9. Chapter NineMINA
Chapter Nine
MINA
I know exactly what he’s doing. Rory is trying to push me away again, thinking he’s protecting me from him. But every time he does, it only pulls me closer. He wants to keep me at arm’s length, but I know sparks when I feel them. Maybe I’m imagining it, projecting my own desires onto him, but there’s no denying the fire that ignites between us. It’s a magnetic pull that I can’t ignore. And I won’t let him ignore it either.
“I know what I’m asking.”
“You want to see the real me?” Rory growled. “Fine.”
Before I could blink, he yanked me against him, one hand fisting in my hair. He jerked my head back, forcing me to meet his gaze. “ This is who I am ,” he said roughly. “A man who wants things he shouldn’t. Who can’t stop chasing what’s off-limits.”
My breath hitched, but I didn’t pull away. Instead, I pressed closer, my hand coming to rest on his chest. “Is this about me?”
“Yeah, you did this,” Rory growled, his free hand guiding mine to his crotch. He was hard and thick, straining against his jeans. The fall chill bit my skin, but the heat from him made me dizzy. “This is all you .”
My breath came in shallow bursts. His eyes were dark, almost feral, and I could see the war raging behind them. He wanted me as much as I wanted him. My fingers curled around him, tentative at first. A shock of something electric shot through me, and I bit my lower lip. God, the feel of him.
A guttural groan rumbled from Rory’s lips as I gripped him tighter.
I’d been walking a dangerous line ever since he saved me from falling to my death. There was always that underlying tension, that unspoken thing between us. But I’d convinced myself it was one-sided. That I was imagining things again.
Now, with him pressing hard against my hand, I knew how wrong I was.
Rory’s hand yanked mine away from his crotch, and for a fleeting moment, I panicked, thinking it was over. That he’d regretted it all. But then, in one fluid motion, he shoved me against the rough bark of a nearby tree, wedging his muscular thigh between my legs. He bent down, his mouth crashing down on mine, hungry and demanding.
My hands went to his chest, fingers splayed against the coarse fabric of his flannel shirt. I clutched at him, pulling him closer. And I whimpered, a needy sound I barely recognized as my own as his tongue swept between my parted lips. The taste of him - wild and masculine - made my head spin. One large hand cupped my breast, thumb brushing over my hardened nipple through the fabric of my shirt.
Every inch of me was on fire. I could feel the hard lines of his body, the unyielding press of his muscles. The kiss was a bruising, breathless thing, leaving me dizzy and weak-kneed. This was madness. I was playing with fire, and I knew it. But some reckless part of me didn’t care. Some part of me, the part I had always denied myself before, welcomed the burn.
“Rory,” I gasped when he finally broke the kiss. His lips moved to my neck, nipping and sucking.
“Tell me to stop,” he growled against my skin. “Tell me you don’t want this.”
But I couldn’t. God help me, I couldn’t.
I was beyond words, grinding shamelessly against his thigh. “Please,” I whimpered, not even sure what I begged for.
He chuckled, the sound sending a thrill down my spine. “Tell me what you want.”
I opened my mouth to respond, but the words caught in my throat as the crunch of tires on gravel shattered that moment. Headlights swept across us, and I squinted against the sudden brightness.
Rory cursed, pulling away from me so fast I nearly lost my balance. I blinked, disoriented, as a sleek sports car pulled up to my farmhouse.
My stomach dropped as I recognized the car. “Oh no,” I whispered.
The driver’s door opened, and out stepped Gladys, her perfectly coiffed hair gleaming in the porch light. But it was the passenger who made my blood run cold. Todd stepped out of the car. His face twisted in fury as he took in the scene before him. “ What the hell is going on here? ” he bellowed, striding towards us.
Rory stepped in front of me. “None of your damn business.”
Todd’s eyes narrowed. “Get away from her.”
I strode past Rory, fury bubbling up. “He’s not doing anything I don’t want. Why are you even here?”
“I know what I’m seeing,” Todd spat. “Some backwoods hick manhandling a defenseless woman.”
Gladys let out a dramatic gasp, clutching her pearls. “Oh dear. Should we call the sheriff?”
I bit back a scream of frustration. What had started as a thrilling night was rapidly turning into a nightmare. Rory stood rigidly beside me; fists clenched. And Todd, clueless as always, was poking a beast he had no business messing with.
“Rory isn’t forcing me to do anything. He’s here because I want him to be.”
“Come now. You can’t possibly mean that. This... savage? He’s not your type.”
The venom in his tone made my blood boil. I felt Rory move beside me, a low growl rumbling in his chest. I squeezed his arm gently, silently urging him to let me handle this.
“And what exactly is my type? Someone who thinks they can control me? Who believes they know what’s best for me better than I do?”
Todd’s smile turned brittle. “I’m only looking out for your best interests. You know how impulsive you can be.”
I laughed, the sound sharp and humorless. “My best interests? Like when you tried to convince me to sell my grandmother’s farmhouse? Or when you told me my dreams of running an animal sanctuary were childish?”
“Not this tirade again. I was trying to help you see reason. You’re wasting your time out here in the middle of nowhere.”
“Letting you back into my life after your betrayal would be the biggest waste of all.”
“You can’t be serious. What about us? What about my plans?”
“There is no us,” I said firmly. “There never was. Now, I think it’s time for Gladys and you to leave.”
Todd’s face contorted. “You ungrateful bitch,” he spat, taking a step forward. “After everything I’ve done for you. You’re nothing but a pathetic, small-town slu—”
He never finished the sentence. Rory’s fist connected with Todd’s jaw in a sickening crack that echoed through the night. Todd crumpled to the ground, out cold, before he hit the dirt.
“Are you okay?” Rory said gruffly.
I nodded, unable to find words.
A piercing shriek jolted me from my daze. Gladys rushed past me, her curls bouncing wildly as she fell to her knees beside Todd.
“Oh, my God,” she wailed, her manicured hands fluttering uselessly over his body.
Without a word, Rory bent down and hauled Todd up by the back of his neck, dragging him towards the sports car.
Gladys scrambled to her feet. “What are you doing?”
“Getting this piece of shit out of here,” Rory snarled at her.
I winced as he roughly shoved Todd into the backseat. Part of me wanted to tell Rory to be gentler, but I had to be honest with myself. Todd deserved it and a lot more.
“Take him to a doctor,” I said.
Gladys gaped at me. “But... but I brought Todd here for you. He wanted to sweep you off your feet and take you home.”
“Home? This farmhouse is my home. I’m not going anywhere.”
Her eyebrows furrowed. “Dear, he’s your fiancé. Surely you—”
“Ex-fiancé,” I corrected sharply. “And he hasn’t been that for a long time.”
“I just assumed—”
“You assumed wrong,” I cut her off, taking a step towards her. “Now, unless you want to join Todd in dreamland, I suggest driving his sorry butt out of here. Now .”
Gladys’s mouth opened and closed like a fish out of water. She hurried to the driver’s side before sliding in. The car’s engine roared to life before it sharply drove in reverse. When I saw the taillights fade into the night, I turned back to Rory. But he wasn’t there.
“Rory?”
The forest loomed before me, a wall of inky shadows and rustling leaves. My fingers drifted to my lips, still tingling from his fierce kiss. The memory of his body pressed against mine, hard and unyielding. I took a step towards the treeline. “Rory, where are you?” The words echoed back to me, mocking and hollow.
I closed my eyes and listened, hoping for some answer, some direction. All I heard was the rustling of leaves as the wind whistled through the branches, the chirping of crickets, the howls of coyotes, and the faint echo of a turkey’s gobble.