The more I stared, the murkier the line between lust and retribution became. His heated gaze met mine, a similar battle for control brewing in his eyes. Whatever this was, it was dangerous, and if I let myself burn in the fire behind his eyes, we’d both go up in flames.
“What about you?” Walking toward the ledge behind the staircase landing, I trailed my hand along the wood. “Ever come close to tying the knot?” Lifting my hand, I blew the dust off my fingers.
“Hell, no. I was too focused on law school. Even after I started at the DA’s office, that didn’t change. I’ve fucked lots of women but never considered caring for them.” His eyes turned hollow. “Emotions complicate things, and I’ve been down that road before.”
He didn’t have to say the words. He was talking about Eden. Before tonight, I wouldn’t have hesitated to rub salt in his wound, but my confession left me too raw.
The corner of Brody’s mouth quirked up. “What, no cheap shot about Eden dumping me for Val? Come on, I left the door wide open. You love to make fun of me.”
“It’s not so funny anymore.”
The smirk fell from his lips, his hazel eyes darkening. Adrenaline rushed through my veins, and my mouth went dry. Not thinking, I darted my tongue out to wet my lips, which was the wrong thing to do. A low growl rumbled in his chest, and once I saw him move, I did too.
I was too late.
He was already across the room, both hands caging me against the landing before I could get away. “What changed?”
“Let me go.”
“Not until you tell me what changed.”
“Nothing’s changed.”
He slapped his palm against the stone. “That’s a lie, and you know it. We can’t go on like this, Adriana. This thing between you and me is a ticking time bomb. Something has to give, or someone’s going to get hurt.”
He was right, but I’d be damned if I’d admit it. “What do you suggest we do?”
He slid his hand around to the back of my head. “Fuck each other out of our systems.”
“You can’t be serious.”
Electricity sizzled in the air as Brody pressed closer, his hard arousal letting me know he was very serious. The green and brown in his hazel eyes was completely gone, swallowed by a dark, conflicted desire. It was like looking in a mirror. Both of us pretended to be something we weren’t, but underneath it all, I was broken, and he was lost. We were one empty soul drawn to another.
I told him once that the eyes were the window to the soul, but the heart was the doorway to sin. To survive, I had to close both.
“Go fuck yourself.” Pushing him away, I threw the sliding glass door open and ran. I barely got outside when a solid sheet of rain hit me, drenching me from head to toe. Clenching my fists, I threw my head back and yelled toward the sky, “You can go fuck yourself too!”
It wasn’t like I was getting my ticket punched at the pearly gates.
I stumbled along the uneven walkway muttering to myself when my one of my heels sank in between two stones, snapping it off and sending me sprawling onto my ass.
This fucking day.
Letting out a scream, I kicked off the bastard shoe and stomped the rest of the way to the car, still holding the other one like a weapon. I had no idea what I was going to do when I got there. It wasn’t like I brought the damn keys. Frustrated, I slammed the perfectly intact heel onto the hood, jumping as a low chuckle rumbled behind me.
“You know that’s Val’s car, right?” Brody leaned against one of the columns, looking infuriatingly calm while I beat the hell out of the car with a shoe.
“What do you want?”
“I wasn’t finished talking to you.”
“That’s too bad. I was.” Turning back around, I resumed attacking the hood. I didn’t know what it was about him that sparked such a volatile side in me, but it made me want to put my fist through every window of this car. Unfortunately, this place lacked adequate medical supplies, and someone had been a giant man-child and wasted all the Stolichnaya.
“Huh. Well, then, maybe I should take a page out of Vergara’s playbook.”
I paused my destruction to glare at him over my shoulder. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
Pushing off the column, Brody walked the few feet separating us until he stood beside me, his jaw ticking. “If I call Val and tell him you’re being a cock tease, will you open your legs for me too?”
I didn’t think. I dropped the shoe and swung. A loud crack broke the sudden silence as my hand smacked across his cheek with such force his chin snapped back.
He didn’t say anything. He just stared at me as the rain pelted his smug face.
Letting out a frustrated scream, I did it again, this time harder and higher, connecting right below his eye. He still didn’t back down, turning back toward me with rage in his eyes.
I should’ve stopped. I should’ve backed off and begged him to leave me alone, but the anger and lust inside me ignited into a fire that burned out of control. Needing to lash out, I drew my arm back to slap him for a third time, but this time, he grabbed my wrist and held it tight while slamming me against the side of the car.
Brody’s chest rose and fell with labored breaths as I held mine. His hooded gaze settled on my mouth, and I stiffened as his other hand cupped my jaw. Panic tore through my body, but it wasn’t at being chased down or held immobile.
Don’t kiss me.
The words screamed over and over in my head until my mouth spoke them out loud.
Brody turned my chin to the side and whispered in my ear, “Don’t worry, princesa. It’s not your mouth I want tonight.”
I didn’t know who moved first, but in a blur of rain and frantic need, I found myself spun around and bent over the hood of the car. On instinct, my hands flew out in front of me and grasped onto the metal. Behind me, Brody jerked the hem of my dress over my hips, a groan tearing from his throat.
“Fucking beautiful.”
Anything could’ve happened. He was in complete control, and as much as I should’ve loathed being at his mercy, I’d never wanted a man more.
Brody slipped two fingers under the string at my hip, and with a hard tug, ripped my panties off. I pressed my forehead against the metal, a broken moan battling with the rain as he sank two fingers inside me. The harder he pumped, the louder I became, not giving a damn who heard me.
“No running this time, Adriana. I’m giving us what we both want tonight.”
“Sí.” It was the only word I could manage.
“Say it.”
I opened my mouth to oblige him, then clamped it shut. He wanted me to beg him to fuck me. It wasn’t an outlandish request. A little overbearing, maybe, but not unreasonable. I did want him to fuck me, and I had no problem asking for it, but as the rain pelted my back, my own words came back to haunt me.
“Everyone causes cracks in me, Brody. Maybe you’ll be the one who finally breaks me.”
“Don’t fuck with me, princesa. I’ve had a shitty day. Say the words, or I’ll stand here and jerk off on this gorgeous ass of yours.”
“Break me,” I whispered.
Brody stilled. “I don’t want to break you.”
I didn’t believe him. However, it didn’t matter if he wanted to break me or not. This had nothing to do with him. Clinging to a life that was no longer mine kept me in a glass box filled with resentment and rage. Maybe I’d never learn to forgive or make peace with the wrongs done against me, but I didn’t want to close my eyes still trapped inside a prison of my own fears.