I wanted to own her body, command her mind, and make her drunk off me. Shame flushed my skin, swift and hot. I shouldn’t want any of that—she shouldn’t want any of that. Maybe we were both beyond screwed up. Maybe I should just give in because we couldn’t go back after all the shit we’d been through together. Maybe I should say to hell with it, sink inside her, and lose my fucking mind.

Or maybe I should just choke the fuck out of her.

A strangled cry escaped my mouth, and I closed my eyes. Thick cum coated my shaft. I was so close, driven by the need inside me, by the images hurtling through my head of her fighting me, nails digging into my skin, my name tearing from her lips in a silent scream as I took her air.

“Rafe, stop shutting me out. Look at me.”

If I looked at her now, I’d be a goner. My lips tightened, spreading over my teeth, and I groaned—long, hard, guttural—as I spilled onto her mound. The release was so powerful it pulled me under for a few seconds, and my grasp on the belt slipped.

She veered up, pushing against my chest, and licked my shaft with a greedy tongue. My eyes shot open, and she returned my stare, her gaze huge and round and never fucking leaving my face. I thought I was punishing her by withholding, by making her watch me get off on my own, but I’d underestimated her conniving prowess. It was hard to punish someone whose only aim in life was to please.

I yanked her head back to the bed, gripping the leather strap tight, and pushed her dainty fingers between her legs again. “See what you did? You wear my cum like a fucking prize, Alex.”

She pressed a finger over her clit and furrowed a brow. “You’re still angry with me.”

“Damn right I’m angry with you. You drive me fucking crazy.” I slapped her thigh. “Tell me why you’re being punished.”

She moaned, her hand stalling on her clit, and thrashed her head back and forth. A wayward curl fell across her forehead. “I hurt myself.”

“Not just yourself. It kills me to see you like that.” Anger burned through my chest until I shook with it, but I wasn’t really angry at her—I was angry that she felt the need to harm herself.

I was angry that I had to leave her tomorrow in order to keep her safe. She was going to be pissed when she realized I wasn’t bringing her with me. Keeping her far away from Perrone was my top priority, but now she’d given me a new problem to face.