“What the fuck were you thinking?”

She glared up at me. “I just wanted to have some fun.”

“By letting my brothers see you naked?”

“I was winning,” she challenged.

“Yeah, well, I don’t give a fuck. No one in this club sees you naked. Do you understand me?”

“And why not?”

I narrowed my eyes at her. “Don’t question me, woman.”

“So don’t tell me what to do!”

To silence her smart mouth, I crushed my lips against hers. Instead of meeting opposition, I felt her return my kiss, her hands coming up to grip my hair, tugging at the strands. In a flash, I covered her body with mine, slamming her onto her back on the mattress. I had this desperate need to claim her, not as some territorial bullshit but out of a stronger emotion. She was my complete and total opposite, but somehow we completed each other. She was the strong, compassionate, stubborn woman I needed to soften out my rough edges. She brought out the best parts of me—the ones that so often had been hidden in the past. For her, I wanted to be a better man, a better father, a better brother, and hell, a better human being.

Alex brought me out of my thoughts by widening her legs invitingly. I didn’t waste a moment slipping my hips between them. As our tongues battled against each other, I rubbed my growing erection against her core. When she groaned into my mouth, I grabbed her arms and shoved them over her head.

Jerking my lips from hers, I glared down at Alex. “You are mine. Do you understand me?”

“Yes,” she panted.

Keeping her arms pinned with one hand, I let my other hand come to her breasts. “These tits are for my eyes and my pleasure only. You got me?”

“Yes, Deacon. Only for you.”

After giving her nipple a teasing pinch, I brought my hand between her legs to cup her mound. “And this pussy is for my eyes, my fingers, my tongue, and my cock only.”

A shiver ran through her at my words. “I only want you. You and only you, Deacon,” she replied.

As I loomed over her, my hungry gaze fell on some of the yellowish bruises that remained on her neck and chest. Just like that, my wood began to deflate. Jesus, what the hell had I been thinking? Dragging her back to my bedroom and mauling her like a caveman after she’d just been attacked and almost raped three weeks ago. “Fuck, Alex. I’m sorry.”

When I started to pull away, her hands flew up to cup my face. “No, don’t stop!” she cried.

I shook my head as shame washed over me. “I’m sorry for treating you so fucking disrespectfully after what you’ve been through.”

“I’m not broken, Deacon. I’m the same woman I was before the attack—the day you had me up against a wall, ready to fuck my brains out.”

“I know that.”

“Then why are you treating me this way?”

I sat back on my knees and jerked a hand through my dark hair. “No matter how hard I try to see things differently, I’m always going to be no good for you, Alex.”

“Why don’t you let me be the judge of that?”

With a glare, I countered, “Are you on some fucking suicide mission or something? A closeted S and M freak who likes pain?”

“No. It’s not like that at all.”

“Then why would you want me to fuck you like an animal after what you’ve been through?”

“Because I want to be with you. And even if it means not making love but fucking hard and fast, I still want it because it’s with you. I’ve wanted you for so long, Deacon. Maybe even before that night in your basement. My head tells me to be leery of you. That I shouldn’t want to be with an outlaw like you. But no matter how hard I try to talk myself out of my feelings for you, my heart and body rage and riot for you.”

“Oh, fuck,” I muttered, staring into her determined face. In spite of all our differences, she still wanted me. Regardless of the fucked-up world I lived in, a good-hearted woman like Alex actually wanted me. And not just with her body to get to see what fucking a bad boy was like. She wanted me with her heart, too. It almost overwhelmed me.

After momentarily nibbling on her bottom lip, she said, “If you can honestly say that you only want to screw me and feel nothing else but some bullshit obligation toward me, then I’ll get up from here. We’ll go on being friends and acquaintances, and I’ll never press you about having more again. And you can go back to Cheyenne, who clearly doesn’t think you two are over. Hell, maybe it isn’t over between you, and that’s why she isn’t letting go.”

“There’s not one damn thing between me and Cheyenne. So you can get that out of your fucking head right now.”

Alex didn’t appear to believe me. “Then, if you feel for me like I do for you, fuck me until I come screaming and clenching around you.”

I groaned. “Jesus, woman, your mouth is driving me crazy.”

“Wait until it’s wrapped around your cock.”

Lunging forward, I once again covered her body with mine. I stared down at her, shaking my head in disbelief that there was a woman like Alex who wanted me. “You don’t fight fair with the dirty talk.”

She gave me a teasing grin. “I learned from the best, Jesse James.”

Her amusement faded when I started to slide off of her. “Deacon—”

I brought a finger over her mouth to silence her. “I don’t want there to be anything between us the first time I fuck you. So get up and get undressed.”

Without another word of argument, she slid off the bed. Standing at the edge, she worked the buttons of her shirt. Her eyes never left mine. When she slid it off her arms, she didn’t seem to be moving fast enough. Grabbing the waist of her jeans, I pulled her closer to me, before working the button and zipper. I pushed the jeans down her body. As her hands went around her back to undo her bra, I reached for her panties and tugged them down. Once she was naked before me, I couldn’t help staring. I’d already seen and touched every square inch of her body that night in the shower. But tonight was about taking care of different needs.

I brought my hand between her legs. She inhaled a sharp breath as I stroked her, feeling her clit begin to swell. My other hand went to her hip to urge her legs farther apart. When she spread her thighs, I thrust a finger into her, which caused her to gasp in pleasure. I added another finger as I began to move them in a punishing rhythm. She arched her hips forward, riding my hand. Her fingers gripped my shoulders, the nails digging into the skin as I brought her closer and closer to release. When she went over, her head fell back, and she moaned my name. It made me even harder.