“I appreciate that, Leigha. I do.” He reached out and took my chin in his hand, lifting my face so I was forced to meet his eyes. “It means a lot that you thought about me first. But do you have any idea what went through my head when I realized you were gone?”
“I’m sorry,” I said, finally seeing it from his point of view.
“I was more pissed than worried until I saw you get in that cab. You didn’t look like you were mad at me, you looked scared.”
I had been. I’d been terrified.
“Then Axel called to say they found blood in your house. That you’d been tied up. I love that you’re the kind of woman who thinks of others first, but you need to be more careful. What happened was bad enough, but it could have been so much worse.”
At that I looked up, remembering Steven’s hand on my breast, the way he’d held the knife. Dylan must have seen something in my face.
“What did he do to you?” Dylan demanded. I sat up straighter, tired of cowering away. Dylan was pissed, but he wouldn’t hurt me.
“Nothing I haven’t already told you about,” I said, meeting his eyes. “I promise. He only touched my breast over my shirt and threatened me. That was all.”
Dylan swore and spun on his heel, swinging out at the lamp on the bedside table. It flew across the room and hit the wall, the metal fame gouging a chunk out of the drywall before it fell to the carpet.
“I’m going to fucking kill him,” he said, his eyes fierce.
“Dylan, stop.” I rose to my knees in the bed, clutching the sheet around me. “Calm down.”
“No,” he said, turning to point a long finger at me. “My job is to keep you safe. He could have raped you. Killed you. And I wasn’t there to protect you.”
“No, Dylan!” I yelled, trying to break into his rage, “I was trying to protect you. Don’t you understand? I’m okay. This isn’t that big a deal.”
He stopped and looked at me, his eyes suddenly calm. Coming closer, he sat on the edge of the bed and took my hand. His abrupt change in mood unnerved me.
“This is the biggest deal, Leigha. He cut you. He drew your blood, scared you, and stole from you. He threatened to rape you. While you were with me. And you didn’t trust me enough to let me keep you safe. You thought you had to risk yourself to protect me.”
“You don’t understand -”
“No, Leigha, it’s you who doesn’t understand. We have something here between us. Something important, but you don’t seem to get it.”
“What is it that I don’t understand?” I asked carefully, looking from his intent green eyes to my hand in his. His fingers closed tightly around mine.
“That you’re mine. You belong to me.”
“What?” My voice hit my ears in a shrill tone. What did he mean, I was his? This was just supposed to be for a weekend. And despite any evidence to the contrary, like the shopping trip or Dylan showing up at the hospital, I was still afraid to hope for more.
“You’re mine, Leigha,” he repeated. “I know it scares the shit out of you, but that doesn’t change anything.”
“I’m not scared,” I insisted, lying through my teeth. I was terrified.
“I know you’re scared,” Dylan said, his eyes patient. “Because the other option is that you don’t want me and I know that isn’t true.”
“Cocky,” I whispered under my breath, calculating the odds of making it to the bathroom and locking the door behind me before he could stop me. Not good. It’s not that I wanted to get away from him. I just needed a second of privacy to clear my head. Dylan Kane was an overwhelming man.
“Not cocky, sweetheart. I know you want me. Not because of me, because of you.”
I didn’t speak, only looked up at him. Maybe it was shock, or lack of sleep, but I was having a hard time following the conversation. Dylan went on, with the same patient expression.
“When was the last time you went to bed with a man you’d just met?”
I stared at him, my mouth open. Once. When I was in college. Not needing my answer, he kept talking.
“Yet you did it with me. Not an hour after we met, I had my fingers inside you. Two hours later I was fucking you. Ever done that with another man?”
I shook my head, my cheeks flaming pink. When he put it like that, I sounded so cheap.
“I -” I shut my mouth, not sure what I’d been about to say.
“Do you want to tell me why, Leigha?”
Dylan brought my hand to his mouth and kissed my fingers. A hot tingle shot through me, straight to my pussy. How could I be this confused, this annoyed, and still get turned on? It was the mystery of Dylan Kane.