She stared up at him as he pulled back from her, lowering her arms, but still holding her wrists prisoner with his powerful hand.
“Show-off,” she accused darkly as her gaze flickered to her bound wrists. “Why didn’t you just bring the handcuffs?”
“Don’t tempt me.” His smile was all teeth. Predatory, intent. “Now come along like a good little girl, Raven.”
She frowned at the heavy mockery in his voice. He might be a bit more than pissed, she thought, which only caused her own temper to rise. He had no right to be angry with her; it was her choice how she spent her time, not his. And she would be damned if she would put up with this attitude because she decided to spend time dancing rather than waiting around on him.
“Hey, dude, you got no right to be hauling her out of here.” The big boy from the previous dance stood in their way, bringing Reno to a slow stop.
Raven glanced over his shoulder, wide-eyed. The younger man wasn’t as tall as Reno, but he was thick and heavy, built like a damned linebacker and staring at Reno like a bull on a rampage.
“Sorry, dude, but the lady belongs to me.” A normal rational man might have paid attention to the warning in Reno’s voice, not to mention the savage look on his face.
“I didn’t see no brand, asshole,” the younger man swayed drunkenly in front of him, causing Raven to stifle a groan of mortification.
Reno would never let her live this one down, and neither would Clint, once he got wind of it. Dammit, why did these things have to happen to her?
“You just didn’t look in the right place,” Reno informed him, his voice deep, deadly. “Count yourself lucky. If you had, I’d have to rip your throat out.”
Raven’s eyes widened. This Reno was scary. He looked ready to fight, to defend, to claim.
“Uhh, Reno, let’s just go.” She pushed at his arm, aware of the grip he still retained on her wrists.
“Tough little man, aren’t you?" the boy laughed, and Raven groaned miserably. The other man had to be drunker than she thought, to even consider insulting Reno so rudely. Besides, Reno was at least six inches taller than the other man. Sometimes wider did not mean better.
Before she could do more than gasp in surprise, she was free, and Reno had the boy by the throat. Slowly, he took the younger man to the floor as beefy hands wrapped around his wrists and brown eyes began to bulge at the lack of oxygen.
“Don’t mess with me, boy,” Reno growled mercilessly. “Or my woman. Period.”
When he released the younger man, Raven glared at him.
“You’re insane,” she said, slapping at his arm with enough force to sting her hand as he stared back at her in surprise. “Your woman, my ass! You are a bully, Reno. A macho, self-serving, arrogant SEAL bully and I’ll be damned if I’m going anywhere with you.”
She turned and swept through the crowd, her face flaming in embarrassment and fury, even though her body was still heated, throbbing.
My woman.
Something inside her had melted when he rasped the words, his tone thick with possessiveness and male fury, while another part screeched in horror. He had claimed her. It wasn’t just sex to him, he was serious about this, and that point had just been driven forcibly home. Not that she hadn’t been aware of it already. But now, she knew it down to her soul. All her dreams, hopes and fears were tied up with one man. With Reno.
She was screwed.
Chapter Six
Reno stayed carefully behind Raven’s car as he followed her home, his hands gripping the steering wheel.
She was right. He had been pissed, jealous and riding the fine edge of his control; otherwise, he would have handled the younger man with a bit more discretion. Truth was, he wanted to kill that kid for daring to try to come between him and Raven.
He wiped his hand across his face as he fought his raging emotions. Never had he had felt the adrenaline pumping through his system as it was now. His cock was harder than it had been at any time in his life and the urge to fuck Raven until she was too exhausted to fight back was nearly overwhelming.
She was driving him insane, not that he had expected anything less from her. He had known that stealing her heart wouldn’t be easy, and binding her to him even harder. She looked at him and saw her parents. The father who left to fight, the mother who screamed and raged and drank too much while he was gone until the day he returned in a casket.
It was the danger of the job that some women couldn’t handle. And he would have worried that Raven couldn’t handle it, if he didn’t know for a fact that each mission Morganna knew he was on, she and Raven waited out together. Laughing, joking, calling him names and insulting him to hell and back, as reported by his sister. But she handled it. Just as Morganna helped Raven handle Clint’s absences. They had a support system they had relied on most of their lives.
She was stronger than she thought was, Reno reflected, as he pulled into the driveway behind her car. He watched, eyes narrowed as she flounced out of the car, that little black dress flirting with her upper thighs as it whipped around her in a cloud of silk.
More slowly, Reno got out of the truck. Slow and careful, he cautioned himself. He had lost it at the club. Hell, he had nearly fucked her in that dark corner for everyone to see.
“Go away, Reno,” she snarled as she unlocked the front door. “I don’t want to see or talk to you.
At least she didn’t try to slam the door in his face. She pushed into the house, leaving it wide open for him. Reno controlled the smile that wanted to touch his lips. She could yell until hell froze over, but he knew her. Inside out and upside down, he knew her, loved her, and he would be damned if he was going to let her find excuses to throw him out of her life.
“Aren’t you tired of being such a coward, Raven?" he said as he followed her inside, closing and locking the door behind him.
She whirled around, the long, sleek golden brown curls that made his hands itch fanning around her slender body.
“Me? A coward?" An imperious thumb pointed into her chest. “I’m a realist, Reno. Unlike you, I prefer to see the truth rather than the pretty lies you want to feed me.”
He crossed his arms over his chest, slowly. “When, Raven, did I ever lie to you?”
“Every time you touched me,” she yelled back at him, thinking of the past two years, the teasing kisses and flirtatious touching. “Pretending it was something light, something friendly. You want it all, don’t you, Reno?”