Page 52 of Ravaged With You

Then suddenly, the cage is gone. He’s stepped away, his hands and mouth no longer touching me.

Instead, he’s looking at me as if he doesn’t know me, and I’m so lost right now that I don’t even know myself. “Red? What—”

“I’m sorry,” he says, his voice an echo of pain. “Jo, I’m so fucking sorry.”

Chapter Fifteen

What the hell was he doing?

Red pushed back from her, feeling like a complete subhuman when her hand went to her neck, her eyes wide, her lips parted. She was breathing hard, just staring at him. And why not? He’d trapped her, basically attacked her, and had just kept on claiming her even when she’d struggled against him.

“I’m sorry. I’m so fucking sorry.” That was all he could get out. All he could say.

What words were there that would fill the void he’d just created between them? A looming black chasm that he’d never be able to cross.

God, he’d never wanted her to see him like this.

“So fucking sorry,” he repeated, then bolted from the living room, slamming himself into the guest room and leaning against the door as if to barricade himself inside.

He drew in a breath, then another and another until he could see straight again. Until his heart stopped beating so hard that he risked cracking a rib. When he could get the picture of her shocked expression out of his mind.

Jo. Of all the people he didn’t want to see him like this, why did he have to lose it in front of Jo?

It was rhetorical question, of course. He knew exactly why. He wanted her.

But his shame was that he craved her that way. In all the dark ways, the dark places where he lived now, he wanted her there with him, but dammit, he was never going to do that to her.

With an angry burst he pushed away from the door and started pacing. He had to deal with this. He had to bring it down. He could feel the rage and the fury and then need bubbling through him.

He was on the edge, and he had to get it out. Had to release those demons.

He had to fight back.

“Fuck it,” he murmured, then reached into his back pocket and pulled out his phone. He hit the speed dial number, leaving the phone on speaker as he paced, waiting for her to answer.

“Mr. R, it’s lovely to hear from you.” Her voice was soft and polished. The voice of a woman you could trust.

“I need somebody,” he growled.

“Right away, I assume?”

“Yes. I’ll need a hotel room. Can you arrange it?”

“Of course. Just tell me what time, and—”

“What the hell are you doing?”

He whipped around to find Jo standing in the doorway. In two long strides she crossed to him and ripped the phone out of his hand.

“He’ll call you back.” She ended the call and tossed the phone on the bed.

He took a step toward her, certain his expression would terrify even the most hardened military man. Jo stood her ground.

“Is that her? A call girl you see? What the fuck are you thinking?”

It was a valid question. He couldn’t leave Jo now even though, dammit, he’d sure as hell proved that he couldn’t stay around her either.

“Dammit, Red, answer me.”