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“When I wasn’t around to protect you, I needed to know you were safe.” There’s more to it than that, but she never needs to know how deep my obsession with her runs.
“You’re insane.”
“No, what’s insane is you losing your security when we’re in the middle of a war. You remember that Elijah threatened you yesterday, right? You haven’t forgotten that the most psychotic person we’ve ever met might come after you?”
“What’s your point?” She takes a long drink and I can’t help but stare as she swallows. Fuck, even when I’m furious with her she’s sexy as hell.
I sigh. “You have two options here, Wynter, and I suggest you think long and hard about which one you’re going to take. Option one, you walk your ass out of here and get in the car without any arguments, and I might not lock you in your room until the war is over. Or, option two and my personal favorite, you continue being a brat, I throw you over my shoulder, take you home and spank you so hard and for so long you can’t sit for a week, before locking you up in an ivory tower where I know you’re safe and nothing can hurt you.” I shrug. “Your choice.”
“You can’t do that,” she breathes, but there’s something behind her eyes I can’t place.
I place both hands on the table and stand until I’m towering over both the table and Wynter. “I most definitely can, Wynter, and after this stunt your brothers won’t fight me on it.”
Wynter leans back in her chair and stares at me for a few moments. “Fine.” She sighs and finishes her drink before digging around in her purse.
“I’ve already paid,” I tell her.
“Oh, I know. I’m leaving Jordan my number.” She flashes me a smile as she scrawls something on a piece of paper.
Doesn’t she know when you play with the devil you can expect to be burned?
I take a deep breath to stamp down the anger, even if it is only for a few seconds to get her out of here and then I throw her over my shoulder without a second thought and cart her toward the door, but only after I’ve picked the piece of paper up and shoved it in my pocket. There’s no way another man is having my woman’s number.
“Everett, put me down,” Wynter squeals.
“No.” I slap my hand down on her ass and she jolts immediately.
“Should I call your brothers, Wynter?” the bartender asks.
She sighs. “No, thank you Chad. Unfortunately, my brothers sent this asshole to collect me. Tell Jordan I really enjoyed speaking to him.”
Before Chad can reply, we’re out the door and I’m carefully placing her into the back of the car. I should have checked the street when I walked out, it’s what I’ve been trained to do, but Wynter is distracting as hell. She makes everything else in my mind disappear until it’s just her sitting in the center of my world.
“What the fuck? You said if I agreed I could walk myself out?” she hisses.
“That was before you tried to give another man your phone number.” I move toward her until my face is only a breath from hers. “You. Are. Mine.”
“No, I’m not.” Wynter crosses her arms across her chest in a defensive gesture.
“Yes, you are, dove. You were mine the first time we met, and mine every day that we were best friends, and every time I stole a kiss, or you allowed me to touch you, you became a little more mine. But it was when you trusted me with your heart and your body that you should have known you would never belong to anyone else again, Wynter.”
“You left me.” Her voice wavers as her eyes turn glassy with tears. “You lost the right to be my anything when you left. And you can claim I’ve always been yours all you want, but that doesn’t make it true, Everett.”
“Oh, but it does, little dove. Now be a good girl and behave on the way home and maybe I’ll go easy on you for your punishment.” I smirk. That’s not happening, but if it will make her sit still, it’s worth the little white lie.
17
Wynter
“Punishment?” I whisper as the blood rushes from my head. It’s been a long time since I’ve heard that word directed at me, and fear rises through my body until it chokes me, reminding me of all the reasons I never let men get close to me.
“Yes, little dove. You were beyond careless today. Anything could have happened to you, and you need to be punished accordingly.”
The familiar feeling of panic grasps my lungs until I can barely drag a breath in. I never wanted anyone to know about this part of my life, about the part of me they didn’t know was broken, but with each second that passes I realize Everett is about to find out my dirty little secret and he’ll never look at me the same way again.
“Wynter?” Everett’s worried eyes focus on my face and I almost can’t take it. Because I’ve been so mad at him for not telling me why he left, but I’ve been holding just as much back as he has. “Hey.” He grasps my chin between his thumb and forefinger and forces my eyes up to meet his. “I’ll never give you more than you can handle. You have to know I wouldn’t really hurt you.”
I try to shake my head to break our eye contact, but he won’t allow it. I should know better than to even try, but I’ll never learn. “Let me go,” I whisper.
