“Don’t feckin’ ask me stupid shite. You and Callia dancin’ around like ye need the cash.”
My hand makes contact with his face before he has time to grab me. But he slams both his palms against the wall beside my head, causing me to wince. I’m surprised the concrete hasn’t given way with the strength he put into the movement.
“Fuck you,” I spit out as anger overtakes me. I’m not scared of him. I haven’t been, even when I was about to die by his hand. I’m not some little girl he can push around and expect me to cower. “I can dance with whoever I want to dance with. If I picked out one of the men, what would you have done then?”
“Kill ye both,” he responds without blinking. And I realise he’s dead fucking serious. He would as well.
“I don’t belong to anyone.”
“Like feck ye do.” His voice is getting louder with every moment that passes. “You’re mine.”
I fold my arms across my chest, which only makes them brush against the hard, muscled torso holding me hostage. Monster’s gaze falls to my chest, and the lust I saw earlier only seems to burn brighter when he takes in my low-cut top.
“Am I?”
“You’ve walked in here, and you’ve fecked with my head,” he tells me earnestly. “Since I saw you standin’ beside Donahue, I’ve wanted nothin’ more than to taste ye, every feckin’ inch of ye. That night when I walked ye to yer room, that small taste wasn’t enough. It will never be enough.”
Frustration blooms in my gut. I didn’t think he felt anything until that night. Before that, I was convinced he hated me. And then when he found out who I really was, it was evident that he may feel the attraction, but he fought it. And he continues to fight it.
“Then show me!”
“You’re too feckin’ sweet! There’s not a chance in hell I can allow you to want a monster!”
His voice booms against the walls. I’m pretty sure every person in the room next door has heard him. He doesn’t at all seem concerned, though. His eyes burn right through me.
“You don’tallowme to do anything,” I bite out. “I’m my own person. I don’t take orders, and I don’t cower to any fucking person.” I push against his chest, but he doesn’t move. He’s far too strong, and I have nothing compared to the weight of him. “Let me go.”
That’s when he grips my arms, his hands holding onto me as if I’m a buoy out at sea, a lifeline. Monster glares at me, the rage filling the space between us. But then, his eyes glint at something else. They soften. It’s miniscule, but I see it.
His voice breaks when he admits, “I can’t.”
Before I can say anything more, he leans in and steals my lips with his. The gentleness in his kiss doesn’t last long before his hands grip my arse, and he lifts me against him. My legs wrap around his waist, and he presses me between the wall and his hard frame.
The possessiveness in Monster’s touch makes my stomach tumble and my heart leap into my throat. His tongue snakes between my lips and dances along mine. Heat courses through my veins, and a soft moan vibrates in my throat when I feel his erection against my core. We fit. It’s as if we’re two magnets that have slowly been forced together and suddenly snap into place.
I didn’t expect to feel like this. To ache for someone like I do him. Even with his mouth on mine, stealing my breath, and his hands holding me, I can’t stop wanting to get closer. I want every part of me to be attached to every part of him.
The music next door fades into nothing, and my focus is now solely on the man who’s devouring me whole. The Monster was never hidden under my bed—he was right in front of me, hungry, feral, and filled with pain. And I want nothing more than to feed him, to heal him, to make him feel something other than the need for vengeance.
When he finally pulls away and breaks the kiss, we’re both breathing heavily. My chest rises and falls, brushing against his. The motion only serves to make my nipples harden. They’re sensitive with every movement. The tremble that shoots through my body has him smirking.
“If I were to touch you right now,” Cathal whispers, “will I find that pretty cunt wet for me?” His eyes turn darker as if he’s no longer human, but completely and utterly taken over by animalistic lust.
I tip my head to the side and smile. “Why don’t you take me to my room and find out?”
He doesn’t need a second invitation, because he carries me up the stairs and down the hall until we reach the bedroom I’d been given. I open the door, and Cathal kicks it closed behind us. He heads straight for the bed and drops me on the mattress.
I lie back, my gaze never leaving his as he slowly shrugs off his cut. Then, with fire dancing in his dark eyes, he reaches for his T-shirt and pulls it over his head. It falls to the floor, and I finally get my first look at him.
The man is huge. I mean, his shoulders are wide. Muscles seem to come alive each time he moves. They tense and release as he unbuckles his belt. A whoosh of leather through the denim loops are the only sound in the room.
“Like the view, wee fox?” he asks me. The satisfaction in his tone makes me smile. He knows I’m enjoying looking at him.
“Don’t flatter yourself,” I tell him before rolling over and looking out the window instead.
It’s a mistake because his hand lands on my arse cheek with a loud swat, which has me squealing and trying to get away. But he’s fast. He grips my ankles and drags me down the bed until I’m bent over in front of him.
“Going somewhere, sweetheart?” The gravel in his tone rumbles over the words, sending a shiver down my spine.