“Thanks,” I say, getting into the driver’s seat.
I drive home with dried blood caked on my shirt and Ronan’s voice thundering between my ears.Placeholder. Expiration date.
He’s wrong. He has to be wrong.
But I won’t know for sure until I ask her.
I pull into the garage and sit there for a minute after I shut off the engine, trying to figure out what the hell I’m going to say to my wife.
Sucking in a breath, I finally get out and take the elevator up to the penthouse. To the woman who texted to check up on me. To the woman who wants to share in the things I love and the people I love. To the woman who told me she’s not going anywhere.
And now I need to know if she meant it.
CHAPTER 28
ADRIANA
The elevator doorsslide open and Lochlan walks into the penthouse, broken and bloody.
I jump up from the couch and place my glass of wine on the coffee table. With a gasp, I rush over to him. His face is swollen, and dark purple bruises cover one side. He has a split eyebrow, swollen knuckles, and blood splattered on his shirt.
“Oh my God, what happened to you?”
He doesn’t answer. Instead, he yanks off his shirt and wraps his arms around me. Then he kisses me like he’s drowning and I’m the only thing that can pull him to the surface.
It’s not gentle. It’s not sweet. His hands tangle in my hair, then they move down my back to grip my waist, drawing me against him with a wild urgency that steals my breath. He devours me, his tongue delving deep and coiling with mine with an intensity that makes my blood electric.
This isn’t seduction. This is pure desperation.
“Lochlan—” I murmur against his lips.
“I don’t want to talk.” His voice is rough. “I just need you.”
I should push him to tell me what happened. But the way he’s looking at me sends chills scuttling down my spine. His pained eyes tell me I’m the only thing holding him together.
So I kiss him back. Just as hard, just as desperately. Because I need him, too.
We don’t make it to the bedroom. He lifts me onto the kitchen counter, shoves his sweatpants to his knees, then he pulls off my shorts and panties. His hands stroke the sides of my face, his blue eyes heavy-hooded, lust and need glittering in the depths.
“Don’t leave me,” he says in a thick voice before kissing me again. I nearly choke on my pulse when it leaps into my throat at the sound of those words.
As if I could… or would… ever.
He pushes into me, his thick cock stretching me wide. I cry out at the initial sharp burn, digging my fingernails into his inked shoulders. My heart thrashes as he thrusts deep. I squeeze my eyes shut, focusing on his demanding lips as his cock plunders me in the most deliciously vicious way.
He captures me in his arms, holding tight as he fucks me with long, hard strokes that make my blood burn. I raise my hips toward him, meeting him thrust for thrust until we’re both writhing and breathless, aching for the release we both crave.
The edges of my world sizzle with white sparks as the orgasm crashes over me, the carnal electricity shooting out to the tips of my toes and the ends of my hair. I hug him tight, my cheek pressed against his chest as he buries himself and pumps me full of his hot cum.
It’s over too quickly, both of us panting hard.
“I’m sorry,” he finally whispers, sitting me up straight. “That was?—”
“Don’t apologize.” I drop a soft kiss on his lips. “But you are going to tell me what happened.”
For the first time, a hint of a smile lifts his lips.
“Okay,” he says.“Afterwe shower.”
