I rip it free and slash upward.
Justice catches my wrist before the blade can rise past my ribs. His grip crushes, iron strong. His eyes narrow, fury flashing. “Really?” he rasps.
I twist and fight, my muscles straining. He holds me in an unbreakable grip. Man, he’s strong. I slam my knee up, but he blocks with his thigh. The knife trembles in my hand, but he forces it down.
“Let me go,” I hiss, wet hair clinging to my face.
He rips the blade from my grip and flings it into the mud. Before I can lunge, he spins me, slams me chest first against the tree. Bark bites through the fabric of my borrowed shirt. His palm cracks across my ass, sharp and hot.
I gasp, rage and shock colliding inside me. “Bastard.”
His mouth is at my ear, breath hot. “You pull steel on me again, I’ll make you regret it.”
I shove back hard. He presses tighter, his body pinning mine. His hand grabs my wrists, slams them above my head. His other hand digs into my waist, holding meagainst the rough bark, and he secures the other knife. That, too, flies through the air.
“Get off me,” I pant, straining.
“Not a chance.” His voice is pure gravel, steady while mine shakes.
I buck against him, every muscle burning. He drags my arms down, spins me around, and presses my back into the tree this time. His hand locks around both my wrists, pinning them above me. His chest crushes mine, hot, soaked, all carved muscle and fury.
Dark eyes bore into me, alive with anger, with something more.
“You think you can fight me?” His voice cuts low.
“Yes,” I rasp.
His lips twitch, dangerous. “You’re fighting yourself more than me. That’s why you ran, baby.”
There’s too much truth in his statement. But that’s not the only reason. I can’t give him the code to create that computer virus. I just can’t. “Not a chance, asshole,” I hiss.
His mouth crashes onto mine.
The kiss is merciless, claiming, and hard enough to bruise. His grip locks my wrists high, unbreakable, his body pressing me flat to the tree. Heat rolls off him despite the storm, his tongue demanding, forcing me to match him.
I bite his lip, sharp. He doesn’t flinch. He growls low in his chest and kisses me harder, swallowing the sound of my defiance. Desire roars through me, louder than the blood rushing through my veins, stronger than the storm gathering around us.
My nipples peak and my thighs tremble. I’m so wetalready that it stuns me. I’mcravinghim. Yeah, maybe this is why I ran.
Rain beats down. Bark digs into my back. His mouth is hot and rough, his body iron, and I can’t move—except to kiss him back.
Pinned. Furious. Alive.
The tree digs into my back. His weight pins me there, chest to chest, his hand locked around my wrists above my head. His breath is hot against my mouth. My chest heaves against him, furious, my pulse a fist pounding inside me as he releases my hands and pulls me closer by the waist. Such need scares me, but it’s too late. I don’t think. I grab his shirt, soaked and plastered to his chest, and yank. The fabric clings then rips up over his head. Rain hits bare muscle, every line cut, chest broad and hard.
My breath stutters.
He seizes the opening, slams my wrists back up, pins me again, mouth crashing onto mine.
The kiss is brutal. Teeth, tongue, fury. His body crushes mine, my spine grinding into the tree, rain dripping between us. His hand grabs my hip, fingers biting deep, dragging me against him.
I should shove him off. I don’t. My body answers before my head can scream no. My hips shift forward, grinding into his. My fingers claw at his shoulders when he frees one wrist, nails digging into hot skin.
“This doesn’t make sense,” I rasp against his mouth.
“Nothing about us makes sense,” he growls, voice raw. “Doesn’t mean I’ll stop.”
I lunge up, kiss him, mouth open, hungry. He meets me with equal violence, devouring.
