I shrug, trying to get rid of these feelings the man evokes inside of me, a man I can’t stand on a good day. “It is what it is,” I dismiss, unsure why I opened up in the first place. “I found something I’m good at and actually love doing.”
A small smile still graces his lips when he says, “Well, I’m glad you eventually realized that and stopped following in your mother’s footsteps. No one wants a mini-Veronika running around here.”
His words, whether they’re said in jest or earnest, hurt, like an arrow shot with precision straight to the mangled heart I possess. I can’t help but flinch once they hit their intended target.
“Fuck you,” I say. As per usual, the anger never far from the surface replaces the hurt. “You don’t know me, you don’t know my family, and you have no fucking clue what my life has been like.”
“I didn’t mean to—” he starts to explain before I interrupt him.
“I don’t give a shit what you did or didn’t mean.” I can’t believe I was stupid enough to believe I misjudged him. “I can’t believe I thought you’re a decent human being. You’re an asshole—always will be.”
I turn to walk away when a hand on my arm stops me in my tracks. “Montana—”
Too irate to hear anything he has to say, I try to pull my arm away to no avail. “Let me go,” I grit out between clenched teeth. “I don’t want to hear what you have to say. I should have known better after Lauren told me you checked on Whisky and didn’t have the fucking decency to let me know, especially after I asked you not to go near him without me present. You totally fooled me, and I actually liked you for a minute.”
I’m still trying to get him to take his hand off me while I’m ranting, not hearing what I’m saying. “Let me go,” I repeat, nearly shouting the words, while ripping my arm out of his grasp. But before I can move away from him, or more like stomp away in anger, I’m turned around and pushed against the wall behind me.
My eyes widened in shock at the sudden turn of events, collide with his, and what I see staring back at me steals my breath right out of my lungs, leaving me breathless for the first time in years. His gorgeous, steel blue eyes are filled with anger, lust, and a determination I’ve never seen before in anyone.
“Montana,” he whispers. “Shut up.”
Even though his voice is quiet, the command in his words is more than clear. But before I have a chance to give him an earful for telling me what to do, his hands frame my face and his lips are on mine, effectively shutting me up
The kiss starts out fueled by anger, both of us battling for dominance, neither willing to surrender. While one of my hands clutches his T-shirt, the other lifts to grip the back of his neck, pulling him infinitely closer.
His tongue is tracing the seam of my lips before he pushes inside, exploring, which is all it takes to replace my anger with lust. Instead of fighting this attraction I have felt for Kade since the day I met him, I give in to the passion taking over every cell in my body.
One of Kade’s hands framing my face slides back into my hair while the other skims down my side to my waist. He pulls me harder against his body and at the same time takes a step forward, pressing me into the stall behind me. I can feel his hard cock rub against me through our clothing, and I can’t help the moan that forms deep in my throat.
He stokes the fire he started deep within me when his hand leaves my waist and trails up my side underneath my sweater and shirt only to stop right below my breast. His fingertips dig into my skin causing my nipples to tighten in anticipation.
He breaks the kiss, both of us panting. When my eyes finally open and connect with his—eyes that are bluer than gray at this point—it’s like the world around us has stopped and all I’m aware of is him, his hands on me, his body pressed against mine. And I can tell he feels the same, for once the wall he usually surrounds himself with when he’s around me is gone, and he lets me see the feelings swirling in the depth of his eyes.
And what I see steals my breath—intense passion and lust I’ve never seen before are directed at me.
His eyes never leave mine as his thumb slowly moves across the skin of my breast and my puckered nipple. My breath catches in my throat when I feel his calloused thumb caress my skin, the fire inside of me growing out of control and threatening to engulf us both, and I wouldn’t lift a finger to stop it, loving this feeling too much.
“Fuck, you’re beautiful,” he says, his voice is barely a whisper. I’m not sure if he meant to say this out loud or not, but I can’t help but melt further at his words.
My eyes drop from his to the curve of his lips while my fingers lightly trace his jaw before I lean in for another heart-stopping kiss when out of nowhere a velvety-soft, black nose shoves his way in between our faces.
Startled by the sudden interruption, I rear back only to slam my head into the iron bars of the stall behind me. The movement causes our hands to drop from one another, putting distance between us.
“Motherfucker,” I hear Kade mutter as he takes another step back, wary eyes on Lucifer whose head was between us, clearly not
