spits it out in a single breath, then clamps her lips shut. She stares at me hard, but her eyes slide to the track team for a fraction of a second. It’s long enough for me to guess her friend helped.
Devlin did call her sticky fingers.
I lift my eyes to the track and field team. A few of them have drifted our way. Even their coach has half an eye on us. Gemma’s friend finishes a sprint and her attention locks on Gemma.
“Are you sure you worked by yourself?”
Gemma tips her chin up. “Are you calling me a liar?”
“You’re not a liar. You’re a fucking demon.”
I grasp her chin in a punishing hold and force her head up. I seal my lips over hers and kiss her with a fierce intensity, biting her lips until they open for me.
She whimpers, lurching in my hold with nowhere to go. Gemma’s smart, though. She relaxes and offers her surrender for me to take.
I devour her mouth in front of our audience. No one will deny Gemma Turner is mine.
Gemma’s body shakes when I tip my head to the side and kiss her deeper. As soon as she starts to kiss me back, I rip my mouth away from her.
Against her lips, I declare in a snarl, “I own you now. You are mine whenever I want you. If you deny me, I’m going to rip you apart on the spot for touching my Jeep.”
Gemma’s pulse thrums beneath my palm where I hold her jaw and neck. Her eyes are wide and full of fear. Good.
I press my forehead to hers and narrow my eyes to slits of steel.
“You just destroyed any shred of hope that I’d give you mercy. You’re mine,” I repeat, “until I’ve bled you dry.”
Gemma’s throat bobs against my hand with her gulp.
“Go get my keys. Right now.”
Releasing her with a shove that makes her stumble, I stuff my fists into my pockets to keep from snatching her back for another wild kiss.
Gemma keeps her eyes on me, like I’m a threat. She’s right to look at me like a predator prepared to annihilate her at any second.
“Keys, Gemma.”