Page 34 of Possessive Mr. Pen

My fool heart wants to believe him, but I’m not a naïve bimbo.

“Protect me from what?You?”I scoff.

“No, my family.”

His answer isn’t what I expect.My response bursts from my mouth before I have time to stop it.

“You don’t have a family.”

“Neither do you.”

All the blood drains from my head until nothing but a hollow echo chamber remains.

I yank my wrist free and stomp toward the door.

As I reach for the handle, he grabs my forearms from behind and pulls them above my head before pinning me against the wooden panel with his bulk.I hiss as he presses harder against me, flattening my breasts and digging my hips into the hard surface.

His ragged breathing doesn’t match the exertion.

“I’m sorry, Hilary.That’s not what I meant to say,” he murmurs next to my temple.

Heat throbs deep in my core.

“Well, you said it.You can’t take it back now,” I snarl.

“I wish I could.You didn’t choose your family any more than I did mine,” he rumbles into my ear.

I search for an escape, but aside from throwing my head back, which will only lead to me hitting his shoulder and hurting my neck, I can’t move.

“No, see, you apparently have a family that youdidn’tchoose.You have one, you just chose not to have them in your life.”

“That’s not true, my gladiator goddess,” he murmurs.

“Don’t start that nickname crap with me.I won’t—”

“My father’s wife murdered my mother.”

He says the admission with a voice so devoid of emotion I recognize it as the driving force behind all his efforts.

“What does that have to do with this contract marriage?Wouldn’t marrying you put me in more danger?”I ask.

He shifts and winces.

“I wouldn’t make the offer if it jeopardized your safety,” he vows.

“How could it not?”I snap.

My attempt to buck him off only ends in delicious friction between our bodies.

“They don’t know I’m alive,” he growls.

I freeze.

“Let me guess, it’s some super rich and famous family and you’re the illegitimate heir.”

His silence chills me to my soul.

“Connor, this isn’t funny.I’m done.Get off me.”