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Most men would have given up on her, but Liam’s divorce had proven that if he wanted a relationship to last, he had to try harder. He’d never bothered to work his way into his ex-wife’s soul or bared his own to Gwyneth. He couldn’t make that mistake with Raine. She’d seized his heart, gripping it more tightly every day until he wondered if he could even breathe without her. He had no bloody idea if she would ever love him in return, but he’d do whatever it took to earn her trust.
Liam pinned her to the wall. “I’ve asked you what happened. Answer me.”
She tried to wriggle free. “Nothing.”
An evasion and a lie. Bloody hell.
Maybe things would be different if he could persuade her to leave Shadows, Hammer, and all the distractions. Maybe then he could win her over. But Raine refused to budge. This was the only place she’d ever known safety, and she felt obligated to Hammer for taking her in as a teenage runaway. But that wasn’t her only reason. How fucking long would she pine for a man who refused to give her any part of himself that wasn’t temporarily engorged?
“Give me the truth,” he demanded.
Worry furrowed her dark brows, strained her delicate face. “Just hold me. Please don’t let me go.”
Her begging reached into his chest and tugged. “It’ll be my pleasure, love, as soon as you tell me what Hammer did.”
“Let’s not talk about him. Or anything.”
She clutched his lapels and brushed her lips over his. Then she did it again. Her next kiss turned urgent. He drowned in her sweet mouth for a lingering moment, knowing he should pull away.
Too often, Raine tempted him to carry her off to their bed, bare her pussy, and sink deep inside her when she sought to divert his attention. More than once, he’d lost himself in the pleasure that eclipsed everything but the explosive desire between them. When he succumbed, they never discussed what troubled her—which suited her fine and dandy. For Raine, talking through her problems was akin to peeling the flesh from her very bones.
But she hadn’t smiled in a week. Giving into her manipulation wasn’t going to help that.
Liam forced himself to set her away. “Wait for me in our room. I’ll be along in a few minutes.”
“Just forget it. Please.” Raine plied him with another desperate kiss. “I’d rather be with you.”
He sent her a stern scowl. “What part of ‘wait for me’ did you not understand?”
“It’s not important.”
“I’ll decide that.” He pointed down the hall. “Go.”
With a sigh, she plodded down the hall, a sad slump pulling at her shoulders. Liam gritted his teeth against the stab of guilt. Sorting out this mess would do a lot more to help her than sex.
Dragging in a steadying breath, he watched her disappear into their room, then charged toward Hammer’s office. Steeling himself, Liam shoved his way inside and slammed the door.
The bastard looked up from his paperwork and frowned.
“What the fuck just happened?” Liam demanded. “I let Raine spend a few minutes with you, and she left distraught.”
“Don’t come into my office looking for a fight, O’Neill. You won’t like how it ends, and neither will Raine. For some reason, she likes your face the way it is.”
“What did you do to my sub?” he snarled.
Hammer stood with such force, his chair rolled and hit the metal filing cabinet behind his desk. “Worried that I grabbed her tits? Copped a feel of her pussy? Fucked her? All with the door wide open?”
“You want her. So whether the door was open or closed wouldn’t matter if you thought you could get away with it. Of that, I’m sure.”
“What did Raine say? Or haven’t you figured out yet how to make her communicate with you?” He crossed his arms over his chest with a sneer.
“I want your side of things.”
Hammer snorted. “So she didn’t tell you shit. Let me clue you in on a little secret: You’ll need a crowbar to open her up when she walls herself off, like she’s doing right now.”
“That’s no secret. I’ll deal with that. Did you touch her, yes or no?”
“I didn’t break the Code of Conduct.” He tugged stiffly on his suit coat.
“Let’s not pretend that honoring the Code would mean a damn thing to you if not for your fellow Doms’ disapproval. Respect Raine enough not to make this situation any more difficult and tell me what happened.”
“I’m not making it more difficult; I’m ensuring that she runs back to me when you figure out she’s more than you can manage. I know how to handle her.”
The silky threat in Hammer’s voice crawled up Liam’s back. He swallowed an answering insult. He needed answers more than he needed a fight—no matter how badly he wanted one. Hammer blamed him for losing Raine, obviously so enraged that he could barely see straight. And Liam couldn’t forget—or forgive—that Hammer had done his bloody best to plant a seed in her womb the moment Liam took her for his own.
