Love Me (WITSEC #3)(51)

I threw off the blankets. “No, Knox. Why am I in your room? Did you think I forgave you last night?”

He frowned. “Last night?”

I frowned right back. “Yeah. You climbed into bed with me in the middle of the night and slept over.”

“I didn’t come over.”

I stilled. Had it been Keelan? There was no way it had been Colt or Creed. Maybe I had been dreaming? Fantastic. I crawled off the opposite side of the bed because Knox was blocking the way on the other side.

“I made you a doctor’s appointment,” he said as I got to my feet, this time with zero dizziness.

“I feel fine. I was just exhausted,” I grumbled, heading for the door.

“Are you not sleeping again?” he questioned.

“I’ve been sleeping fine,” I snapped, hating his worry—the same worry he couldn’t get over and that kept him from just being my boyfriend.

“You should still go and—”

I whirled around. “Stop it, Knox.”

He stood from the bed and slid his hands into his pockets.

“I don’t want to be someone you just take care of,” I said.

“You’re not,” he said gently.

I wished I believed that. “I won’t break. I won’t let myself. I never want to see that girl in the closet again. I refuse to give someone the power to do that to me again. Not Mr. X. Not you.”

His calm demeanor crumbled and as his agitation began to take over, he rubbed his hands down his face. “Shiloh—”

“I want more, Knox,” I cut him off. “I want you to see me as more. Past the fractured parts.”

He dropped his hands and his shoulders slumped. “I do. I wouldn’t be with you if I didn’t.”

“Then what’s going on?”

“I don’t want to hurt you,” he said.

Had he not heard a damn thing I’d just said? “Wow, your cock must be so powerful,” I quipped, choosing the petty road. Why not, right? It was not like everything I had done up until now had worked.

The corner of his mouth twitched. “Really?”

I shrugged. “I’ve explained that you can’t break me in the emotional sense, yet you’re still worried. So I have to assume you meant in the physical sense.” I reached for the doorknob. “And just so you know, you couldn’t break my vagina. All those screams and moans I’m sure you’ve heard me make should attest to that, or you could just ask one of your brothers.” It was a low blow, but I wanted him angry.

His entire face hardened and he stormed toward me. I quickly ripped open his door and took off down the hall.

“Get back here, Shiloh,” he growled. I didn’t have to look back to know he was coming for me.

I turned sharply into the living room. It was empty, which made me assume everyone else was at work or school. I paused at the bowl by the front door, digging through it to find my keys. They weren’t there. Crap!

Spotting my house key with Knox’s keys, I snatched his up just as he entered the living room. I stepped toward the door and stopped after seeing that it was locked with the bolt and the chain. There was no way I’d get it unlocked before Knox caught me. So I dashed further into the living room and put the coffee table between us.

Knox looked pissed as he stood across from me on the other side of the coffee table.

“What’s wrong, Knox? Did I push you too far?” I taunted. “It’s not fun when people do it to you to get answers, is it?”

“You’re being a brat,” he said.

I smirked. “If only you’d allow yourself to spank me.”

Heat flared in Knox’s eyes, and it danced with the anger. “Why would I do something you might like too much?”

“Have you been talking to Creed?” I shot back.

“Are you trying to make me jealous?” he growled.

“Jealous?” I huffed a laugh. “You can’t bring yourself to have sex with me. So why would I ever think you would feel jealous over me?”

“If I fuck you right now, would that make this all better?” he asked as he rounded the table.

I moved quickly, keeping him across from me. “You’d have to be able to get it up first.”

“All I have to do is think about you and my cock gets hard.”

It was difficult to not let how his words affected me show. The way he confidently admitted that made my cheeks threaten to blush and my breathing almost hitch. “Could have fooled me,” I said, unwilling to lose the upper hand.

The corner of his mouth lifted slightly. “When I get my hands on you, it’ll either make us or break us.”

“Sounds ominous.” I did my best to sound unimpressed. “Tell me, do you plan to punish me or fuck me if you catch me?”

“Both.”

“And you think I’d let you? After everything?”

“You wouldn’t be trying so hard to piss me off if you weren’t going to.”

He moved to the same side, and I jumped in the other direction. Surprising me, he pushed the table against the couch and toward me with his foot. He assumed I’d jump to the side. Instead, I hopped onto the couch.

Losing his patience, he stepped onto the coffee table and lunged for me. I jerked backward and the backs of my thighs hit the top of the couch. Knowing I was going to fall, I let out a yelp. Knox tried to grab for me, but I ended up saving myself. Dropping Knox’s keys, I grabbed the top of the couch as the lower half of my body fell down the back of it. I landed not-so-gracefully on my knees.