Page 3 of Love Sanctioned

I blinked several times, my attention locked on him. “Nothing, because I told you I’m done going back and forth. I’m over this game of cat and mouse.”

He laughed. “You’ll never be done with me. You can’t. I’m the purest hit of heroin. Once you get that first hit, it’s a craving, a need. Your caffeine shakes ain’t got shit on the type of withdrawals you’ll go through tryna leave me alone.”

I stared at his cocky ass. “And how do you know this so well?”

“’Cause that’s what I feel like when you pull this bullshit you’re pulling right now.” He stood slowly, moving in my direction.

“God, Posydiann. What the hell. You’re trying to make me crazy. You don’t know what you want and neither do I. You pull me in, then you push me away. It’s too much. Figure out what you want or leave me alone.”

He stood directly in front of me, hooded eyes locked on mine.

“You know I can’t do that.”

“But you have to, because if you don’t, I’m not gonna be any good for the man who actually knows what he wants.”

He laughed. “Fuck that and all that arranged marriage shit you rich motherfuckers be doing. You belong to me.”

I shook my head. “Any arrangement would be better than this.”

“You're lying, plus you give my shit up to somebody else, and I promise you he’ll be dead before morning. If you’re fine with getting people killed, then be my guest. You know exactly what I’m capable of, my love.”

His words echoed in my head, taking me back to that night when this all started, the night when my common sense abandoned me at the curb.

“I told you I wasn’t interested. Now please leave me alone.” I glared at the man who had followed me from the front door of the club to the space where I was waiting for my rideshare to pull up. I wasn’t feeling well and didn’t want to dampen everyone else’s time.

“Nah, c’mon, shorty. I got you,” he said, stepping too close for comfort.

I put my hand out, creating some space. “I said I’m not interested.”

He grabbed my arm, pulling me into him, but before he could get me too close, I heard a loud sound, then something wet against my face. Ol’ boy no longer had any grip on my arm because he was lying on the floor with blood pooling from his head.

“You're gonna stand there and stare or come on.” His hand was extended.

I didn’t know what possessed me to take his hand, but I did. He had killed a man in front of me and used the shirt he was wearing to clean said man’s blood and brain matter from my face when we got into his car. I should have gotten away from him then, but I didn’t. My hot ass stayed and entertained the thought.

“You look good tonight, Syn. Playing with life type good.”

I shook my head. “What is it gonna take?”

“For what?” he asked, confusion sitting in his eyes for a moment.

“For you to let me go?”

“Nothing… because it ain’t happening And you really don’t want me to let you go. If you did, you wouldn’t be here. Briar got about a million clubs, baby. You could have easily gone to one of those, right?”

He had me there, so I was quiet. I looked down, but he tipped my chin up, making me look at him. His six foot three frame easily towered that of my five foot six. I wasn’t a short woman by any means, but in his presence, I was.

“But who are we kidding? You came here because just like I wanna be with you, you wanna be with me. You’re just playing hard to get and I’m letting you.” He lowered his head and kissed me, never closing his eyes. This fool was giving me the stare down while he kissed me.

I wrapped my arms around his neck just as his hand dropped to my waist. That fast, nothing else mattered, just him, this moment, and why I needed to get my shit together.

In a swift motion, he picked me up and carried me over to his desk. He set me on it and stood between my legs, his hands on both sides of my face as he peered down at me.

“I’m not playing hard to get. I just refuse to keep playing your games.”

“And what games are those, Syn?”

“All the bitches you bed? Shit, you probably paid for quite a few sections out there. I’m not stupid.”