Collide (Collide, #1)(77)

The glass woman she knew existed beneath her skin smashed under her passion, lust, and want. The splinters of herself scattered and recomposed themselves into the man who consumed her every thought—the man who was standing right in front of her. This was it—her breaking point. She wasn’t going to deny him or herself what she felt anymore. Gavin brought her to the edge, and there was no looking back. Her stomach knotted over knowing what she was about to confess, but more so because of how much she was about to confess.

“You want to hear me say it?” she hissed.

Oh, he felt her now.

With blatant intention, he did the one thing he knew would get her riled up. He slowly dragged his bottom lip between his teeth as his eyes bore right through her. “Yes, I want to hear you say it,” he answered as calm as he could.

“Fine! I want to f*ck you just like you want to f*ck me, Gavin,” she blurted out in a hard whisper. “I’ve wanted to f*ck you since the first moment I laid my eyes on you. I’ve dreamt of you. I feel you when you’re not with me. I’ve even masturbated with a clear picture of you in my thoughts. Are you happy now?”

Hell, he couldn’t count the amount of times he got himself off thinking about her in the same way, but that wasn’t what was driving him. His expression creased with a mix of shock, anger, and hurt from her accusation. “No, I’m not happy. You think this is about me wanting to f*ck you?”

At that, she laughed again. “Oh, give me a break. What else would it be about? I know I’m naive when it comes to certain things, but I’m not a dumbass, Gavin.”

Something in her eyes and in the set of her body filled him with heat. The edge of vulnerability in her voice sliced at his chest, and hell, it tore him apart. But combined with her explosion of defiance and anger, it only made the need for her eat into him like a painful disease. He stepped forward, bringing his arm around her waist, pinning her close to his hip, as he quickly guided her out of view. They’d gotten lucky thus far in being alone, but he knew it was only a matter of time before that ended.

“What are you doing?” she huffed, struggling against him, the sound of her heels clicking frantically against the concrete.

Anger of his own surged hot and deep inside him as he backed her against a wall on the side of the terrace. He stared at her, his blue eyes brooding in the dimly lit space with an expression so hard it was granite. “This has nothing to do with me wanting to f*ck you.”

“Oh, it doesn’t?” she breathed out, wiping her wind-blown hair away from her face.

“No, ‘cause let’s not forget that I could’ve f*cked you.” Positioning his hand on the wall above her, he pressed his entire body against hers. She brought her hands up against his chest and tried to push him away, but his strength overpowered hers. Grazing his lips against her ear, he drew his words out in a slow, hot whisper. “I could’ve f*cked you over…and over…and over again, and I could’ve f*cked you very well to be honest, but I stopped because that’s not the way I want you.”

With her chest heaving for air, her heart racing, and her panties saturated in desire, she looked away. “Then what do you want from me, Gavin?” she asked, her voice an aggravated whisper.

He caught her by the chin and made her look at him, his eyes—that light, wild blue—blazing into hers. “Damn it, Emily. I want us! You belong with me, not him.” He half snarled the declaration. “Every part of you was made for me. Your lips were made to kiss mine, your eyes were made to wake up to me looking at you in my bed every morning, and your f*cking tongue was made to roll my name off of it. I am more certain of us than I’m certain that I require oxygen to breathe.”

Like a thief in the night, his words nearly stole her breath. She looked practically on the verge of tears and went to speak, but Gavin suddenly brought his hand up and cupped it over her mouth. He gave a quick shake of his head. At first, she didn’t realize what he was doing, and then the sound of Dillon and Trevor’s voices cut through their frantic breathing. With widened eyes, Emily’s heart quickened as she stared at Gavin.

“Well, where is she?” Dillon asked, his tone filled with anger and concern. “And where the f*ck is Gavin?”

A few seconds went by before Trevor answered, and as fast as Emily’s heart was pounding, she was sure Dillon could hear it. All Dillon had to do was round the corner of the terrace to find her and Gavin in the shadows.

“The room was too loud, and Gavin had to take a business call. He went upstairs to find somewhere quiet.” Trevor cleared his throat a few times. “Let’s go back in, and I’ll have Olivia check out the restrooms again.”

Emily heard Dillon let out a heavy breath, and then their footsteps receded back inside.

As the oxygen redistributed itself back into her depleted lungs, Gavin slowly dragged his hand away from her mouth. Other than the distant sound of laughter and conversation from the party, deafening silence descended as they stared at one another. Emily pushed herself from the wall and started to walk away, but as soon as she did, Gavin called out to her.

She came to an abrupt stop but didn’t turn to face him.

He slowly came up behind her, brushing his hands down her arms, his spoken words muffled into the crook of her neck. “I’d never hurt you, Emily. Stop fighting me. Stop fighting what you already know.”