“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.