“When Grady comes to get you, I’ll talk to him. I know you don’t want Omar to know what happened but I’ll explain to Grady what will happen to him if Omar gets word of what he tried to pull. He won’t be bringing any more men home.” The doorbell startled them. Minnie sighed and stood. “Stay put. I’ll take care of this.”

Mika finished her second drink. She figured Grady was the one at the door. Eric must have raced into the house to tattle that she’d fled. It wouldn’t have been hard for Grady to figure out where she’d headed when she ran.

Grady stormed into the room and growled low at her. “What the hell do you think you’re doing by running from me? You could have been harassed by a male.”

“I want to talk to you,” Minnie demanded from behind him. “Don’t ever just push past me again and storm into my house. We need to discuss Mika.” Grady jerked his head in Minnie’s direction. “There’s nothing to discuss but the fact that I’m taking her home now.”

Minnie snarled at him, showing teeth. “If you ever bring another damn man into her home I’ll personally cut your balls off. Are we clear? If I tell Omar what you tried to do to her then he’ll kill you. She’s not that way.” Mika saw Grady pale. His head jerked to Mika and she saw his shock. She reached over and grabbed the bottle of whiskey and poured more into her glass. She sipped it and glared at Grady while she got shitfaced. It was helping her numb the pain he’d caused her.

“I tell Minnie everything. Almost anyway. She doesn’t know how we really met.” Minnie frowned. “What does that mean?”

Grady growled. “Let’s go, Mika.”

“Is your friend gone?” Mika sipped her drink, glaring at him. “If you want him to get f**ked so much, you could always f**k him. How about that one? Or I’ll watch you get f**ked by Eric. You deserve to get bent over for what you did.” Grady was shocked at her words and it showed. He stared at Mika. “I don’t know why you’re so damn upset. I am trying to protect you, damn it.”

“And yet you ended up hurting me worse emotionally than you ever did physically!” She slammed her drink down so hard the glass broke. She stared at the spilled contents that splashed over the tabletop and glass pieces. “Sorry.” Minnie moved around Grady and started cleaning up the mess. “Don’t worry about it, baby. You’re upset.” She shot Grady a glare. “Leave her here for the night. You’ll survive until morning without her. She’s not much of a drinker and that was number three for her. She’ll pass out soon so you can collect her in the morning.”

“No.” Grady inched toward Mika.

“Is he gone? Swear to me he won’t be back.”

Grady crouched down next to Mika’s chair. “He’s gone. I won’t bring him back to your house. Let’s go.”

She sat there. “I don’t want to be anywhere near you right now.” Cursing, Grady grabbed her out of the chair and lifted her into his arms as he straightened. He headed for the door. “We’re leaving.”

“Put me down.” Mika didn’t fight but she said the words.

He paused at the door and shifted her in his arms to open the door. His Jeep was in the driveway. “We’ll talk about this at home.”

“There’s nothing to talk about. I’m stuck here with you. Minnie explained what would happen if I leave. I don’t like you anymore, Grady. I don’t even want you touching me or talking to me.”

Grady looked a little pale to her as he shifted her again and opened the Jeep door.

He deposited her gently into the passenger seat, put on her belt, and slammed the door.

She watched him round the Jeep and climb inside. He drove silently back to her house.

Eric’s Mustang was gone. Grady pulled into the driveway and then lifted her out of the car. She noticed he’d attached her key ring to his keys as he unlocked her front door.

He must have taken them from her purse. He carried her to her room and set her on the bed. She watched him. She heard the front door slam. In seconds he was back in her room. He stared at her from the doorway.

“Don’t ever pull another stunt like that again. I can’t believe you sneaked out the bathroom window.”

“Don’t tell me what to do.”

“Damn it, babe. I’m sorry, all right? If I knew you’d freak out this way, I never would have suggested bringing Eric here to protect you.”

“Get out of my room.”

“I want you.” He paused. “I need you. It’s been hours.”

“Go f**k Eric.” She climbed off her bed and stumbled as she staggered to her bathroom. “I am really taking a shower this time.”

“I don’t f**k other men,” he growled behind her.

She froze and turned her head to glare at him. “Neither do I.” She staggered into the bathroom and tried to slam the door. That’s when she realized it was broken. The lock and handle were dangling and the doorframe was broken. She saw a crack on the door next to the handle. Grady obviously had kicked in the door. The water wasn’t running in the shower anymore.

She stripped and turned on the water. It helped sober her up but not by much. She really didn’t drink often. She took her time. She was almost afraid Grady would follow her into the bathroom but he didn’t. She hadn’t brought clean clothes. She wrapped a towel around her body and walked into her room.

Grady sat on her bed, watching her silently. His eye color had gone totally black.

She saw the look on his face as he slowly took in every inch of her from toes to head.

She knew he wanted her. She hesitated and then walked to her nightstand drawer. She opened it and threw a condom at him. She walked to her dresser and grabbed the hand lotion she used on her legs. She shot him a glare and then dropped her towel.

She threw the lotion at him, hitting him in the chest. “Go ahead and f**k me, Grady. It’s all you want from me.” She walked over to her chair in the corner and bent over, gripping the arms of it to support her balance. She looked over her shoulder at him. “Put the condom on, lube up, and use me. Don’t sugarcoat it anymore. Just do it this way so I know exactly where I stand. Or should I say bend.” Grady snarled. He put on the condom and grabbed the lotion. He dumped it in his hand and coated his hard, condom-covered cock. He stood up and moved toward her.

Mika turned her head away from him and squeezed her eyes closed. She tensed and then forced herself to relax as she took deep breaths. She hoped he wouldn’t hurt her, knowing he could if he wanted to, by taking her too roughly. She could sense him standing inches from her.

“Babe,” he growled.

“Just do it and get it over with.”

“I’m not taking you like this. You don’t want me and you aren’t ready.” Mika swallowed hard and fought tears, refusing to look at him. “Do it, Grady. You need to f**k me so get on with it. You don’t have a clue what I want, obviously. I’m here, I’m bent over, and I’m telling you to take me. Just do it so I can get away from you again for a few hours.”

Grady snarled and his hands gripped her h*ps roughly. Mika tensed but Grady didn’t enter her the way she thought he would. Instead he yanked her away from the chair and she screamed as he threw her. She hit the bed but it didn’t hurt. She stared at Grady in shock as he got on the bed with her.

“Spread your thighs,” he snarled.

She saw his intent. He wanted to go down on her to get her turned on. She rolled away from him and lifted to her hands and knees. “I don’t want your face between my thighs again. Just f**k me, Grady. I totally have learned my place in your life. You made certain of that.”

“What in the hell are you talking about?”

She turned her head and glared at him. “If you aren’t going to f**k me then get out of my room.”

Grady snarled and moved to his knees behind her. One hand gripped his c**k and his other hand gripped her hip. “Do you really want me like this, babe? No foreplay?” She turned her head away and shut her eyes. No. She didn’t. She wanted him to love her. She wanted him to care enough about her that the idea of someone else touching her made him furious. She wanted him to never…

He entered her slowly. All thought left her head. Mika bit her lip hard. She should hate the feeling as Grady pushed into her from behind but she didn’t. She fought the urge to moan. He was working his c**k into her slowly and he buried himself in her balls-deep, where he held still. One hand wrapped around her waist and the other slid between her legs to her clit. It was the hand he’d slathered with lotion.

He stayed still inside her while he rubbed her clit. “I can make you want me,” he growled at her.

“I hate you,” she whispered.

His hand stilled then his fingers moved faster and firmer until Mika couldn’t fight the sensations anymore. She moaned and wiggled on his hand. Grady groaned behind her and started to slowly thrust in and out of her. With the sensation of him inside her and his fingers rubbing her cl*t she only lasted a few minutes before she came hard. She cried out but she refused to say his name.

Grady released her cl*t and gripped her hips. He pounded into her from behind, hard and deep, as her muscles inside still clenched and fluttered from her cl**ax. He didn’t last long. He shook and groaned loudly as he emptied his seed into the condom.

Mika tried to crawl away from him but Grady refused to release her hips. “I’m sorry I upset you.”

“Let me go, Grady. Get out of my room and don’t come back in here until you need me again.”

“You like sleeping with me.” He withdrew from her body and released her hips.

Mika crawled to the edge of the bed and stumbled to the bathroom. “That was before I knew how you really felt about me. I’m going to go wash. I feel dirty.” She’d barely turned on the water when she heard a howl of rage come from her bedroom. Something heavy smashed into something else. She experienced a little fear as she inched toward the bathroom door and eased it open.

Her nightstand was across the room in pieces and the wall it had hit was damaged.

Grady wasn’t in her bedroom. She turned, easing the broken door closed again, and moved to the shower as hot tears fell down her face. She didn’t even bother to wipe them away. Maybe her words had hurt him as much as his words had hurt her.

Chapter Eleven

“We need to talk.”

Mika ignored Grady. She glanced at her watch instead. “We had sex an hour ago.

We have nothing to talk about for at least another hour.” She moved around his large body and walked into the kitchen.

For two days she’d refused to talk to him except for unavoidable, clipped exchanges. She’d stopped fighting to keep things cold in the bedroom. Grady was stronger and bigger. He’d easily pinned her down and done things to her to turn her on. He loved to bury his face between her thighs. She just wouldn’t talk to him and right after sex she’d shower every time and refuse to stay in a room with him.

“Damn it, Mika. We can’t go on like this.”

She shrugged and opened the fridge. “I’ve already told you I don’t want to talk to you.”

“You’re being childish, damn it.”

She clenched her teeth and then removed a premade chicken Caesar salad from the fridge. She ignored his insulting remark, not wanting to fight with him. She walked to the table and sat down with her lunch. She got up, went back to the fridge and grabbed a soda, got a fork and then sat down and started to eat.

“Mika, damn it, we can’t live this way.”

She swallowed her bite. “Is mating season over?”

“Not yet.”

“Then this is how it is since it’s been clearly explained to me that we’re stuck together.”