Where were they?

I turned down a small side street nearly a block over when I saw them waving at me as they waited next to a dumpster in an alley.

I jogged over to them.

Dax sent me a wild look. “Cops? What the hell? That’s never happened—and my car is parked over there,” he wailed as he bent over to catch his breath. “Fun times, bro.”

I moved my attention to Elizabeth, who stood frozen as she watched me, her chest rising rapidly.

Her eyes suddenly widened. “Your hands are bleeding.”

I looked down, realizing I must have cut them when I’d hit the ground running.

She picked them up to inspect them and dabbed at them with the end of her tank. “This is crazy. We need to get you to the ER.”

My first instinct was to pull away from her touch, especially since my hands were swollen from fighting, but I didn’t move, the heat of her body intoxicating. She smelled like lemons or something fruity and I wanted to pull her to me and inhale deeply. “I’m fine,” I said gruffly.

“You’re not fine!” she snarled. Angry.

God, I loved that fire in her eyes.

“Why do you care so much anyway?”

She puffed up even more, blue eyes flashing as she dropped my hand and took a step back. I took in the soft curves of her breasts as she crossed her arms, the way her throat moved when she swallowed. My body tightened, my cock hardening. I told myself it was the usual leftover adrenaline, where I felt like I could fuck forever, but it was all her.

I wanted her, my pride be damned. All the turmoil from the past few days disappeared, and she was all that mattered.

I turned to Dax. “Go get my car. It’s three blocks east of here in an open lot on Chester Street. Key’s on the top of the driver’s side tire.” I paused. “And give us a few minutes before you come back.”

He rose up, his eyes jumping between me and Elizabeth. “Okay,” he said uncertainly. “You guys good here in the alley? Elizabeth?”

I cocked an eye at her, letting her see the heat in my gaze. You are mine , it said. “You okay alone with me?” I asked, a twist to my lips, daring her to say no.

She nodded and Dax ran off into the darkness, but neither one of us watched him leave, both of us wrapped up in each other. She was still angry, and I was just horny.

“Declan—” she started.

“Come here.”

She licked her lips. “Why?”

“I’ve been fighting, my blood is practically boiling, and I need you … now .”

Her nose flared and the pulse in her neck kicked up. I wasn’t alone in this, and I was done rolling over and giving up on her.

If she wouldn’t come to me, then I’d go to her.

I wiped the blood from my hands on my shorts until most of it was gone, seeing that my cuts weren’t as bad as I’d thought. My bruises would probably be worse. I glanced up to see her watching me. I moved closer to her until I had her backed her up against the metal building behind her, but I kept a few inches between us as I propped both arms up on either side of her head.

“Now ask me to kiss you,” I said, staring down at her.

She panted, her eyes filling up with darkness, her pupils telling me the truth. Her top teeth bit into her plump lower lip, and my eyes went straight there. I was going to suck that mouth hard tonight, and she’d beg for more.

“Are you hot for me, Elizabeth? Did watching me fight get you excited?”

She closed her eyes and shuddered as if just the sound of my voice got her off.

“Are you?” I asked again. “Because I want you so bad I can’t even think straight. I see you walk across campus or on your balcony and I want to run to you. I see you in class and, shit, I want to scoop you up and kiss you until you can’t breathe. I think about you in your bed at night all alone and I want to slip inside, crawl in your sheets, and hold you. Fuck you.”

I ran my fingertips across her lips. She moaned, her tongue dipping out to taste my skin. “Would you like that?”

She nodded, her eyes still closed, her neck arching up to mine. “Kiss me, please, Declan.”

“No. You kiss me. I need to know you want this too.”

She made a whimpering sound in her throat and moved her mouth a whisper away. Blood pounded in my body as she looped her hands around my neck and arched up to press her lips against mine. She was tentative, like the first kiss she’d given me, but I wasn’t having any of that. Groaning in satisfaction, I gathered her closer using my forearms, my hunger rising with each stroke of her tongue against mine. The press of her breasts against my chest made my cock pulse with need. She sighed and gave into the deepness I wanted, her tongue rubbing against mine seductively, her breasts and hips pressed against mine as I rocked against her.