It struck like the diamond point of lightning right into her heart.
“I don’t fault you for that,” he said, moving his lips over her neck. His beard abrading her skin. “I want people to look at what you’ve created and be dazzled by it, just like I’m dazzled by you. But this place is my home. The only place I’ve ever belonged. You gave that to me and you’re the only one with the power to take it away. Because I’d follow you if you let me. I’d go with you. But you’re not even going to ask. You’re going to stay here long enough for me to put Vorhees behind bars and then you’re going to leave.”
Tears rolled silently down her cheeks as it all sank in.
Brick Callan loved her. And he was terrified of her.
“You wanted to know why I married Audrey? You should be asking why we divorced. Because of you. Your name is the last word I breathe every night. Your face is the one I see when I close my eyes. I couldn’t hide that from her.”
She let out a broken sob and sucked in a breath. “Oh, fuck that. And fuck you, Brick. You let me think I wasn’t good enough for years. You purposely hurt me just so you could keep yourself safe.”
“So much for safe! I’m going to go to bed every night for the rest of my life thinking about you, and where will you be, Remington? Will you even remember me? Every fucking time I make you come, I feel you getting farther away from me. But I still can’t stop myself.”
“Because I don’t want you to hurt me again! I can’t take another rejection from you. Not after…”
“What? Not after what? Sex? Not after we fucked a few times? That’s the only reason I’m here, isn’t it? Because I make you feel good. That’s why you’re pushing that tight little ass against my dick, isn’t it?”
She spun around and let her closed fist fly. Darlene Ford’s daughters didn’t slap. They cold-cocked. Brick dodged the blow easily and pulled her in tight so she couldn’t put a knee in his balls. They struggled, wrestling each other to the hard floor. When they landed, his hand manacled hers over her head as she squirmed under him.
She knew they were fighting. Knew she was furious with him. But being restrained like this, being pinned by his heavy body, muddied things. She needed more, and so did he. Remi bucked her hips against him, an invitation as much as a challenge.
He gritted his teeth before kissing his way down her neck. “I hate myself for wanting one last time with you. One last chance to make you need me. Because that’s all I’m good for. That’s all I have to offer you. A place to feel safe. A way to feel good. It’s not enough,” he said, even as he loosened his belt.
Her chest heaved as she dragged in a breath.
“Open your legs,” he ordered.
She reared up and bit his lower lip. “Make me.”
She saw it in his eyes. The glimmer of excitement. The thrill of the line she was asking him to cross.
“You’re proving my point, and I still can’t help myself,” he said, levering up to free his swollen erection from his pants. “I still can’t say no to you.”
His weight was on her wrists, making them ache, but watching him work that thick shaft with brutal strokes blocked out any pain except for the empty trembling of her inner walls.
“Open your fucking legs, Remington.”
Biting her lip, she shook her head against the floor.
He let out a low growl as if he were in pain. “You tell me to stop if this goes too far.”
A nod was all she’d give him.
With permission granted, Brick inserted a knee between her thighs. She fought it, squeezing against him and loving the illicit thrill of being restrained.
She was no match for his brute strength.
“This is the last time,” he promised, gritting out the words as he used his hips to pin hers down.
She wanted to argue with him. Wanted to stop him and be the one to walk away. She wanted to prove him wrong. But all of those things fell a distant second to the need inside her. The need to be dominated by him. Taken by him. Marked by him. That took precedence.
She bucked against him, half-heartedly trying to twist away. But he simply spread her thighs wide and yanked her thong to the side.
Digging her heels into the floor, she tried once more to dislodge him and was thrilled when he didn’t budge. His hand connected with the back of her thigh, delivering a stinging slap.
Their gazes locked a split second before he lunged into her. Claiming her.
“Brick!”
He didn’t answer her cry of ecstasy. Just drove into her tight sex again and again, forcing her to take more of him each time, until finally every inch of him was sheathed inside her. Their bodies slid and scraped across the floor.
Even then, he didn’t stop.
Quivering around him, she was primed to come, and each masterful thrust, each aggressive entry, pushed her closer to the edge.
This solved nothing. This only served to further complicate things. But even knowing that, even knowing she was reinforcing Brick’s fear, Remi couldn’t stop herself from crying his name as they fought like two storm systems clashing for dominance.
He powered into her, setting a wild pace that was nothing like the measured man he was outside the bedroom. He was lost in her, and she had two choices—to either fight it or to give in and lose herself, too.
“My beautiful girl.” He punctuated each word with a thrust. “My Remi. I love you.”
A sob broke free from her chest. There was something so beautiful, so final about the way he touched her.
His eyes went glassy as he drove into her core. Again and again. A man on a mission, punishing them both for their need.
Even angry with her, even wanting to end things, he still couldn’t help himself. There was a delicious thrill in that. It made her feel powerful, desired, craved. With impatience, he yanked her legs higher on his hips, changing the angle of his entry.
He was still fully dressed. Together they writhed on the floor in a race to find the promised fulfillment.
He shoved her shirt up, baring her breasts, and groaned as he dipped his head to suck one nipple into his mouth. She saw stars and fireworks and explosions behind her eyes as he worked her body toward the finish line.
“You will come. Now,” he said through gritted teeth. Beads of sweat dotted his forehead. “Give it up to me, Remi. Give me what I need. One last time.”
One breath she was suspended somewhere between pleasure and pain, the next she was hurtling into the darkness as she erupted around him in the disorienting annihilation of her orgasm. He was her center, her anchor, tethering her to the pleasure that threatened to wreck her.