When my arms refuse to connect with as much force as I intend, I stop punching. Forty minutes I stood here punching this bag and still no Olivia. I squeeze my eyes shut and roll my head from side to side. I’ll have a shower and if she’s not back by then, I’ll walk—fuck it—I’ll run to her.

After I’ve washed my body, I lean my head against the tiles, hoping any second now she’ll come through that door. When I hear the bathroom door click shut, relief washes over me. The relief fades just as quickly as it came when I remember why I’m feeling so shitty in the first place. Olivia left me while I was sleeping to go see my enemy…

I shut the shower off and stand for a little while longer, letting the excess water run off of me. When I’m done, I step out and she immediately hands me a towel. Without looking at her, I grab the towel and run it over my face. I have no idea what I’m going to say yet and I’m buying time, trying to talk myself out of saying something stupid. I drop the towel and wrap it low on my hips, and finally, I look at her and she almost flinches. She fingers the small black buttons that run up the front of her dress.

“Don hurt you—and Darryl. I had to do something,” she says without any prompting from me.

“So you thought you’d go and handle it without me?”

She nods. “Yes.”

I grit my teeth and they ache slightly. I’m doing that way too much tonight. “Do you know how worried I’ve been?”

“I thought you were sleeping.” She lowers her voice. “I’m capable of handling myself.”

I almost laugh and she scowls at me, no longer intimidated. She thinks she’s capable of handling herself against a fighter who would love nothing more than to get back at me? Yeah fucking right.

“What are you, one hundred and thirty pounds? I could lift your entire body weight on my fucking big toe, yet here you are walking around like you can’t be touched.”

Her thin, well-shaped eyebrows pull together. “Don hurt you.”

“Yes!” I snap. “He hurt me. Let me deal with it.”

She steps toward me and digs her skinny index finger into my chest. “You can’t control me, Seth.”

“I can’t control you? You think this is about controlling you?”

“Isn’t it?”

I pinch the bridge of my nose, trying for the one millionth time to control myself... and I fail. “This is about you!” I yell and she takes a defensive step back, swallowing hard. “Ever since I met you, you do stupid things that put you in danger! You have no consideration for anybody—you’re selfish!”

“I’m selfish?” she scoffs. “I am far from selfish!”

She turns from me and attempts to leave the bathroom, but I grab her by the elbow and pull her back, slamming the door shut.

“I’m not finished,” I warn, holding her tightly against me.

“Well, I am.”

She tries to pull her small frame away from me and gets nowhere. There’s no way I’m letting her go. Not yet. I drop my hand and grip her hips, lifting her and placing her on the counter. I slip between her legs and anchor her hips so she can’t get away.

Her eyes flare with anger and it stirs something wicked inside me. “I’m warning you, let me go.”

I almost smile. “What are you going to do, Olivia?” She claims she can handle herself and I want her to show me. She struggles against me and nothing happens. “You can’t do anything to help yourself and that’s why you need me. We are together. We’re meant to make decisions together. Isn’t that what a relationship is? I mean, shit, you were the one in a relationship, so tell me why I’m the one giving you the advice?”

“Seth, let me go.”

I squeeze her harder. “No.”

She shuffles her hips forward abruptly, trying to slip off the counter. I grip her legs and yank her hips forward, forcing her thighs to wrap tightly around me. She gasps and presses a hand against my wet chest, arching her back in an attempt to lean away from me.

“I’m not letting you go until you tell me I’m right. You know I am.”

She straightens her spine, bringing her delicious body closer to mine and getting right in my face. “No.”

So fucking stubborn.

Her warm breath caresses my face and I look at her perfect lips. I lurch forward, slamming my mouth to hers. Her hands immediately slide around my neck, pressing me harder against her. I reach under her dress and roughly pull her panties to the side. She gasps against my mouth, dragging my bottom lip between her lips. I can see it in her face, she’s pissed off, but she can’t possibly be as pissed off as I am.

I grasp the fabric of her dress and pull it open, sending buttons scattering along with my thoughts and exposing her body to me.

“What the fuc—”I lace my fingers in her hair and force her mouth back to mine. Her ankles lock around me, pulling me closer—so close I can feel the heat radiate from her.

“Tell me I’m right,” I demand against her mouth.

She bites down on my swollen lip, not giving a shit that it’s sore. “No.”

Her quick, shallow breaths hit my skin as she lowers her mouth to my neck and licks my clean flesh. I feel her hands grip my towel and a second later it falls to the floor. Cool air clings to my skin, spurring me closer to her. Her lips suck and nip at my neck while her fingers wrap around my extremely hard length. She guides it toward her opening—right where she wants me. I feel her wetness on the tip of my cock and I can’t help myself. I groan, thrusting deep and hard. Olivia cries out, sending white hot arousal through my body, forcing me to go hard and fast .I look at her face. Her eyes are closed and her mouth is agape as she pants heavily. I grab her low on the hips, forcing her to move against me.

“I’ll fuck you until you tell me I’m right,” I rasp, dropping my mouth to her collar bone.

I run my hands up her back before I entwine them in the base of her hair. I pull hard, tilting her head backwards and she moans loudly, my name sharp on her lips. Who would’ve thought my sweet Olivia likes it rough? I drag my lips over her collar bone and up her neck. Every time I move inside her, I get closer and closer to release. I can feel her tightening around me and it’s making it harder to hold on. I yank her bra down, letting her tits spill over the cups and I take one in my mouth. She presses her chest deeper into my mouth all while digging her nails into my flesh.

I pull away. “You fucking like that, don’t you?”

She rakes her teeth over her bottom lip, shaking her head. “No, I’m just humoring you.”

I smile a little before pulling out and thrusting all of the way back in. She inhales sharply and grips me tighter. I pull her off the counter, grabbing her backside in large handfuls and whirl around on my heel, bracing her hard against the bathroom wall. Gravity forces her to settle fully onto my length and I clench my jaw as my body hums with intense sexual energy. Olivia leans back, showing off her perfect breasts that bounce every time my hips collide with hers. My fantasies of Olivia never do her justice. Her soft, pliable body is perfection from the strands of chocolate hair on her head to the hot fuck noises she makes as I thrust into her. I pull back from her and slip out. She groans, her eyes closing briefly and I bite the inside of my lip against a smirk. She’s frustrated, although she’ll never admit it. With a trembling breath, I propel myself back into her.

“Seth!” Her cry echoes around the bathroom, bouncing off the tiles and hitting me right in the sweet spot.

I moan, dropping my mouth to her neck as her hand reaches out and she turns the door handle.

“Bed. Now,” she demands in a husky pant.

I crush her against me, pulling her away from the wall and out into the bedroom. She rakes her fingers through my hair, harshly tugging on it and forcing my mouth to hers. Fuck the bed. I want her on the couch. My legs move quickly and I drop her onto the white fabric. Her eyes snap to mine and I know she’s going to protest. Before she gets the chance, I grab her waist and flip her around. She rests over the back of the couch and glances at me over her shoulder with an uncertain look…the sight alone is enough to make me come. I kneel on the edge of the couch, lining myself exactly where I want to be. I grab her hip with one hand and her ass with the other, squeezing with enough pressure to let her know I’m not going to be gentle. She started this. If she wants rough, she’s going to get rough. I’m going to fuck her hard until she comes and is begging for me to forgive her. She’s a tiny woman but it isn’t like she’s made from glass. I enter her with a harsh thrust and she cries out at once. I watch her reactions every time the tip of me reaches maximum point, enjoying the way she claws at the couch as her body lurches from the impact. Her fingers dig into the fabric in an effort to keep herself steady. There are no pauses as I rear back and rock forward again, sheathing myself all the way to the hilt.

“More,” she mewls, grinding backwards on me. “Harder.”

With a growl, I pump her faster and harder. Every time, I pull back, she slams herself back onto me and I feel her muscles grip me tighter. The firmer she gets, the closer I come to, well, coming. I grit my teeth and slip my hand off her hip and around her stomach before gliding the tips of my fingers between her legs and into the creases of her sweet pussy.

“Oh, God,” she moans, her body speeding up in its movements.

I feel her legs begin to tremble and I know she’s close. As I circle her, I pound her harder and harder until she can’t breathe, until she’s trying to crawl away from me. One more thrust has her clenching me tightly and melting down with me deep inside her. The sound of her being taken away into bliss with my name a husky rasp on her lips is enough to send me over the edge and I sink over her, pressing my body against her back and unconsciously sinking my teeth into her shoulder as a powerful release surges from me.

We rest in a piled heap on the couch until one of us has enough energy to move. When my arousal wears off, the ache in my body comes back full force. Shit. I should’ve taken it a little easier. Without a word, Olivia slips out from underneath me and storms to the bathroom, shutting the door with a small slam behind her. I guess she’s still pissed off that I called her selfish. I get it, it was a little harsh and I don’t believe she’s selfish, not like I am, anyway. She’s done lots of selfless things for me, neglecting her job, for one. But when I called her selfish, I meant in terms of her decisions. She doesn’t think about how her decisions affect anyone else—getting involved with me affected Mason and her mom. Going to dinner with Brent affected me—seeing Don affected me. She doesn’t think and that’s the one thing that bugs me above all else. I have every right to be mad, not her.

I push myself off the couch and stroll over to my wardrobe, not wanting to shower for the third time tonight. I grab a pair of sweat pants and slide them on before strolling to bed and climbing in. I lie flat on my back, choosing the least painful position for the best chance at getting some sleep. A few minutes later, Olivia emerges from the bathroom, her hair damp and sticking to her clean skin. Helping herself, she pulls a tank top from my wardrobe and a pair of black sweatpants, matching mine. Her eyes flick over to me as she pulls the white top over her head and covers her bare breasts. My gaze falls onto her shoulder, where I’d bitten her. It’s a little red; I didn’t cut the skin, but it might bruise.

“Did I hurt you?” I ask, trying to keep the detached tone in my voice.

“No.”

Her response is clipped and blunt and I can’t help a small smile. She can’t stay mad at me forever and I’ve already forgiven her. Hell, my heart forgave her the moment she stepped into the bathroom, but my dick refused to. It wanted to punish her, to make her scream…it got what it wanted and now I know I have to apologize for calling her selfish, but my damn pride won’t let me. I can’t. If I apologize, it means I won’t do it again and that I can’t guarantee. I can’t guarantee I’m not going to say it again or say something even worse next time because that’s what I do. According to Dad, I take every good thing I get and destroy it. I don’t deserve good. I deserve nothing because I don’t appreciate anything. Some inspiring, fatherly words right there.

Olivia stalks toward the door with a frustrated sway in her hips. She flicks off the light, plunging the room into total darkness. I wait a few seconds before I feel the mattress sink slightly. I know she’s got her back to me and instinctively, I reach out for her. Before I touch her, I quickly pull my hand back. All I want from her is a ‘sorry I left without saying anything.’ Is that so hard?

I wait for a very long time…just waiting for her to sigh and apologize.

Nothing.

And it isn’t until she mutters for someone to clean their machine and shifts in my direction that I realize I’m not going to get one, at least, not while she’s sleeping, anyway.

Allowing myself one last feel of her skin before I drift off, I slip my hand underneath her shirt and run the palm of my hand down the side of her waist and over the rise of her hip. A soft sigh of relief escapes her and her body relaxes even more as she falls deeper into sleep. I pull my hand back and sling it over my head, covering my eyes.

Why are we both so fucking stubborn?

Chapter Eight

Olivia

(T-minus four days until Las Vegas)

I stretch, spreading my legs and arching my back before I open my eyes. As they flutter open, I take in my surroundings and the sleeping giant next to me. He has an arm slung over his face and I can just see the cut on his lower lip. Dread rolls through me as I recall last night. It wasn’t a dream.