The snarl of his angry words was intense, but she held her nerve. “You don’t know anything.”
“A fuck is what you wanted. When I didn’t give it to you fast enough, you went sniffing for a guy who would. You got one at the bar, huh? Bet he’s primed and ready… Why bother with a drink if you’re that desperate, honey? Just tell him your pussy’s hungry, he’ll fill you up. I guarantee it.”
Her arm ached in the tight grip of his hand. Shyla ignored the vibration of her anxious atoms and shook her hair from her shoulders. “You wouldn’t… Are you saying he’s more of a man than you?”
Sneering, showing his clenched teeth, he growled at her. “I don’t fuck hos… And I don’t care if you’re lily white, a girl as desperate for cock as you hits that mark. Planning to ride and run? Sew those oats? I can’t believe I thought you were different.”
Releasing her arm, he shoved her away and flipped around to stalk a few paces away.
“I am different.”
“No, you’re fucking not. You don’t give a crap who the cock is attached to. You just want your happy ending. You’re a good time gal. I’ve had too many of those.”
“I do give a crap. I… I give a huge crap,” she said to his back and ran a finger across her face to swipe her hair from her lip. “I’m only trying to be what you want.” His chin tipped toward his shoulder, but he didn’t turn. Her adrenaline skyrocketed. Asserting herself with such vehemence wasn’t habit. “You won’t be with me because I don’t have the skills to please you. You don’t want a virgin. So, I don’t want to be a virgin anymore… You know what, you’re right…” Anxiety dried her raspy throat. “I don’t care who the cock is attached to tonight. If that makes me a ho then that’s what I am. And if I have to ride another and another to get the chance that maybe you’ll notice me again then that’s what I’ll do… I’ll ride a hundred cocks and need all those tests you asked about because if you need me to be dirty and broken and unclean, then I’ll—”
Spinning around, he rushed forward, grabbing her up to drop her on the table beneath the mirror, sending one of the decorative statues tumbling to the floor.
“You will never let another man touch you,” he barked. “No other man will touch you. Not ever. You are mine. All mine. Only mine. Do you fucking understand me?”
Clinging to the surface beneath her, slouched against the wall, trying not to slide down on the slippery glossed surface, Shyla’s heart hammered at top speed. “I…I understand.”
“Goddamnit,” he growled a second before scooping a hand around the side of her head to yank her higher.
Their mouths clashed in a manic kiss that was tongues and teeth and need and fury.
Ferocity erupted within her. Clinging to him, clawing at him, her desperation to hold him and possess him consumed her. She wanted to own him as he claimed to own her. It was madness, hysterical mania that forced them to devour each other like lunatics seeking the high of oblivion.
His fingers curled into the neckline of her dress. He tugged it down hard and the fabric tore, but she didn’t care. Shyla arched when he bent to squeeze her breast into his hungry mouth. His tongue circled her nipple. He sucked her hard, forcing her shoulders deeper into the wall.
“Yes,” she whimpered, her head rolling, her eyes closed, her body alive, fueled by his passion.
Shyla was still riding that wave when his mouth left her breast. All of a sudden he was turning away, the second statue in hand, though not for long. He launched the figurine against the opposite wall, smashing it to smithereens.
“Goddamnit!” he hollered so loud that she jumped.
The volume scared her, not the man.
Through her own confusion and the befuddling arousal that was making it hard for her to focus, Shyla reached for him.
One of her hands stayed hooked to the front of the cabinet, if she let go, she’d slide right off.
“Phoenix,” she murmured, her fingertips just making contact with his back.
“Don’t,” he snapped, holding up a hand and stepping further away, out of her reach. “Just don’t, Shy. Just don’t speak. Don’t say anything.”
She wouldn’t speak if he didn’t want her to. Something was going on; she’d never heard him so ragged and it worried her.
The contents of her purse were scattered through the remnants of the smashed ceramics. Into the silence, her phone began to buzz and skitter across the floor.
She wasn’t sure what to do. Her shoes had fallen from her feet when Score picked her up. She didn’t want to get cut, but if Gavin was the caller, it was only right that she tell him their date was over.
Without looking at her, Score sidestepped to pick up the phone. The statue shards crunched under his feet. He didn’t acknowledge her before answering the call.
“Lose this number,” he said, his voice little more than a primal snarl. “You think about her again and I’ll find where you sleep. I’ll put a knife through your eye and let you listen as I slaughter every person you ever cared about. I’ll make you drink their blood and fuck their corpses and just when you think you’re ready to die, I’ll drag your balls out through your eye socket with a fish hook. Needs a very specific skill set that I fucking have… You fucked with the wrong guy’s girl, asshole. You breathe wrong and I’ll take you down. Think about that.”
Hanging up the phone without waiting for a response, Score thought nothing of letting the device fall to the floor again when his
