Page 7 of Rough Ride

The walls that had previously been bare were now lined with decorative paintings and photographs. There was even wax fruit in a bowl on the coffee table. Eliana felt like a stranger in her home.

“Who lives here?” Eliana asked and felt her skin crawling with discomfort. Everything felt so entirely wrong.

“No one, really,” Kye said, standing next to the fireplace. He’d hoped it would cast a homier ambiance for her. “We own a lot of houses in town. It keeps things in the family. Max likes to control who moves in and out of town.”

“So you had nothing to do with this?” she asked, glaring at him. Kye looked away. Eliana scoffed and crossed her arms as she moved toward the kitchen. The front door opened again as the enforcers from before entered and set the boxes on the dining room table between matching silver candlesticks and under the new chandelier.

The one who had been pinning Eliana against the desk whispered something to Kye, and Eliana watched nervously as both of their eyes turned to her. What payment was she required to offer now? Kye shook his head and said something to the enforcer who nodded before handing Kye something. Eliana felt momentarily relieved as the two of them left, and Kye locked the door behind them. He walked slowly toward her, and she held her ground near the table as he approached. Holding his hand out to show her what he’d been given, Eliana felt outrage well up in her again.

“Wrist or ankle?” he asked with a hard swallow. In his hand, he held what Eliana recognized as a house-arrest bracelet that was already lit with a red blinking light.

“You’re joking,” she said coldly. “I’m not wearing that.”

“Max thinks you’re a flight risk.”

“I am.”

“You can’t run, Eli,” Kye protested.

“Are you going to shoot me?” she asked with hands on her hips. “Go ahead, Kye, shoot me. I’d rather it be you than one of Max’s goombas out there!”

“I’m not going to shoot you, but you do have to wear this.”

“No.”

“Yes.”

“No!”

Kye growled in frustration and grabbed her wrist to slide it on. She yanked her hand away and when he reached for her again, she slapped him. Kye stared at her for a moment, his temper rising. He grabbed Eliana and pushed her on to the dining room table, the candlesticks clattering to the floor, before dropping to slide the monitor onto her ankle but before he could, she slid off and started walking away from him in indignation.

“Ow!” she yelled when he grabbed her arm and yanked her backward, and she bumped into his chest. Shoving him hard enough for him to step backward, she slapped him again. Kye’s jaw clenched. He’d been hit in the face one too many times today.

Eliana cried out as Kye slammed her into the wall, the picture next to her crashing to the ground, the wood frame splintering. When he took her wrist, forcing the bracelet on, she immediately pulled it off and threw it across the room.

“Damnit!” Kye yelled and took her by the neck to hold her against the wall. His grip was tight enough to hold her in place, but not enough to choke her, and she dared him with her eyes to try. His nostrils were flaring as he struggled to keep his temper in check. The fire in her eyes was smoldering, and Kye felt a sudden surge of desire so strong he didn’t even try to quell it.

Moving his hand from her throat to the back of her neck, he jerked her so her face was forced to look up at his at a painful angle. Eliana likewise returned the aggression and took fistfuls of his shirt. Her jaw was clenched, and her breathing was coming out in short, angry rasps. She didn’t know whether to bite until she tasted blood or knee him in the groin. Instead, she reached for his gun that was holstered behind his back.

He beat her to the grab and twisted her arm behind her back, her chest pressing up against him as he held her in place. Though it was the same arm from before, his grip was hardly as painful. When Eliana realized how much restraint his grip on her had by not snapping her arm in half the way she knew he could, she comprehended the heaves in his chest weren’t just from rage but desire. Her eyes searched his, the heat between them ignited, and she tugged her handful of his shirt hard enough to bring his lips down to hers.

Kye had her up against the wall again in a flash and used the leverage to hoist her up, her legs wrapping instantly around his torso. Her knees dug into his sides in blissful pain, and he used his hip bones to pin her more firmly against the wall. Shamelessly grinding her hips into him, Kye compounded her lust by claiming her mouth with his tongue and pulling hard at the roots of her hair. Eliana’s fingernails dug into the back of his neck, heat pulsing between her legs as she bucked against him. The fine line between fury and passion had lit up like a fuse that sent waves of explosive desire through them like wildfire through tissue paper.

Eliana yanked his jacket off one arm at a time, and holding her by the backside, he turned her around to drop her hard onto the dining table. She yelped against his mouth when Kye’s nails scratched her chest as he tore her shirt open. Still wearing the pastel yellow bra with lace he’d seen her in just that morning, his mouth dropped from her mouth to her chest. His teeth grazed her soft flesh, and Eliana cried out again when he bit a nipple through the fabric.

Her knees were gripping him agonizingly as he forced her farther onto the table to lean over her. Kye practically ripped her blouse off and showed the same courtesy to her bra as he tore at the hooks so hard they bent. Once her breasts were free, he reclaimed the sore nipple, this time sucking it into his hot mouth. Her moans echoed through him, and his erection was throbbing painfully in his jeans.

Eliana’s eyes closed, feeling every frantic rush of erotic sensation Kye was giving her. She could feel herself pulsing, desperate for him to give her some relief. She dug her fingers into his hair and lifted her hips, signaling exactly where she wanted him to go. Kye kissed from her breasts down her stomach, and his hand cupped her between the legs.

“Kye,” she breathed and ground her hips against him, her sensitive places begging for attention. He was kissing her again, her hands clawing up his back. The feel of every firm muscle moving beneath her fingers was like gripping lightning. Eliana couldn’t help her sharp inhalation when his erection tucked between her legs, and he ground against her. Her jeans rubbed her heat enough to send a quick pulse of pleasure. One that demanded another one.

Sucking his lower lip between her teeth, she nibbled at his soft mouth and slowly started rocking her hips against his length. Like she had moments before, Kye let out a long moan of pleasure and yearning. Her pelvis was rubbing his length, and his body jerked involuntarily. Eliana ached with the need to be filled, and Kye was gloriously envisioning himself sliding inside her tight, wet places. His mind went blank when her hand tucked between them, and she began stroking him over his pants.

“Eli,” he struggled to say, and he felt himself rubbing against her. She didn’t reply but began fiddling with his belt as she struggled to unhook it. “Eli, don’t,” he protested unconvincingly. When she managed to get it undone and her hand slid down the top of his pants, he flung himself off her as though she’d scalded him.

“What is it?” she snapped and sat up. Kye was still backing away. His shirt was creased and stretched from where she’d pulled at him, and she could clearly see his rock-hard member bulging through his jeans.

“I’m not going to fuck you on the dining room table,” he said, taking several deep breaths to try to slow his heart rate.