I don't know if he's talking about the intense arousal thrumming in the air between us or the heavy erection pressing into my stomach.

Either way, he’s right. I feel it.

But that doesn’t mean I should.

I make myself point out, “There's nothing to feel. There's only your delusion and me not wanting to be here.”

He makes a sound—a sound so feral and angry, it really does feel like I'm in the dark with a predator.

“You want me to lose control, don't you?”

His harsh voice, his hot breath—it’s in my ear now, hitting some secret erogenous zone I didn’t know I had. And sending shivers down my back.

“You made me wait all these months, and now you're testing me like this."

“I'm not testing you. I’m just trying to talk some sense—”

Waylon doesn't let me finish. “You’re fucking with me, angel. You're trying to find out how far you can push me before I flip out.”

He drags his sharp nose up the side of my neck, his lips grazing the sensitive skin. “You’d like that, wouldn’t you? You’d like me to fail your little test by dragging you into my place and fucking you like I've been dreaming about. You want me to make you bend, so you don't have to submit—don’t have to admit you’re in this just as deep as me. A doctor’s what you wanted, but a devil’s what you need, and you can’t accept that. But I’m going to teach you. You’re going to learn to accept this crazy devil into your life, angel. Let him teach you, possess you, do everything you secretly want. And need.”

He presses and grinds into me as he says this, surrounding me with his heat, his intensity, his utter madness. His words pick at something deep inside of me, digging at the parts of me I try to keep suppressed. My heart beats erratically, every nerve in my body lighting up with feral arousal from the church.

“You want to come in there with me,” Waylon growls into my neck. “You want to be mine. You and me both know that. Or else, you would've said yes instead of no back there at the church—picked that doctor douche over me.”

“No, no,” I deny even as the feral arousal swells even hotter inside of me, like a fever on the rise. “I was confused. Because you showed up there. I saw you, and I got confused. That’s all.”

“You belong to me. You belong in my bed.” His voice, his breath is at my lips now—his mouth hovering so close, I know he’s about to end all of my protests with another claiming kiss.