“Well, damn.” On an exaggerated sigh, Ash plopped down into his chair between April, Shea’s long-time best friend, and me.

Twinkle lights were strung through the trees above. They draped across the space to create the illusion of an outdoor ceiling over a clearing in the wooded area behind the church where the ceremony had been held. Round tables were set up along the perimeter, making a horseshoe around the dance floor and stage that had been constructed in the center.

A cool breeze blew through the night. It rustled the leaves, mixing up the voices and laughter from the reception with the faint trickle that could be heard from the stream running in the distance.

The scene was breathtaking.

It was no wonder Shea had chosen this spot.

“Damn what?” Anthony lifted his drink, eyeing Ash with a grin from across the table where he sat beside his wife. Anthony was Sunder’s long-time manager, but I knew he was more of a friend to all the guys than simply a business partner.

Next to him on the other side, almost lost in the shadows, was Lyrik. Sable eyes severe. Dark and confusing and twisting me up just a little tighter. Right into that knot that’d refused to leave my stomach since he’d been so kind to make a fool out of me in his apartment two days ago.

But what did I expect? I knew the games those kinds of boys liked to play. And I’d willingly stepped right into the ring.

I wouldn’t be making that mistake again.

Ash huffed in astounded frustration. “I thought weddings were supposed to be all about the hooking up? Lovely ladies for miles. A buffet. A smorgasbord. Only single women here?”

He hooked his thumb over his shoulder toward a table on the other side of the dance floor. “Three chicks I already bagged back in L.A. So that leaves April and my Tam Tam.”

He waggled his brows between us. “Which of you knockouts wants dibs? One night with a rock legend.” He stretched his arms out to the sides, offering that overabundance of cockiness, dimples lighting up in his cheeks. “All-access pass.”

April curled her nose in disgust. “Ew, no…just no.”

He turned to me, blue eyes gleaming. “Guess it’s just you and me, then, Tam Tam. Only thing I ask is that you not chop my dick off in the middle of the night.” He grinned. “You kinda scare me, but I’m willing to take the risk.”

I lifted a teasing brow, playing along. Funny how I could spar with Ash without qualms or sweaty palms or fear slicking down my spine. “Feeling awfully brave, now, aren’t we?”

Leaning on his forearms, he spun the heel of his half-empty rocks glass on the table. “Brave?” He acted as if he were in deep contemplation. “No…No…I believe the correct description would be horny. Yes, yes, that’s it.”

“Ew,” April said again with a shake of her head and shove on his shoulder. He jostled into me and I pushed him back.

“What, can a man get no love around here? Does only Baz get this privilege, the lucky bastard? This is just not damned fair. Someone help a man out here.”

I laughed. “Looks like you’re going to have to help yourself out tonight, buddy, because it’s sure not going to be me.”

“Sounds like someone else I know…taking matters into their own hands.” That dark, smooth voice cut through the air.

My eyes flew Lyrik’s way.

Was he really going to go there?

My stare narrowed in warning and hatred and a flash of hurt I just couldn’t keep at bay. I knew what he was implying. Going back to that night when he’d backed me into a corner in the storage room. When I’d turned him down then days later he’d turned around and done the same to me.

I thought both of us would finally have had enough and thrown in the towel, giving up this stupid, futile game. Quit hurting each other for sport.

Because neither of us were going to win.

But, no.

He just kept right on like he wanted to go another round. Watching me as if he couldn’t stop.

Big question?

Why?

Why wouldn’t he give this up?

That fierce gaze shifted between hunger and remorse and an apology I didn’t want him to speak.

Not that I’d be foolish enough to fall for it again.

Casually, he sat rocked back in his chair, as if he were just another person in the small group gathered at Shea and Sebastian’s wedding reception.

As if he wasn’t single-handedly setting fire to my safe little world.

Lights from above glowed against his face.

Like a halo bestowed on a dark angel.

Under his scrutiny, I felt as if he was slowly killing me. Piece by piece. Thought by thought.

I could feel him sinking in. Slipping deeper. That disease taking hold.

How could it feel as if this dangerous boy was becoming my last dying wish?

Shadows played across the defined cut of his cheeks, accentuating the sharp angle of his jaw, his tie loosened as he kicked back in that delicious suit the man should have been forbidden to wear.

Because on him it was nothing but an irresistible snare.

Potent and provocative.

My insides quivered and shook.

Did he have no shame?

I lifted my chin. “Maybe some people choose to go at it alone because they don’t need the added disappointment. They’ve had enough of it already.”

His brow rose. “Maybe they’re looking in the wrong places.”

“Oh, I have no doubt they’re looking in the wrong places. And then in a weak moment they think maybe…just maybe they found something they wanted, that maybe they were looking in the right place after all, and the next second they’re shown their instincts were right all along.”

If I wasn’t locked in this stare down, I might have missed the way he winced at the jab I threw.

We both knew my thoughts had gone right back to his apartment, where I’d sought him out and ended up against his wall. Where I’d so stupidly been giving in.

Succumbing.

Falling right into that trap.

Silence stole over the table, and everyone looked between us. They weren’t fools to the discomfort.

Ash tsked, a smirk stealing onto one side of his mouth. “Oh come now, you two, this is a wedding. It’s supposed to be all about the lovin’, and here you are, fighting like cats and dogs.”

Ash let his eyes trail over me, over the gorgeous dress that was pretty, sweet, and delicate up against my hard, rigid armor.

“Considering our Tam Tam here is nothing but a sex kitten…”

He turned and widened his eyes at Lyrik. “And you, my friend, are nothin’ but a dog, we know you two can’t help yourselves. But before you go ripping each other to shreds…or more likely, each other’s clothes to shreds…let’s have some respect for the sanctity of the evening, shall we?”

He glanced between us, smirking wide.

A scowl gathered on Lyrik’s face—attention still directed at me—before he grinned at Ash. “Just makin’ sure these ladies know all their options.”

He looked back at me. “Wouldn’t want them missing out on the good things in life.”

Ash chuckled quietly. “Sure you are, my friend, sure you are.”

Some weird moment transpired between them, Ash’s chin tilting up and to the side. Lyrik gave a short shake of his head.

Just awesome. Now I was a part of some silent manwhore conversation. It made me itch in discomfort. Shift on my seat.

Had Lyrik been talking about me?

Kallie, Shea’s little girl, suddenly came flying in from across the dance floor, screaming, “Uncle Ash!” with her hands thrown in the air.

Thank God for small miracles.

Ash turned and swooped her up just as she flung herself into his arms. He propped her on the table facing him while he squeezed her, tossing an exaggerated wink out to everyone watching. “Now this here’s my real date.” He smiled back at her. “Little miss maid of honor.”

“Today I’m a butterfly princess,” she said with a resolute nod.

He poked at her belly and she giggled, trying to catch his finger. “Stop it, Uncle Ash. That tickles way, way, way bad!”

“Well, that’s what tickle monsters do…they tickle.” He tickled her more, lightly, before he touched her nose. “Are you saving your first dance for me?”

“Yep, yep, yep! Just like we practiced.”

“Good girl.”

He set her on her feet, and she kept moving. She pushed up on her toes to press a kiss to my check. Warmth spread through me.

The child was so sweet.

She rounded back to kiss April, doing the same to Anthony and his wife Angie, before she made it to Lyrik.

Only he didn’t lean down to accept her kiss.

No.

Instead, he pulled her onto his lap.

Pulled her onto his lap.

Hugged her and whispered words I couldn’t hear but made her giggle and pressed gentle kisses into the wild curls on top of her head.

Who was this man?

I took a big, steeling gulp of wine and tried not to watch them. Tried to pretend I wasn’t witness to something so sweet and soft. Tried to convince myself I wasn’t witnessing this convoluted, wicked man caring.

God, he made me insane.

He looked up at me from over the top of her head. He held me in the grips of his stare while he held the precious little girl in the safety of his arms.

The air trembled and shook.

No. No. No.

This jerk would wreck me. I could feel it in my bones. In my marrow. In that hollow space inside that no matter how hard I fought it, just kept aching to be filled.

Every part of me was at war. Hate and fear up against the need to be touched. To feel a part of something. Of someone.

I craved it.

Missed it so much it hurt.

Loneliness was a bitch.

But loneliness was safe.

And there was nothing safe about Lyrik West.

Hand in hand, Shea and Sebastian worked their way back over to the wedding party table after making their rounds personally thanking their guests for coming.

Ash raised his voice in a tease as they approached. “Ahh…it’s Baz, the man of the hour, going and stealing my Beautiful Shea away.”

“Damn right.” Sebastian grinned.

“Just how many girls are you going to claim?” April asked with a laugh.

“As many as will have me, of course.”

Shea stepped forward and dropped an affectionate kiss to Ash’s head. “One of these days a girl’s going to steal your wild heart and you aren’t going to know what to do with yourself.”

“Not a chance, darlin’.”

“God, please let someone do it.” Zee walked up, breaking away from the conversation he was having at another table.

“I’m not sure how much longer I can handle the likes of him with the endless string of girls parading in and out of the house. Woke up with a girl curled up next to me this morning…one I never touched, mind you…she just forgot which bedroom she’d come out of when she’d gone to the kitchen to get a drink of water.”

Ash howled and pointed at him. “Hey, man, you’re welcome for that.”

Zee just shook his head and muttered, “Asshole,” under his breath.

Lyrik chuckled in that low mysterious way, the sound wrapping me whole.

Don’t look. Don’t look. Don’t look, I chanted in my head.

Right now what I needed was to shield and protect and fortify. Reinforce the steel barricade guarding my heart.

Yet I held no power to stop myself.

How could I?

Not when I heard Kallie giggle again.

Warily, my gaze flitted their direction, and that wicked, menacing, malicious man was bouncing that angel on his knee.

Dark and light. Corrupt and pure.

My heart clenched in the center of my chest and I could feel those rumbles under my feet, could feel it in the air when that murky gaze locked on me.

I desperately tried to pretend as if he had no effect.

No control.

No intrigue.

All the while that overwhelming awareness spun around me with the force of a windstorm.

Winding and twisting and whirling.

Catching me up in a cyclone of energy.

In his intensity.

In those eyes that saw too much.

He tore his gaze away and looked at Shea, full lips tweaking in affection. “I think there might be someone here who is ready for cake.”

“Me, me, me!” Kallie yelled, as if everyone didn’t know he was talking about her.

“Really? Are you sure you’re ready for cake?” he said while peppering a bunch of loud kisses to the side of her face.

Oh God.

Why? Why? Why?

Sebastian swooped her up and tossed her into the air. She squealed. “Then I think it’s time to get my Little Bug some cake.”

He glanced around at everyone. “You all ready to get this party started?”

“Hell, yeah,” Ash said.

I rolled my eyes at him. Was anyone surprised?

Ash pushed to his feet, lifting his chin to the band who had been playing quietly during dinner. The song they played trickled out and he bounded up the three steps and onto the stage, accepting the offered mic.

Shea stepped behind me, leaned down, put us cheek to cheek. Her voice was a whisper. “Thank you so much for being a part of it. Of this day. I know it’s not your thing.”

I blinked hard.

Because this totally was my thing.

Back before I was who I was today.

“I wouldn’t have missed it,” I promised, my words a little clogged.

As foolish as taking part in this wedding was, it was true.

I wouldn’t have missed this.

Not for old insecurities.

Not for stolen dreams and not for undying fears.

Not for a boy who had me so spun up I was having a hard time recognizing who I was supposed to be.

Ash’s voice rang from the speakers, and everyone turned to face him. “How did everyone enjoy their dinner? Delicious, right?”

A murmur of approval rippled over the exclusive crowd of Shea and Sebastian’s friends and family. No question, the wedding was small. They had kept the event secret, away from all the prying eyes of Hollywood and the paparazzi that would all too happily wreak a little more turmoil on their lives.

I had to admit, if our roles were reversed, I’d absolutely hate it. Constantly looking over my shoulder. Worried someone was watching me.

I worried about that enough.

“Shea and Sebastian are just about ready to cut the cake, but before then, I want to say a few things.”

“Of course you do,” Anthony yelled.

Laughter rolled, and I felt the smile pulling at my face, all the while being completely aware of the man who sat across the table behind me.

As if the heated gaze roaming the bare skin of my back was palpable.

Like I could feel the caress of his callused fingertips.

I shivered.

Ash continued, “As you all know, we’re here to celebrate one of my best friends, Sebastian Stone, and his gorgeous wife, Shea.”

He gestured with his head in their direction. They had moved to the cake table. Sebastian’s arms were wrapped around Shea from behind, his chin rested on her shoulder, hands on her belly while little Kallie jumped around at their sides.

Emotion thickened.

“How the guy got lucky enough to marry my Beautiful Shea, I’ll never know,” he cracked with his smirk ticking into place.

“Hey, watch it, man,” Sebastian hollered with a wide smile, holding Shea just a little tighter.

“Just speaking the truth, my friend.” Ash grinned. He held his hand out in a placating fashion. “Now, don’t worry, y’all. Sebastian made me promise if I was going to stand up here and talk to you, I had to be on my best behavior. As if I could ever be bad.”

He winked and I laughed with a shake of my head.

You had to love Ash.

He sobered and glanced around at the guests. “Me and my crew? We’ve all known Sebastian for most of our lives. We all grew up together. Suffered tragedies. Made too many mistakes to count and learned a ton of tough lessons.”

Behind me I felt that severity swell, and I had the overpowering desire to look at him. To see what expression I would find on Lyrik’s face. To know what he’d suffered.

Because I knew it was there, beneath all that bad.

“But we also got to experience some of the best times of our lives.” Ash chuckled low. “Now I was pretty sure none of us were ever gonna get hitched. I thought we had an unspoken pact that the four of us were never falling into that trap. But our boy here definitely did, and he couldn’t have fallen with someone better than Shea.”

He lifted his glass and everyone did the same. “To Shea and Sebastian, may you forever keep falling together. May all your bests be yet to come.”

“Cheers!” echoed through the night, winding with the wind.

We tipped back our glasses, and I swallowed hard and tried to find even ground.

To slow the pounding of my heart.

God, I wished I could leave while a huge part of me wanted to stay.

I felt torn in two.

Shea and Sebastian proceeded to cut the cake, joking around as they fed it to each other while my little world spun on.

Tighter and faster and denser.

So close to spinning from its axis.

And it was that magnet that pulled, pulled, pulled.

I drew in a staggered breath as I felt Lyrik rise to stand behind me.

He strode around the table. His steps were long and strong and purposed, that suit clinging perfectly to his lean, muscled body. The man was so compelling, there was no looking away as he headed for the stage.

He climbed three steps to the top, grabbed an acoustic guitar from a stand, and pulled up a stool in front of the mic before he sat down.

Shit. Shit. Shit.

Lyrik and a guitar would be my demise.

Frantic, my gaze flitted around the space, desperate to find a focus.

Anywhere but on him.

He cleared his throat.

I looked back.

Enraptured.

A gust of wind arose, stirring through the trees, and the twinkle lights danced above.

With his index finger, he scratched his temple. As if in that moment this bold, arrogant man felt out of place. He scanned the crowd and let his eyes land on Shea and Sebastian.

His words were deep and wispy and I felt them in my gut. “Baz…like Ash said, I’ve known you most of my life. We’ve had some good times. Victories we never expected. We’ve celebrated and rejoiced and lived this crazy lifestyle to its fullest.”

His tone deepened. “But you were also there at my lowest.”

Sebastian stilled, like he was surprised by the admission.

Lyrik’s throat bobbed as he swallowed hard. He seemed to have to force out the words. “I want you to know I’m forever grateful that you gave me what you did. Because sometimes one moment…one memory is more important than all the rest combined.”

Baz ran his hand through his hair and looked to the ground. So clearly he was caught up in the rawness of Lyrik’s declaration.

In the vulnerability he showed.

My pulse spiked and my mouth felt dry.

“I can never repay you, but I can say there’s not a soul who deserves to have found what you did. That you got a girl like Shea to love you and she somehow came with an extra bonus of that sweet little girl.”

Kallie danced around, grinning up at Lyrik as if he was the sun.

As if he wasn’t dark and wicked.

As if he didn’t come as a destructive force.

“So tonight, I wanted to play something for your first dance.”

He hooked the heel of his shoe in a rung and adjusted the guitar on his lap. That shock of dark hair flopped to the side and across his forehead as he leaned forward.

Enthralled, I watched as he wrapped his big hand around the neck, tattooed fingers taking the frets. His hand with the rose strummed one echoing chord as his eyes dropped closed.

“To me, a song has always meant more than anything I could ever say, anyway. May these words always be true for the two of you.”

I felt a tug right in the center of my chest.

That thrill shimmered in the air.

The buzz before the strike.

Lyrik plucked at the strings and, in that moment, the only thing I wanted to know was what he kept hidden inside. For him to show me everything.

I stood.

I couldn’t help myself. My feet took me to the very edge of the shadows that hovered around the dance floor.

Drawn.

There wasn’t a soul who would have noticed. The rest of the guests did the same, gathering to watch as Sebastian led Shea onto the center of the floor. Where he pulled her into his arms and danced with her for the first time as husband and wife.

Like the rest of the guests, I should have been watching them.

But I couldn’t.

Because Lyrik leaned in and finally pressed his sensual mouth close to the mic and began to sing.

He was singing Ed Sheeran’s Thinking Out Loud.

But his voice.

His voice was raspy and low and filled with emotion so thick I could taste it. Filled with what I could have sworn was prominent in those lonely hours of the night when his songs wept with pain.

I swallowed hard. Desperate for my armor. For all the shields to come up so I could block him from my mind. From the places he was seeping, sinking and submerging and overwhelming.

I was going under.

His entire body tensed as he sang.

Wind whipped through his hair.

Those dark, dark eyes opened and they landed directly on me.

Was it possible he felt this, too?

His voice traveled the air, wrapping me in soft, soft ribbons. Spinning and spinning and spinning. Until they got tighter and tighter.

Suffocating.

Like he was the only thing I could breathe.

Tremors of panic rolled through my body. My heart galloped as he peered at me in the darkness and continued to pour himself into the song he sang for his friend.

He held his voice as the song came to a close. Awe filled the night. Voices silenced.

And I wondered if they could feel it, too.

Lyrik stood, and I remained frozen beneath his gaze.

The hired band reclaimed their spots. Their singer spoke into the mic. “We’d now like to invite the wedding party to share a dance with the bride and groom.”

This…this was what I’d dreaded.

But now that dread shivered through me in little shocks of excitement.

Dazed, I took two steps forward onto the dance floor.

At the same time, Lyrik strode down the three stairs, dark, dark beauty radiating from each step.

Tattoos peeked out from beneath his tailored suit. The perfect opposition of gritty and straight-laced.

God.

No man should look that good.

He stalked my direction as the band struck up.

I trembled. Fisted my hands. Hands that seemed desperate to touch.

Was I really going to just stand here and let this happen? Whatever this was?

Hot hands landed on my sides.

I felt as if I’d been electrocuted.

A bright burst of light flashed behind my eyes.

Body alive.

He tugged me closer, up against his heat and hard and destructive beauty.

I pressed my hands to his chest, desperate for space. For a way to keep from feeling like this. Instead, my fingers curled into his suit jacket.

He pulled me tighter, wrapping me in strong arms.

They felt safe.

His breath tickled across my face, lips brushing the shell of my ear.

“I have never seen a girl look as good as you look tonight,” he mumbled at my temple. “Stole my breath when you stepped through that church door and started down the aisle. So fucking sexy, dressed up like an angel when I know you’ve got a little bit of demon hiding underneath.”

He splayed one hand across the small of my back. The other set a trail of flames as he ran it all the way up my spine until he was cupping the side of my neck. Forcing me to look at him. Long fingers twisted through the curls that had been ironed into my hair. “Can’t stop thinking about you. Can’t stop watching you. Can’t stop wanting you. What is it you think you’re trying to do to me?”

That palm at the small of my back drew me closer. Up against his cock that pressed hard into my belly.

Oh God.

My knees wobbled, and that fear trembled free. But it was overshadowed by the want roaring through my veins. Stomach tight. Legs quivering.

“This…this is what you do to me. One fucking look, one touch, and I’m dying for something I know I shouldn’t have. Because you,” he chuckled darkly, “you do things to me you shouldn’t. It’s driving me damned near out of my mind knowing you’re just a few footsteps away, right outside my door, and I can’t have you.”

I fought for my senses, clutched his jacket a little tighter. “We’re a terrible idea.”

Hard, harsh laughter rocked from him, so low that only I could hear. It came at me like a warning. “Make no mistake, Red. I don’t want an us. I’ll be the first to admit it. I’m an asshole. I’m not wired that way. Not anymore.”

Not anymore.

God, I was a fool. Self-preservation floored. Because right then? All I wanted to ask him was what that meant. To dig deep and sink in.

Discover who was hiding underneath.

I knew it. Felt it.

He was just like me.

His voice dropped lower, a wisp at my ear. “But what I want is you. I want to take you back to my place, unwrap you like a gift, and look at you laid out on my bed. I want to touch you and taste you and explore you. Make you lose your mind, kinda the way you’ve been making me lose mine. Tell me what you want, Red.”

Shivers slid down my spine.

He pressed his mouth to the side of my neck and mumbled the words at my skin. “All you have to say is no. Say no and I’m gonna walk and never going to look your way again.”

I got the feeling he was begging me, begging me to say no.

A loud guitar strum reverberated through the speakers. The song played out. Over.

“All right, all right,” the singer shouted, his voice amped up as he spoke into the microphone. “It’s time to get things shaking around here. Everyone on the dance floor.”

It shook us both from the daze and back into this painful reality.

They launched into one of those seventies disco songs that no generation could resist.

I took two fumbled steps back and stared across the short space at the man who was panting. Looking as if he was ready to pounce. To destroy, plunder, and desolate.

“Uncle Wyrik…Uncle Wyrik, dance with me! Dance with me! Imma butterfly!”

Kallie was at his side, jumping up and down with her arms in the air.

Warily, he looked between us, his chest heaving. He lifted her. Her grin grew wide with joy as she wrapped her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist. He cast me one last pleading glance before he turned away and started dancing with her.

Bouncing her and swinging her and making her howl with laughter.

Tremors rolled and the air turned cold.

Fear gripped me tight.

I can’t feel this.

And like a coward, I turned and ran.

After all, running was what I did best.

I drove directly to my apartment. I cut the engine and sat in the silence for a few moments, trying to reorient myself.

To regain control.

Pushing out a breath, I opened the door and stepped into the night. Gusts of wind stole the peace, cutting through the trees and tumbling along the ground.

Climbing the stairs, I held the railing, slowly pulling my weary body up. My heels dangled from the fingers of my free hand, my head lowered.

Staggering loneliness swamped me.

Rushed over me.

Wave after wave after wave.

I hated how bad it hurt.

I wanted to put up my shields and lift my chin and paint that hard, fierce scowl on my face.

But I was getting weak.

The faintest flash of lightning lit up somewhere in the far distance and my hair whipped around my head.

I mounted the last step onto the stoop and headed toward my door.

A deep, hard rumble echoed through the air. Drawing closer. Coming nearer.

It trembled through me like energy and light and life.

God.

Was he chasing after me?

Why was he doing this?

I knew I should run. Lock myself in my apartment and never come out.

But I was frozen with my hand on the doorknob.

A bright light blinded my eyes as Lyrik eased his bike into his spot. He planted his feet as he came to a stop. The engine grumbled and rolled, the sound beating through my heart and pulsing through my veins.

He killed the engine and the headlight dimmed.

The street lamp filtered in from above in a milky haze. Playing across his face as shadows.

And I wondered if I was wired wrong. If I gravitated toward assholes and manipulators and those who would only bring me pain.

Because my want for him was greater than the fear that clogged my throat. Greater than the knowledge that when he was finished, he was going to leave me behind.

Desolate me.

It was all supposed to be contained.

Concealed and buried and camouflaged.

The perfect masquerade.

All feeling corralled.

Suppressed.

With the man staring up at me and me staring down at him, I dug deep for conviction. For the confidence I’d found. In who I’d become.

I was Tamar King.

And Tamar King was nobody’s slave.

I held complete and utter control.

But Lyrik West single-handedly made me feel as if I was losing that control. I could feel it unraveling. Pieces splintering. Ripping and snapping.

He lifted himself from the bike and straightened to standing.

So tall and menacing and beautiful.

Alarm flashed.

“You left,” he said, voice hard.

“And you followed,” I whispered back.

Every promise I’d ever made myself rolled through me on a vicious cycle. The ones I’d made to myself when I was just a little girl. When I was bold, excited, and brave, and had wanted to experience everything in life at least once.

They clashed with the ones I’d made when I was twenty. When I’d turned my back on the girl of my youth and became this hard girl who needed absolutely nothing in her life but herself.

Lyrik slowly mounted the steps.

Relentless.

He stopped at the top. His dark eyes swallowed me whole.

In the distance, thunder rolled. I looked that direction.

“A storm’s coming,” I murmured quietly. I could feel it, gathering in the air. I kept my attention trained on the furor gaining speed, not sure I could continue looking at Lyrik without completely succumbing.

He said nothing as he came closer.

I finally looked toward him as he moved to back me against the door. His hands went to either side of my head.

And again, this dangerous man caged me in.

And I felt vulnerable and small and brave.

Those little girl promises swirled.

I didn’t want to be scared anymore.

Didn’t want to be alone.

“Give me one night. Show me who you are. Show me that anger. Show me why. Fight it out with me with that hot little body.” His words were harsh and desperate. “Or tell me no, Red, tell me no. Say it, and I’ll walk away.”

Fear blasted across my skin, mixing with the fire Lyrik had set.

Together, the two were combustible.

My breath heaved from my lungs.

“I can’t.”