Up in Smoke (Crossing the Line, #2)(49)

“No, it didn’t. You’re whole. You survived.” He cut himself off and Erin got the feeling he was composing himself. “I can’t think of you down there in the dark. I can’t.”

She traced his collarbone with her lips while considering his words. “Maybe my stepfather can’t be killed. Even if he can, the fear he’s put in me, the fear the guards put in me, won’t go away. Never completely.”

“You don’t know that.”

Bolstering her courage, she told him the worst of it. “They have no proof I set the fire, but he knows. He wants to put me away, Connor. Institutionalize me.” He didn’t respond. What did the silence mean? “Sometimes I think that’s where I belong.”

“No.” He pulled back, his green eyes drilling into hers. “You belong with me.”

Her lungs emptied of oxygen. There was something in his expression. Or lack of something, maybe. Shock…horror? “You knew about this?”

“Yes, I knew. I needed to identify the threat.” He stared at a spot over her head. “After you left the meeting this morning, I talked to Derek about locating your stepfather. I want to give you your freedom, sweetheart, like I know you need. But I can’t sit around wondering if someone will stop you from coming back to me.”

She should have been outraged that he’d gone behind her back. Should have jumped off his lap and flipped over a table or something. Instead, she stayed put. If there were a threat against Connor, she would do the same thing. Identify and eliminate the problem. It was how people like them worked. “So you’ve known I’m a candidate for a padded cell and wanted me anyway? Maybe you do love crazy *.”

“Don’t call yourself crazy.” His voice deepened. “And don’t talk to me about your * until I’ve built up my self-discipline again. We do this right. Every damn time.”

Heat prickled her skin. God, she’d hooked up with some kind of man. A naughty part of her wanted to push him, knew he would find command over himself one way or another, but she wasn’t finished with her story. It needed to be out in the open. “I’m rich, Connor. Really f*cking rich.” He frowned at her. “Your manly frown lines tell me you didn’t know that part.”

“I didn’t.”

Erin nodded. “My mother was a gambler. A shitty one. But she got a break toward the end.” She slipped her fingers into his hair and ran her nails along his scalp. “Somehow she got motivated enough to put it into a trust until I turned twenty-five. And I turned twenty-five two weeks ago.” She watched Connor struggle to listen while she toyed with his hair, dragged her dampened lips across his. “I haven’t touched it…wouldn’t know what to do with that much cash. But my stepfather would. He legally adopted me when he married my mother. He’s my sole family member. If he succeeds in institutionalizing me, he’ll have control of the money. That’s why he won’t give up. Won’t stop coming for me.”

Connor’s gaze sharpened, along with his breath. Her nearness was getting to him. Between her thighs, he’d grown huge and hard again. He visibly shook himself, but couldn’t hide the hunger. “I won’t let it happen.”

“I know, baby,” she purred against his ear, flicking the lobe with her tongue. “I won’t let anything happen to you, either.”

“Erin, please.” His head fell back, putting his strong throat on display. Rock-hard, solid male between her legs, naked and ready. She still wore everything but her panties, but that could be easily fixed. With steady hands, she found the hem of her shirt and removed it. Connor’s Adam’s apple bobbed, but he didn’t look. “You picked a bad time to f*ck, sweetheart. I’m feeling protective as hell right now. Someone wants to take what’s mine, someone hurt what’s mine, and my head isn’t on straight yet. Might never be.”

She dragged her open mouth up his throat, over his chin. “Let me do the work this time,” she whispered at his lips. “You f*cked me, now I’m going to f*ck you back.”

Connor’s growl vibrated his chest. “Get to it, then. I know what you feel like now and that makes me goddamn impatient. Cram me inside your wet * or I’ll put you on the ground and use your mouth.”

His rough language kicked up a cloud of lust so thick, it almost enveloped her. She reached behind her and found his straining cock. They both cursed as she led his thickness through her sensitive folds and sank down on top of it. With gravity weighing her down on his filling arousal, all her weight pressing down, she took a minute to savor.

“I said move,” he grated. His hand came down hard on her right buttock with a slap, the force of it propelling her forward. Sensation speared her and she screamed, already craving the movement again. Her skin burned where he’d spanked her, but she couldn’t tell if it was the sting or something more. But it hadn’t lessened her desire. Not at all. Connor’s breathing had gone shallow but his eyes were grave, as if he’d done something he couldn’t take back. Something he hadn’t been able to control. “I warned you. I’m not in check. Mine. Someone wants what’s mine.”

His possessiveness reached out and claimed her. Made her desperate to possess him, too. Most of all, it filled her with determination to obliterate that uncertainty she saw in his eyes. Show him he’d done nothing wrong by obeying his instincts. That the violence he kept tightly leashed inside him didn’t extend to her. Burn for me, Connor. She gripped the back of the chair in her hands and wedged her heels against the sides.