Tamed By You (Always & Forever #2)

41. Chapter Forty-One

Chapter Forty-One

Harry

“Ali… hey, hey where are you going with her?” I yell as the same asshole from earlier holds a very inebriated Ali.

“Hey dude, don’t worry, she’s all good,” he slurs, swaying on his own feet.

Ali giggles. She’s off her face, barely standing and this sleaze has his hands all over her.

“The fuck she is.” I wrap an arm round Ali, and she throws her head back and cackles.

“Oooh, is someone jealous?” she teases.

“Hey man, go find your own girl. She’s mine.”

I grab the guy by the collar. “There is a special place in hell for men like you. I don't want to see you in my club again.” I let him go with a heavy shove. I take Ali by the hand, guiding her back, pushing past the crowds as they leave.

She’s all over the place. Swaying on her heels so badly that I’m surprised she hasn’t rolled her ankle.

I slam my office door shut. “Sit there. I’m locking up and taking you home.”

She sits on my desk, kicking her legs back and forth. “Uhhmmm, no you're not. I need something and you can’t give it to me.”

“Really? And what’s that?” I say dryly, shrugging on my jacket and adjusting the collar of my shirt.

“A good fucking.” My eyes widen. Is she serious right now?

“I think we both know I can deliver on that.”

“Mmmhhhhmmmm, I dunno.” She bites down on her lower lip, her glazed eyes now hooded as she’s looking me up and down.

I walk towards her, stepping in between her legs, moving so close our noses touch. Lowering my voice I say, “I think we both know I can give you whatever you need, Ali.”

“Prove it,” she says, challenging me as her drunk eyes try to focus on mine.

“I’m not going to fuck you when you are like this.”

“What? Scared I’m right?” she teases, giving me a challenging stare.

“I don’t know what game you’re playing here but stop it.”

“Stop what?” she asks, shrugging her shoulders, feigning ignorance.

“This. What the hell are you doing? Earlier you told me we were done, and now you’re here, begging me to fuck you.”

“Can’t two people fuck, and it mean nothing?” she suggests running her index finger down my chest, acting coy, staring into my eyes, searching for an answer.

“Yeah, people can, but you and me, never.”

Silence falls between us, and the tension is so palpable it almost suffocates me. I fight every urge I have to take her, pin her to the desk, and give her everything she’s begging me for. She places her palms on my heaving chest. My restraint ready to snap. She leans closer, her coconut scent invading my senses as I nuzzle into her hair, breathing her in. I want her; I want her so much it physically hurts, but not like this.

“Tell me what’s going on in that head of yours, baby, please.” My tone is desperate, agony evident in my voice.

“I need to forget,” she chokes.

“Forget what, tell me.”

“All of it. Just help me forget, please,” she pleads, gripping my shirt, silent tears rolling down her cheeks.

“What do you need, baby? Tell me.”

“You, I need you,” she whispers.

She’s hurting, I can feel it, and I need to know why. I clutch her tear-stained face in my hands, pulling her to look at me. “You need to talk to me, Ali. This won’t solve anything.”

“No, I need you to fuck me,” she says, irritation in her voice.

She works my belt. “Come on, let’s get lost in each other.”

I grab her wrist. “Ali stop, tell me what’s going on in that head of yours. This won’t help.”

“I disagree.”

“Ali, it’s me… talk to me.”

“And that's why I can’t.” She shoves me and I stagger back and run a hand through my hair. God, this is so fucked up.

“What do you mean?”

“You are the one person I can’t tell,” she shouts, pain etched all over her haunted face.

“Just trust me, H. It’s better this way.”

“Why, tell me why, Ali, because I’m at a loss here. Help me understand,” I beg. I’ll get on my knees if I must.

“Because if I told you, you'd look at me differently. I can cope with how other people look at me and what they think of me. But not you, anyone but you. I think that would truly break me.” She opens the door.

“Ali, wait…”

“Just go back to hating me, please… it was easier then.” Her words have me frozen. Hate her? How could I ever hate the woman I had fallen headfirst for?