Breached (Breach #4) Read online

  I was going to kill every fucker who even looked at her.

  I kept watch as she danced, the liquid in her cup sloshing. Not two minutes passed when some drunk fucker stepped up behind her and pulled her to him.

  Hell fucking no.

  It was the end of my ability to just watch. I pushed my way through the throng of bodies, slipped past couples grinding so hard together I wasn’t sure they weren’t fucking.

  Ten feet away, I saw he was grinding against her and her eyes were closed as he mauled her with his hands.

  “Can I cut in?” I managed to say through clenched teeth and the red haze that had taken over.

  She opened her eyes and fucking smiled as she bit her lower lip.

  “Wait your turn,” the guy said.

  Bad idea, because the anger pumped through my veins like a poison, and my patience was gone.

  “I’m not asking.”

  He must have seen the violence vibrating within me emanating out, because he relented.

  “Okay, man, shit, take her,” he said as he shoved her into me.

  She gripped my shirt and leaned in, lips parted before pushing off.

  “What the fuck was that about?” she asked.

  My last fuse was blown. I grabbed onto her arm and dragged her from the dance floor. There was an empty table near the bar, and I stopped.

  “You’re letting strange men put their hands all fucking over you!” I said with a snarl.

  Every muscle was tight, ready for a fight, and caused my fingers to dig into her arm.

  “What the hell do you care, Thorne? Huh?”

  Was she fucking kidding me?

  “Because you are mi—”

  “This guy bothering you, Lila?”

  Mine.

  Mine.

  MINE!

  I instantly hated the familiarity to her in the words of whoever interrupted us. The tone was sharp, and he made sure to raise his voice over the music. Average build, above average height, topped off with average looks, and he was taking a stance against me, an unfamiliar male, trying to scare me off.

  “Andrew?”

  Again, an instantaneous hatred filled me. There was surprise in her voice and the way she looked at him was far too intimate than I was going to allow.

  Andrew stared at me, his gaze moving down to Lila’s arm which I clutched harder as our eyes locked. If the blond fucker thought he was going to intimidate me, he was dead fucking wrong. He was a toothpick, and I had nothing to lose so there would be no stopping me from smashing his face into the concrete floors and breaking him.

  “Let go of the lady.” His fists clenched at his side.

  I glanced at Lila, then back to the fucker. Who the fuck was he to tell me to do anything? Instead, I pulled her closer.

  The douchebag reached for me, and I let go of Lila, ready to lay him out. He was half a second from getting my fist in his fucking face when Lila stepped between us.

  “Enough! Jesus, knock it off.” She pressed her hands against our chests while attempting to glare. “Nathan, you can let go now. Drew, back off.”

  His eyes never left mine, refusing to back down. “He was grabbing your arm, Lila. Hard.”

  And I fuck her even harder.

  “Yes, after saving me from some drunk sleaze on the dance floor,” she explained. “Then he proceeded to lecture my drunk ass about watching out for myself.”

  Andrew’s glare wavered and relaxed, his jaw flopping open like a fish before closing and looking between us.

  “Really?” he asked.

  I didn’t relax at all, the adrenaline flowing freely, my body geared up.

  “What’s going on?” Caroline asked as she looked us over.

  Lila rolled her eyes. “Just a misunderstanding and too much testosterone.”

  Testosterone she was going to be fucking filled with on the dance floor if Andrew kept looking at her. I was caught between wanting to fight every guy in the building and fucking her right there.

  “Okay, then,” Caroline said, looking between all of us. “We ordered another round of drinks back at the table. Join us, Drew?”

  Fuck. I didn’t want the tool anywhere near me or her, so I hoped he declined.

  “Sounds great, Carrie.” He smiled and held his arm out. “After you, Lila.”

  I allowed no gap between us, forcing him to step behind me. When Lila wobbled, it was my hands that steadied her.

  I forced a neutral look and a fake smile to keep attention off what just happened. It was a series of fucking slips, and I realized being out in public with her was not a good thing. All logic left, possession taking its place.

  When we got back to the booth, I made sure to sit next to her, but Andrew secured the other side. I wasted no time placing my hand on her thigh again.

  “Okay, so who’s this newbie?” Andrew asked.

  The whole table laughed, so I remained silent, reigning the gut reactions in. My attempt to keep the peace was going to leave bruises on Lila’s leg.

  I listened as they talked about Vivian, the woman whose position I filled, trying not to laugh when Caroline gave her surprised reaction that she just left. The truth and the rumors created an interesting dichotomy.

  Jack had already given me Vivian’s job long before she left. She’d received enough warnings to suspect her end was near and just wanted to screw the company and Lila over by quitting without notice.

  A waitress arrived with half a dozen drinks and set them down. Ian pushed a bottle of Dos Equis toward me.

  “Thanks, man.”

  “You don’t need that,” Andrew said.

  Douche fucker says what? I looked over to find Andrew trying to push Lila’s Long Island from her. What fucking say did he have in what she did?

  I smirked at the death glare she threw at him, almost laughing as she tipped the glass back and chugged the contents.

  “Don’t mess with my drink, Drew,” she said, the glass half empty. “I need it.”

  “No, you don’t,” he argued.

  “It’s the only way I can sleep, okay?” Her voice cracked as she spoke, almost like she was to the point of tears. Even her body language mimicked it in the way her bottom lip trembled and she rubbed at her eyes. “I just want to get some fucking sleep. I can’t fucking drink every night, so let me sleep tonight. I can get more than a couple hours in and my brain will shut down.”

  My brow scrunched as I looked at her. What the fuck was she talking about?

  “Her insomnia’s back,” Caroline said.

  Insomnia? More things about my enigma suddenly made sense. The way she passed out, not rousing as I moved her around, a result of pure exhaustion.

  I also remembered the bottle from her drawer—Triazolam and Sonata. Not one, but two different options. Probably because of the dependency issues with the Triazolam, but I knew for a fact how it could help with night terrors, which I suspected she suffered from as well.

  “All right, off topic Lila. I’m not interesting enough. Next topic,” she said, waving her hands in front of her, almost like she was trying to wipe away the conversation.

  Andrew snorted. “I see you still love to be the center of attention.”

  “Yeah, yeah. Drunk, depressed, center-of-attention-hating, stupid, ugly…”

  There it was again. The self-deprecation painting an image of how warped she was inside. Evidence of how someone fucked with her, maybe even abused her.

  By the look on Andrew’s face, I had a feeling I was on the right track.

  “Okay, enough,” Andrew said as he took the glass from her. “I think it’s time to get your drunken ass home.”

  She let out a whimper that shot right through my cock. “I drove.”

  “You definitely aren’t driving. I can take you,” Andrew said.

  My grip on Lila’s leg tightened at his words. There was no way I was letting him anywhere near her, especially in her current state. It was obvious he had feelings toward her, and not all in the past tense.
/>   It was there in the way he looked at her, the way he tried to protect her.

  He was her knight in shining fucking armor, and I was the conductor of the darkness.

  “I can take her home.”

  Everyone’s attention diverted to me. Four sets of eyes stared at me before Lila began laughing.

  “Oh, Caroline, I forgot to tell you. The asshole lives in my building!”

  The asshole? Apparently they’d talked about me a bit.

  “You know I can hear you, right, drunkie?” I swept my fingers against the inside of her thigh, keeping her attention on me and not the idiot on the other side of her.

  She stared at me, her glassy eyes moving in and out of focus. “Do I look like I care?”

  “Don’t hold back on me now, Palmer. Let it out.”

  “I was going to go into great detail on where to stick it, but thought it might be a little too rough for our party here.”

  Rough? Oh, she was going to know rough soon enough.

  Ian laughed. “Oooh, Lila’s getting surly.”

  “Surly wench. That’s my name.”

  The bleeding edges of her mask showed. Darkness leaking out and licking against me.

  “I’m going to call you that from now on,” I teased.

  “Bite me, Thorne.”

  One more comment and she was leaving with my teeth marks all over her neck.

  “You are so fucking asking for it,” I whispered against her ear as I slid my hand up her leg and under her skirt. I’d fucking make her come in front of the asshole, in front of them all.

  “Alrighty!” She jumped, drawing everyone’s attention. “I need…home. Who’s taking me?”

  “I can, babe,” Andrew said, smiling at her.

  This fucker.

  Rip his head off.

  I narrowed my eyes at Andrew. “I live in the same building. Why waste the gas when we’re going to the same place?”

  “Asshole has a good point,” Lila said.

  I jerked my head to the side, teeth mashed together as I resisted showing her just how much she was going to regret the last hour in front of everyone.

  “Would you stop calling me that?”

  “Nope. You threatened to call me ‘surly wench’ at work. If that’s the case, I have every right to call you ‘asshole.’”

  “Are you sure you’re okay to go home with him?” Andrew asked her.

  I straightened, my lip curling up into a snarl. “What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

  “I just thought you’d want to stick around and pick up someone for dessert,” Andrew answered with a smile on his face.

  Apparently my reputation preceded me.

  My snarl turned to a sneer. “No, thanks. I’m full.”

  “And on that note,” Caroline said in an attempt to deflate the subject.

  “On that note, I’m calling it a night and taking ‘drunkie’ here with me.” I stood and stepped back so Lila could get out.

  “Well, it’s been fun, all!” Lila said with a smile, then looked down to Andrew. “Drew…good to see you.”

  Before I could drag her away, the fucker climbed out of the booth and wrapped his arms around her. She floundered for a moment before hugging him back.

  “You call me if you need anything, okay? I’ll always be here for you. You know that, right?”

  “I know, Drew,” she said, then kissed his cheek. “See you.”

  One last wave and I grabbed her wrist. I’d barely had anything to drink, but was completely pumped up. A violent energy hummed through me, and I desperately needed some sort of outlet.

  Jerome was still manning the door as we exited, Lila’s unsteady steps making her weave and bump into people.

  Jerome grabbed my arm, but I kept my eyes on Lila. “Yo, Nate, that chick has some serious issues. She’s the clingy type, I can tell. Best leave her.”

  I smirked at him. “That shit runs both ways.”

  His jaw dropped, and he nodded slowly as he looked at Lila again. “All right, I see.”

  I said goodnight, then made up the distance to Lila, directing her to my car. It was nearly a block’s walk to my car, and once we got there I held the door open. She reached out to steady herself, her hand on my waist, lips parted.

  I reached down, under her skirt, and cupped her pussy, pressing my fingers against her clit. She drew in a breath, her eyes darkening.

  The beast growled, ready to punish her.

  “Sit, or I swear to God I will take everything out on you right here.”

  With a swipe of her hand across my cock, she slid down into the seat. The car was nothing but a hotbox of swirling, dangerous energy. A heady combination of my jealousy, lust, and need. An explosive combination that would set fire to the air, and I was ready to feel the burn.

  CHAPTER 14

  Despite her grumbling, I had Lila up, out of the car, and over my shoulder. After the protests began, I ignored her. Though they seemed to stop when she noticed my ass.

  A growl rumbled through my chest in warning. The drive did not cool me down. In fact, I was unhinged, volatile. I felt a vibration down to my core.

  Off the elevator, into my condo, and pinned to the fucking wall as my lips crashed to hers.

  Fuck her.

  For making me feel things I shouldn’t.

  For the emotions that heaved inside of me.

  For the possession my body demanded.

  “Who is he, this Andrew?” I asked, panting as I dug my fingers into her hips.

  “Andrew is my ex-boyfriend.”

  From my calves to my neck, every muscle tensed.

  The fucker hadn’t just longed for her, he’d had her. She’d been his. It’d been his cock inside her before me. She looked at him with those lust-filled eyes, begged him for more, gave him everything.

  Fuck that.

  I barely heard her call my name in the background before I kissed her again. The agitation swirled, morphing into a tornado that demanded destruction before it would release. Letting her go, I turned and drove my fist straight into the wall.

  “Nathan!” Lila wrapped her hands around my wrist and pulled my hand out. Her gasp let me know she saw the other holes I’d created. “Why?”

  “You. You do this to me. Every time… You make me so angry,” I admitted, and reached out to caress her cheek. “I slept with my dress shirt on the other night because it smelled like you, and that pisses me off! I’m mad at myself and pissed at you for wrapping me around your little fucking finger.”

  “But I didn’t…”

  “I know!” I yelled, unable to hold back. “And that ticks me off more. I hate that you turn me on. I hate the way I need you all the fucking time. I don’t want that. I can’t want that. I can’t want you…but I do. So fucking much I do.”

  “I want you, too.”

  No, don’t say that.

  “I hated every male that even looked at you tonight and wanted to hurt the one that dared touch you. I wanted to scream out ‘mine’ to keep them all at bay. But I can’t. I can’t claim you like that. I will consume you.”

  “Why me?” she asked as she sunk down to the floor.

  I stared at her, trying to understand where the hell the bottom of her self-hate was. Me asking the question was one thing, but it was the same one I’d been asking from the moment I first saw her. An answer that never came.

  “What did you say?”

  “I’m nothing. Drew leaving me proved them right. I’m nothing special. Plain, boring, pitiful, ugly Lila. Worthless.”

  “You shut that shit up right now!” I seethed as I squatted down in front of her. I’d hoped punching the wall would do more to calm me, but seeing how badly she looked at herself infuriated me. “You are beautiful, intelligent, witty, sarcastic, fun as hell to tease, and so fucking sexy I have trouble keeping my hands off you. You make it so hard to stay away… I want you so much. I’ve tried so hard, but you keep fucking drawing me in.”

  She blinked up at me. “Then why?
Why can’t we…”

  I shook my head. “Because I can’t. I can’t love you. I can’t allow myself to pursue you, Lila. A beautiful woman like you shouldn’t waste your time on me.”

  “But, you said I wasn’t ‘that pretty.’”

  I jumped back up and wished I had something to throw. “Shit. I was being a sarcastic asshole and was going to tell you I was joking, but you fucking threw me with your response. I’m used to women arguing against me, but you agreed. That shit is fucked up.” I began to pace, jaw ticking as I tugged at my hair.

  I was telling her things I never wanted her to know, but I couldn’t stand seeing her so beaten down. She was everything I said and more, but we could never be more.

  “Do you want to know what I think?” she asked as she braced herself against the wall to stand up.

  “No. It doesn’t matter.”

  “It doesn’t matter that I want you?”

  I squeezed my eyes tight. “Please don’t.”

  I resorted to begging her to stop, because the beast prowled in his cage, desperate to get out, to take her, claim her and bind her to me.

  Lila was still drunk, and I was thankful for her pause, but I knew she wasn’t done. She was going to decimate me, destroy my resistance.

  “We can’t…be?”

  “Be? Be, how?”

  “Like we have been?”

  I pushed the heel of my palm against my eyes. “You don’t really want that with me.”

  It was a bad idea to give her an opening, to not shut her down once and for all.

  “What if I do?”

  “Drop it, Lila.” I couldn’t fucking talk about it anymore. We’d gone far past anything I could handle and entered into territory I couldn’t allow, and somehow she’d almost convinced me that it was possible. That there could be more between us.

  “Well, goodnight, then,” she said as she turned toward the door.

  I stared at her for a second before spinning her around. “Where the fuck do you think you’re going?”

  “Home.”

  “Oh, no. I’m not letting you out of my sight, drunkie.”