Beautiful Beast (Gypsy Heroes #3)(40)

I let her hide, her body shuddering, and her muscles locked around my fingers. I hear her heart thudding hard against mine.

‘I don’t ever want you to go back to Lenny,’ I state harshly.

She pulls away from my neck and stares up at me, her face a confused oval of white. ‘I can’t do that. I owe—’

‘Owe? What do you owe, Snow?’ I ask, my voice is a vicious snarl.

She shakes her head and tries to wriggle away from me, but I grip her hips hard.

‘I’m the man with my fingers buried inside your *, and that’s the way it’s going to be every night from now on,’ I tell her thickly. And, staring insolently at her, I begin to move my fingers in and out of her in a show of my total control of her body.

She stares at me helplessly, her eyes darkening again with spiraling excitement.

‘What do you owe him, Snow?’ I ask softly.

‘I can’t tell you,’ she says hoarsely.

‘Why not, Snow?’

She bites her lip with consternation and mounting arousal.

‘Are you afraid of him?’

‘No, not really, but I can’t talk about it. It’s too dreadful to talk about.’

‘Sweet Snow,’ I groan. ‘You’re too f*cking sweet to be true.’ And, bending my head, I kiss her hungrily. Her fingers cling to my shoulders and suddenly I have the ugly searing thought. Did she cling to him? Did she ever come alive under his hand and his mouth? My tongue pushes into her mouth roughly, my teeth hurting her soft flesh. I hook her tongue, bring it into my mouth, and suck it so hard she whimpers and tries to fight back, her clenched fist striking my forearms, then grabbing my hand and trying to pull it out of her *.

I pull my mouth away and her rage dissolves at the expression on my face. So full of lust it startles her. We stare at each other as I continue to pleasure her. She comes with a strangled cry of submission. I caress the delicate bones in the curve of her spine.

‘You’re never seeing Lenny again,’ I say firmly, and slipping my fingers out of her, I pull her bra cup over her breast, button her top and pull her dress over her thighs.

She drops her eyes. ‘I’ll come back with you tonight, but I’ll have to see him again. I have to explain.’

‘No, you f*cking won’t. I’ll take the fight to him. I knew what I was doing when I decided to hunt you. I knew there’d be consequences to pay. And I’m ready to pay them.’

She licks her swollen mouth nervously. Unshed tears glimmer in the depths. ‘Lenny is dangerous, Shane. I can’t let you confront him. Please, I’m begging you. I know how to handle him. He won’t hurt me.’


‘No f*cking way. I wouldn’t trust him with you for a minute. I’ll rot in hell before I let that psychopath anywhere near you again.’

She looks at me desperately. ‘Maybe we can run away together.’

I laugh mirthlessly. ‘Run? I come from a long line of bare-knuckle fighters, Snow. We don’t f*cking run. We fight for what we want. I’m not scared of him. If I was, you’d be in his bed now. I want you and I’ll f*cking fight to the death for you.’

‘Oh, Shane. I’m so sorry. I never meant to get you into such a rotten mess,’ she cries.

‘Fuck, Snow,’ I say in wonder. ‘You didn’t get me into this mess. I’m my own man. I got me into this rotten mess and I’m not one tiny bit sorry. I’ll fight anyone for you.’ I touch her lovely, sad face. ‘He should never have had you in the first place. He’s got no soul, Snow.’

She hugs herself as if she’s cold and stares at me intensely. ‘You don’t understand. He’ll let you win a bare-knuckle fight. He’ll even clap you on the back, congratulate you, and tell you the best man won. But he’s a vindictive man, Shane. He never forgets. When you think it’s all fine, he’ll send his attack dogs.’

I smile. ‘Ah, Snow. You didn’t think I was going to challenge him to a bare-knuckle fight, did you? You only do that when you’re fighting a man. He’s not a real man. He has no honor. You’ll just have to trust me when I say I do know men like him. I know exactly what makes them tick and exactly how to approach them. And he’s not the only one with attack dogs.’

She stares at me. ‘You have a plan?’

I nod. ‘I have a plan.’

‘What is it?’

‘The less you know the better.’

‘Is your plan dangerous?’

‘Not to me it’s not. I’m pretty sure I’ve got it all covered.’

She looks scared. ‘Promise?’

God, she’s so beautiful she takes my breath away. I smile slowly. ‘Promise.’

She smiles back tremulously.

‘Listen, I’ve got to go upstairs and get something, and then I’m taking you home. Want to come up with me or wait here for me?’

She smiles shyly. ‘You’ve made a mess between my legs. I need to go freshen up. I’ll just nip into the Ladies while you’re up.’

‘Don’t clean too hard. I plan on making one hell of a bigger mess when we get home.’

‘I like it when you make a mess,’ she says and, leaning forward, kisses me lightly on the tip of my nose. It’s sweet.

‘Go anywhere you want inside the club, but don’t walk out of it. It’s dangerous for a woman outside.’