“Adele,” I said, voice low with warning when she went to shove at me again, “you need to leave.”
She speared her hands into her hair and stared at me. “This is all so fucking familiar, isn’t it? Me showing up uninvited, you telling me to get the hell out of your house. But you do not get to write me off so quickly this time, Nathan.” Before I could blink, she ripped her shirt off, still wearing the hot pink bra from earlier, her breasts rising dangerously with her deep, panting breaths. Then she pointed at her neck and I had to look away, struggling to stand still, struggling to keep my temper in check. “You marked me tonight, you asshole. You put your teeth on me and you bit so fucking hard that I’ll have the shape of your mouth on me for days. And before it can even show up on my skin, you’re telling me to trust you, to respect your decision, to not fight you on this?”
This time when she dropped her hands and shoved me, I braced my legs so I stayed in place. My fists trembled at my sides from the effort it was taking to not shove right back. When I didn’t move, she got right up in my face.
“Fuck you, Nathaniel Easton,” she yelled, so close to me that I could smell wine on her breath. “Fuck you and your patronizing emails and your—”
I snapped, my vision clouding at the edges and my pulse roaring in my ears like a freight train about to flatten me. I gripped her upper arms and shook, my fingers denting into her skin so hard that I knew she’d bruise again.
“You think you’re the only one pissed off right now, little girl? Huh? Well, I’m fucking pissed too, okay?” Shoving her from me, absolutely terrified that she didn’t look afraid of my reaction, I just needed her away from me.
Her lips flattened and her eyes practically froze in her face, they looked so cold. “Oh yes, I could sense a wealth of emotion in that fucking email. Sounded like it was written by a robot. So yes, I’m absolutely overwhelmed by how much you’re feeling right now.”
I slammed a fist into the wall to my right, and she finally jumped a little. Good. “You have no idea what you’re talking about.”
Her arms flung out to her sides, face incredulous. “Then tell me. You think you can order me not to ask questions, not to wonder just a little bit why you’re shoving me to the side mere hours after you screwed the hell out of me in the driver’s seat of your car?”
I almost laughed: here I’d been overwhelmed with guilt at feeling happy. Now I was very much not fucking happy. “I think you need a little reminder of whose idea that was. It wasn’t mine, honey.”
“Grow up,” she snapped, eyes flashing. “Did I rape you, Professor Easton? Did I tie you down and take advantage of you? Did I ignore your protestations and just shove your cock inside me? ” God, my veins were humming when she stalked toward me. I gave her a warning glare, but she straight up ignored it. I probably would’ve too, if I’d been her. Because wearing my loose gym shorts, it was painfully obvious that I was hard as fucking nails. Adele leaned up on her tip-toes, tilting her mouth so that we were only a tiny move away from touching. She dropped her voice to a whisper. “You’re a liar and a coward. And you’re scared of how fucking good it is between us. So if you’re not man enough to handle me, then just say it.”
As soon as the words left her mouth, I felt my restraint snap like it hadn’t been this iron bracket that I’d wrapped around myself. With her verbal challenge, it became a gossamer thread, slit clean in half with a butcher knife.
“Take your pants off.” Until I’d said, I hadn’t even really noticed that she’d changed since earlier. If she’d been wearing that skirt from before, I may not have even asked, just taken.
She started at my quietly spoken words, dropping down to the heels of her feet. “What?”
“Take your pants off, turn around and brace your hands on the wall.”
I clenched my jaw while she studied my face. She wanted to see how I felt? Wanted to know if I was man enough to handle her? Done. She’d get it in spades. I saw the instant she decided to play, saw the switch flip in her eyes.
“No.”
Ahh, so that’s how this would go. Instead of smiling like I desperately wanted to, I nodded once. Then I leaned down until our noses almost touched. “Take your fucking pants off, or I will do it for you.”
The crack of her hand across my face was so sharp and so unexpected that it stole my breath. If I hadn’t seen the hard points of her nipples through her bra, I’d have thought she seriously wanted to make me angry. We glared at each other, me rubbing a hand across the stinging skin on the side of my face, her taking a small step backward. I stepped forward and we both froze, waiting for the other to make a move.