I groaned, feeling warm all over.
He swirled his tongue around my hardening flesh, catching my nipple between his teeth and drawing it out, playing with it. He went slow, diving back down to suck almost painfully hard, but I loved it.
“I said I would be back for you. You know there’s only me, Tate,” he pushed. “No one else can give you this.”
My fist squeezed at the back of his hair, and the pool of lust in my gut instantly cemented, turning hard and cold.
I stroked his cheek with my thumb, looking down at his handsome face. “I know you loved me. I never wanted you unhappy.” I spoke through my shaky breath. “But I don’t trust you. You always desert me.”
I pushed him away and jumped off the table, righting my clothes before I had any second thoughts about giving in.
Without looking back, I jetted up the staircase and back out to the pool, suddenly feeling the urge to go home.
Ben was standing with Madoc and Fallon—Madoc now in swim shorts—and they were all laughing as I came up to stand next to Fallon.
“Did you get the bottles?” Ben asked. “You were gone awhile.”
I blinked, remembering the bottles I’d told him I was getting.
Catching Madoc’s confused sideways glance at me, I just shook my head. “Couldn’t find what I was looking for. No biggie. So”—I looked to Madoc, changing the subject—“how’s the internship going?”
Madoc stuffed a chip in his mouth. “Good.” He nodded. “I kind of hate the stuck-up pricks in my father’s office, and the men are even worse, but I’ll get through it.”
Ben laughed, and I watched Madoc grab another handful of chips out of the bowl.
“Here,” Fallon said, grabbing the bowl and shoving it into Madoc’s chest. “You know you’re going to eat all of them.”
He shrugged and kept eating.
Fallon laughed. “You would think he was pregnant.” She smiled lovingly at her husband. “He ate the sushi you brought home yesterday, and the leftovers in the fridge, and then he ordered burgers from the Mining Company. He eats constantly.”
I let out a sigh, looking to Ben to gauge his reaction.
“Sushi?” he asked. “The sushi I brought you at work yesterday?”
“Tate hates sushi.” A voice came from behind us, and Jared walked up to the cooler, grabbing a long neck.
Ben’s eyes narrowed at Jared, clearly aggravated that he was here, but I intervened to ease Ben’s mind before anything started.
“Don’t worry about it,” I spoke to Ben. “I thought I mentioned it, but I guess not.”
Jared twisted off his cap, tossing it in the trash as he turned to look at me. He didn’t break eye contact as he tipped up the bottle and took a drink.
I knew that look. The one that said he was two seconds from hitting Ben or kissing me. And both would cause a fight.
I looked to Ben, ready to get out of here. “Any interest in cutting out of here early?” I asked. “Go back to my place?”
Ben looked relieved. I hated that my issues were keeping us from having a good time, but at least some space from Jared would mean we could just relax.
Ben nodded and took my hand, leading me off.
“Everywhere you kiss her,” Jared belted out to us from behind—and I noticed bystanders turning to look—“just remember that my tongue was there first.”
I stopped and turned around, glaring at Jared. It wasn’t so bad that people were looking, that a few girls were laughing behind their hands, or that Madoc sucked at hiding his snort.
No, what really pissed me off was being embarrassed in front of Ben. Of Jared talking about me like I was his personal property and trying to deny me a shot at a relationship with someone else.
Just like in high school.
“Does she still like it in the morning?” he taunted. “That’s when she has the most energy.”
I lost my composure, mortified at what he was doing. What the hell?
The bystanders oohed and giggled. Jared’s smirk was vile, and I arched an eyebrow, feeling Ben tense next to me as Jared tried to educate him. Telling him all the ways he knew me.
I squeezed my fists and walked up to Jared slowly.
I let my smile show through my eyes as I whispered. “He knows when I like it, Jared.”
It was a lie, but Jared didn’t know that. His smirk slowly fell, and the rage in his eyes was evident, even though his face appeared calm.
I turned around just in time to see Ben lunge for Jared, and I gasped as Jared reared back and Madoc jumped in to pull Ben away. “You son of a—” Ben was cut off as Madoc spun him around and walked him off, away from the crowd.
Jared pulled me into his arms, Ben forgotten, and wrapped them around my waist. “You want to play?” he charged, biting out every word so only I could hear.
“Challenge accepted, Tatum. This time I don’t want you hurt,” he continued, his breath falling over me as he got in my face, “and I don’t want you small. I just want you. Do you hear me?” He jerked me into his body. “It will be my ring on your finger and my kids in your belly someday.”
I twisted, struggling to free myself as rage kicked in, heating up my face and neck.
He bared his teeth. “Tatum Brandt is my fucking food,” he growled. “They all knew it in high school, and not a damn thing has changed.”
I yanked my body out of his hold and backed away, moving across the patio as he held my eyes. My hands ached to hit him, and I fisted my fingers and steeled my arms, glaring at him.
And he smiled.
“There’s my wildcat,” he commented, clearly seeing the anger that I couldn’t contain. “You want to hit me, don’t you? You want to fight and scream and challenge me back, and you know why?”
I ground my teeth together, thinking about how good it would feel to wipe that smirk off his face.
“Because you care,” he finished. “You still love me, and nothing has changed.”