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“You don’t need a drink, do you?”

“No, I don’t,” Gavin stated, his gaze moving over the room before coming back to Trevor. “I want to talk to Emily for a few minutes. Keep an eye on Dillon for me.”

The bartender slid the glasses across to Trevor.

“What about Stephanie?”

“Tell Olivia to keep her busy; she’ll be fine.”

Shaking his head, Trevor lifted his drink and sipped from it. “You’re playing with fire, man.”

“I can handle the burn. Just do what I asked.”

Without a backward glance, Gavin navigated his way through the crowd, dashing and darting through the maze of evening gowns and tailored suits. When he emerged on the terrace, he found Emily with her back to him, her auburn hair whipping around in the cool late-September air. Unaware of him watching, it was as if her body beckoned him. He tried—God knows he tried—to stay away. The past few weeks had been hell, and he had attempted to save them both by not going to her job and not showing up at her apartment when he knew Dillon wouldn’t be there. However, seeing her, being here with her, sucking in her presence had him feeling as though his mind was possessed. Every neuron fired into a tempest of sparks, and he couldn’t believe that his body was able to contain it. He was amazed that his flesh wasn’t cracking into a million glittering pieces. No matter the situation, right there and then, he needed to go to her.

He took a step forward, and as if she sensed him, she whipped around, a piece of her silken hair catching in her mouth. “What are you doing out here?” she asked, her voice low, shaky even.

He moved toward her, allowing only a few feet to separate them. “I need to speak with you.”

“There’s nothing to talk about,” she said, turning her back to him again.

“There’s a lot we need to talk about, and you’re going to turn around and face me, Emily.” The rough whisper was breathed out with classic male dominance as he stepped closer.

His tone caught her attention, her heart slamming to a stop before jump-starting again. She twirled around and stared straight into his eyes. He was looking at her as if he was trying to read her mind, and she felt naked under his gaze. So sexy, dangerous, and completely confident, it almost sickened her. As arrogant as his demand was, it still managed to suck her into a vortex of spiraling desire. Like a defiant teenager pissed at a parent, she crossed her arms and waited for him to speak.

“Do you feel me when I’m not with you, Emily?”

With shock shimmering in her eyes, she nervously laughed. “What kind of question is that?”

“One that I’m asking you,” he growled. “Because I can feel you when you’re not with me. Now answer my question.”

“We’re back to this again, huh?”

“Yes. Now get those pretty lips to answer the question,” he demanded as he stepped closer.

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 fuck you just like you want to fuck me, Gavin,” she blurted out in a hard whisper. “I’ve wanted to fuck 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
fuck
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 fuck 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 fucked 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 fucked you over…and over…and over again, and I could’ve fucked 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 fucking 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 fuck 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.”

With his touch heady and intoxicating and her heart still slamming in her chest, she didn’t turn around. She couldn’t. On shaky legs, she made her way back into the party, the sudden need for absolute numbness overriding her thoughts. She gave the room a once over to make sure Dillon wasn’t in her line of sight. As soon as she knew it was clear, she weaved through the guests, her mind racing a mile a minute with the fear that Dillon could’ve caught them. Her body jerked with a surge of adrenaline when she felt a hand grab for her elbow, but the tension in her shoulders deflated when she turned to find it was Olivia.

“Come with me,” Olivia quickly said, leading her to the front of the restaurant.

They stepped outside, and Olivia handed her a bottle of aspirin. “Tell Dillon you had a headache, and you sent the valet to bring the car around because you needed to get these from the glove compartment.”

“Dillon has the valet ticket,” Emily hastily whispered.

Olivia flashed a smile. “Don’t worry about it. I use to fuck around with him,” she motioned over to a lanky valet attendant that was watching them.

With a half smirk, Emily flicked her eyes in his direction and then back to Olivia.

“What?” Olivia chirped. “It was my pre-women days, and he owed me a favor. I already talked to him, and he said he would back up the story if need be.”

Emily nodded. “Okay. This will work, right?”

“Oh, your fiancé,” she replied, crinkling her nose, “is definitely pissed, but yeah, the excuse should work.”

With that, they walked back into the party, and as soon as they did, Emily’s gaze locked onto Gavin’s. He was coming back in from the terrace, watching her as intently as she was watching him. He strolled over to Stephanie, reached for her hand, and spoke to her for a few minutes. With Stephanie on his arm, he started making his way through the crowd, heading straight in Emily’s direction.

Olivia laughed, and Emily shot her a look. “Well, you have to find the humor in all of this, chick.” Olivia smiled.

It was far from humorous for Emily. It was painful, confusing, and drained her emotions dry, but before she could tell Olivia any of those things, Gavin and Stephanie approached them.

He wore a smile on face, but a glimpse of pain was evident in his eyes. “It’s getting late, so we’re gonna get going,” he said as he looked at Emily. “Just tell Dillon I’ll talk to him during the week.”

Emily nodded, wanting to somehow comfort him. After tonight, she felt they both might be going to bed, licking their wounds—at least she knew she would. “I’ll tell him,” she answered, her voice just above a whisper.

“It was nice to meet you,” Stephanie smiled. “Again, congratulations to you and your fiancé.”

“Thank you,” Emily replied.

Olivia leaned in to give Gavin a hug. When she released him, he cast one last weary look toward Emily, and without another word spoken, he and Stephanie walked out of the restaurant.

Although it came without alcohol, Emily felt numb after he left. Pain and confusion continued to crush in around her for the remainder of the evening. Olivia was correct. Dillon bought into her story of needing a dose of aspirin for a headache, but that didn’t make Emily feel any better. As she carried on conversations with guests, Gavin’s words echoed through her head, burning a hole in her heart and taking the last piece of something away from her. Just a few months before, Emily had believed she was able to see through and peel away some of his many layers.

However, tonight, Gavin peeled away hers.

Chapter Fourteen

Broken

Another barking cough tore past Emily’s throat, her eyes following Dillon as he rounded the taxi after closing her door. Forget the fact that Gavin was going to be there tonight, she felt like shit, and her body ached from head to toe. Gavin would only bring on a different kind of pain for her at this point. She couldn’t believe she had allowed Dillon to talk her into going, but something in his unrelenting persistence and intolerant tone brooked no argument.

Already intoxicated, he haphazardly slid into the backseat and let the driver know their destination.

After digging in his pants for his wallet, he looked to Emily. “Oh, come on, babe. You’ve got to be feeling better by now.”

Between the smell of alcohol lingering on his breath and the nausea from medication steadily pumping through her system, she was sure she was going to throw up right there and then.

“No, Dillon, I don’t feel better,” she sighed, leaning her head against the window. A crowded bar was the last place she wanted to be right now. “I don’t see what the big deal is if I didn’t come.”

Shaking his head, he scooted over and draped his arm around her shoulder. “It’s Trevor’s birthday—that’s the big deal.”

“I already spoke with him earlier. I told him that I’m sick and wouldn’t be able to go.” After another coughing fit, she added, “He was perfectly fine with it.”