Mr. Peroxide cleared his throat, and I turned my head to him, feeling a scowl coming on.

“This is my neighbor Kurt,” Annie began, her voice faltering. She seemed to be having a hard time with this situation for some reason, so I kept rubbing her skin with my thumbs in an effort to relax her. “Kurt, this is m-my, my…my Ronan.”

Her eyes widened; she looked like she wanted to facepalm, but her hands were unfortunately otherwise engaged. My grin spread wide across my face.

“Fuck yeah, I am.”

“I mean, he’s my….”

“I’m her boyfriend,” I finished for her before she started to ramble.

“Kurt lives next door. He just came over to borrow some sugar. We were laughing at the fact that we’ve lived next to one another for so long but only met recently. It’s crazy living in a city this big. You never get to know your neighbors, you know? Anyway, enjoy the sugar, Kurt.”

I chuckled quietly. God, this woman was going to kill me, she was so cute. I wanted to see her get all flustered like that when I tied her to my bedpost, wanted to see how quickly she’d shut up when I put my mouth on her.

“Yeah, Kurt, enjoy the sugar. Wouldn’t want you suffering a cup of unsweetened tea, now, would we?” I added and then gave him a wink that said I found him adorable. His posture grew stiff, and his mouth formed a thin line. I knew exactly what this fuck was up to. Sugar, my arse. Such an obvious ploy to try to wheedle his way into Annie’s apartment. In fact, it pissed me off to know she’d let a man she barely knew into her home. I might have to punish her a little for that one.

“I’m actually having a dinner party tonight and needed it for a dish I’m preparing,” he replied smoothly.

“Well, don’t let us keep you,” I said, my expression hardening now.

A silent staring contest ensued. He was the one to look away first, ignoring me and focusing his attention on Annie. “I’d love for you to come over later. It’s just going to be me and a few close friends. Good food, good wine, intelligent conversation.” His sharp blue eyes flicked to me for a second, and I swear to God, I was ready to deck him. He was clearly insinuating I wasn’t capable of the latter.

“We actually have plans,” Annie answered, giving him a small smile. “But maybe some other time.”

Kurt looked like the cat that got the cream, smiling back at her lasciviously. “Yeah, I’d like that. Another time then.” Shooting me one last hostile glance, he turned and left the apartment. The moment the door clicked shut, I began walking Annie backward until her back met the wall.

“Some other time?” I said, cocking an eyebrow.

“I was being polite.”

“You smiled at him.”

“Yeah…he’s my neighbor.”

My tone was tender but firm when I replied, “Annie dearest, forgive me for being blunt, but he wants to fuck you. Something you’ll need to understand about me—I won’t tolerate men like that, especially not in your apartment. You’re mine. I told you this. This is the way it works.”

Her voice was tiny but distinctly outraged. “Are you fucking serious?”

I was surprised by how easily she’d cursed and how natural it sounded slipping from her lovely lips; it seemed my Annie had a dirty mouth. But being this close to her, having her smell surround me and her pliant body flush with mine, it wasn’t a surprise that I grew aroused.

I pressed the evidence of this hard into her thigh, and she let out a little gasp.

“Let go of the righteous indignation, Annie. We’re together now, and there are going to be rules. I don’t want other men alone with you in your apartment, but it goes both ways. I won’t have women at my place, either. Shit, I don’t even want to look at any other woman but you. I feel…very protective of you. Irrationally so? Yeah, maybe. But it’s just the way it has to be. I promise you, once you realize all I want to give you, you’ll like it. Hell, you’ll love it. This is us, and this is permanent.”

Something in her melted. I could feel it in the way her body lost all tension. She sank into me, her hand pressed firmly into my chest. I didn’t want to talk anymore, so I brought my mouth to her swan-like neck and licked a line all the way to her earlobe. She trembled and gripped my shirt. Grabbing the back of her knees, I easily pulled her up, and she wrapped her legs around my waist. It was the perfect position for me to grind my erection right into her sweet spot.

“Ronan,” she sighed right before I captured her lips with mine, plunging my tongue into her soft, wet mouth. I began to move my hips back and forth rhythmically as I devoured her with my teeth, my lips, my tongue. She was so warm and soft I felt I could get lost in her for hours, days. I didn’t know how long we’d been kissing when her phone began to vibrate loudly over on her coffee table.

She loosened her legs and dropped down, breathing heavily and resting her face in the crook of my neck. “God, what are we doing?” she murmured as though to herself. When I took her chin between my fingers and lifted her face to me, she seemed overwhelmed. I was going way too fast, but I couldn’t seem to help it. There was something about Kurt’s presence that made some ridiculous caveman part of me need to stake my claim.

By the time the phone stopped buzzing, Annie seemed to have collected herself.

“Let’s go—grab your coat.”

She nodded, though she appeared to still be dazed as she walked to the closet; but then she suddenly turned back to me. “Oh! I almost forgot.”