Devlin rolls his eyes as he passes me to grab bananas. “Doubtful.”
“He asked about my rates.”
Devlin pauses across the island, narrowing his eyes as he plants his palms on the cool granite. “What?”
I chew on my nail and wrap an arm around my squirming stomach. “My rates. He’s under the impression I’m available to purchase. As a prostitute. Well, escort was the word he used, actually, but semantics aside—”
Devlin snorts, the harsh sound caustic and dangerous. “If he comes near what’s mine, he’ll regret it. I’ll end him.”
The possessiveness in Devlin’s tone twines around me, luring my hope out. It’s been more difficult to keep it at bay. My survival skills are getting rusty.
“It’s not just him. Nina brought it up, too. The rumor is all over the school.”
He cuts his hand through the air with a sharp gesture. “You’re mine, and that’s the end of it in my eyes.”
I jerk my head back. “Bullshit.”
“What’s bullshit is that you give a damn about this. Worse stuff has been said about you. How is this different from any other rumor? Besides, it’s true that you’re mine, so like I said, that’s the end of it.”
My shoulders tighten. I smack my palms on the counter, matching his stance. “I’m yours and that’s the end of it? You can’t control me, Devlin. No matter how hard you fight to pretend you can.” I squint across the island at him, challenging his crappy logic. “And that bothers you, doesn’t it?”
Devlin glares at me. “Willing to place money on that claim?”
I take an instinctive step back.
The expression on his face sends a frisson of unease through me. I’ve been able to read him easier than ever, but now it’s like his walls have come back down. As if he’s pushing me away, back to controlling me instead of fighting with me as an equal.
“What are you going to do?”
He stalks around the island, trapping me against the pantry door before I make a move. His hand holds my throat, thumb pressed to my pulse.
“Prove you belong to me. You’re mine. That’s all that matters.”
I open my mouth to contest, but his tongue plunges inside as he kisses me with an angry edge. I grab his bicep and t-shirt, nails scrabbling as he controls the kiss. A small sound escapes me. His hand flexes on my throat. As he pulls back, he drags my lower lip between his teeth.
“Ah!”
Devlin growls and hauls me over his shoulder, leaving the kitchen.
“Hey! Where are you taking me?” A stinging smack on my ass makes me yelp.
I get my answer when Devlin dumps me down onto the plush rug in the lounge, next to the low, modern gray sectional that takes up most of the room. He’s on me in a flash, caging me with his body. There’s a hardness in his eyes.
“What are you doing?”
“No more questions.”
“Fuck that noise.” Twisting away, I drag myself across the floor.
Devlin wraps one hand around my thigh and hooks his fingers in the waistband of my jeans, yanking me back with a dark, sinister laugh.
“Stay,” he orders while he attacks my neck, scraping his teeth over my skin.
“Ah! Damn you!”
I scrabble for purchase on the rug while I fight him. We both grunt, wrestling for the upper hand. As we roll across the floor, he claims my lips in another punishing kiss that makes my heart beat hard and heat pulse between my legs as they wrap around him like I’m coming home. He grinds his stiff cock against me, both of us consumed by the carnal excitement of struggling for power.
I don’t know if we’re fighting or fucking anymore, but it’s turned into vicious foreplay.