“Where else did he hit you, Emily?” Gavin flicked his eyes to hers. He realized he was setting himself up for more self-inflicted pain, but a part of him needed to put himself through it. Emily had suffered far worse than he was. Or not. That was a question he definitely couldn’t answer because this was a suffering he’d never had to endure.
“My lip,” Emily softly answered, watching Gavin’s eyes turn fierce. She froze.
Gavin cringed, fighting back the compulsion to rip out of the house. “Your lip,” he stated calmly, once again trying to school his tone. “He hit your f.u.c.king lip?” Hesitantly, Emily nodded. Watching her beautiful lips tremble, Gavin caught a whisper of her perfume. In that moment, all he could think about was re-branding those lips. He pulled her down to his mouth hard and fast.
Emily let out a soft whimper as their tongues met, hot and wet. His kiss was desperate, urgent, and devouring. Though his possessiveness took her by surprise, she knew he was stamping her. She knew it, and she didn’t care because she wanted him to. She needed this from him, and she knew he needed to mark her. She tangled her fingers in his hair, tugging hard as her heart sank.
“I can’t believe he f.u.c.king hurt you, baby,” Gavin breathed. “I’ll only ever wors.h.i.+p these lips. I’ll only ever wors.h.i.+p this body.” Gripping the back of her neck tighter, Gavin deepened the kiss. “When I look at you, I feel like I’m looking at the other half of myself. You’ve filled the empty s.p.a.ce in my soul, and because of that, you’re a G.o.ddess to me. That’s the way I’m always going to treat you. For the rest of your life. I promise you that. I f.u.c.king promise.”
Emily kissed him harder. His words tattooed themselves in her heart, his kiss nearly depleted her of air she didn’t want in her lungs. She only wanted to breathe him in.
As Gavin pulled Emily’s T-s.h.i.+rt over her head, he knew those promises would be easy to keep. He’d rather burn in the lowest pits of h.e.l.l than go back on his word because she was a G.o.ddess in his life. His lover. His friend. His forever.
But d.a.m.n him into those flaming pits of h.e.l.l, as he began to re-brand his lover, he knew there was one promise he wouldn’t be able to keep because he would protect her until the day he died.
The most f.u.c.ked up part, and G.o.d help him…
He couldn’t wait to break it.
CHAPTER EIGHT
“Gavin, could you go ahead and answer Mr. Rosendale’s question regarding our approach?”
Without warning, Colton’s deep voice intruded on Gavin’s thoughts. Wicked thoughts that’d consumed him over the last sixteen hours since Emily explained what Dillon had done to her. Sitting in a meeting, surrounded by executives representing one of the country’s leading pharmaceutical giants—one in need of a ma.s.sive advertising campaign—Gavin knew he should be paying attention. But he wasn’t. His world had been turned inside out, his heart ripped open. There weren’t adequate words that could possibly convey his mental state of mind on this late Friday morning.
His sleep-deprived state of mind, that is.
In the darkness, Gavin had stared at the ceiling as he held Emily. Listening to her soft breathing, wide awake with adrenaline pumping through his veins, Gavin attempted to purge visions of Dillon hurting her from his head. No matter how hard he tried, it didn’t work. His brain f.u.c.ked with him. The insistent clatter of wanting to feel Dillon’s blood on his hands screamed loud in his ears. He had seethed until the sun rose. Gavin would’ve never thought it was possible that Emily’s soft body, intertwined with his, couldn’t bring him down from the cliff of murderous destruction from which he was so eagerly waiting to jump. Last night proved that even though holding her dampened some of the anger boiling under his skin, Emily couldn’t extinguish the flame fueling it.
Colton repeated his earlier request, yanking Gavin back to the present. He lifted his heavy head and settled his eyes on his brother. Colton stared at him with a look of confusion shadowing his face. Gavin rummaged through the paperwork in front of him. When he heard one of the four gentlemen seated across from him clear his throat, Gavin broke the silence.
He shook his head and glanced back at Colton. “No. I can’t answer his question.” He tossed the stack of papers onto the conference table. “Why don’t you go ahead and give them the information, Colton.” It wasn’t a polite question but more so a statement that said ‘now’s not the time to f.u.c.k with me.’ The eldest man’s face went gray, its color mimicking his hair. Once again, silence cloaked the room.
Brows cinched together in what Gavin easily recognized as aggravation, Colton cleared his throat. He dragged his stare away from Gavin and focused on the impatient executives. “I apologize, gentleman. It appears my brother woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning.” Colton gave a casual shrug, a smirk tipping the corner of his mouth. He shot Gavin a sideways glance, humor replacing his aggravation. “Clearly, he must not have gotten laid last night.”
Within a few seconds, the table erupted in an orchestra of chuckles, none of which included Gavin’s. Though he wanted to b.i.t.c.h-slap his brother for the catty remark, he was impressed by the a.s.shole’s quick witted response. Colton had always had a knack for it, and Gavin had to admit it smoothed over the tension in the office. Gavin mirrored the stupid smirk on his brother’s face as he leaned back, rubbing a tired hand over his chin. He flicked his attention to the clock on the wall, ignoring the bulls.h.i.+t spiel Colton was working over the group in an attempt to gain one of the largest accounts Blake Industries could acquire. Money was the furthest thing from Gavin’s mind as he noted the time. Eleven fifteen. A little over an hour until he had to meet Emily. Before falling asleep last night, she’d sweetly suggested a quiet lunch at a small café in Battery Park since she was getting off of work early. Gavin knew she was trying to calm his nerves. That was one of the many things he loved about her—the way she evened him out. G.o.d, he f.u.c.king loved her. He’d give up everything for her. Travel across the world at the drop of a hat if she insisted. There wasn’t a limit he could reach or a line he wouldn’t cross in order to make her happy. Now, he just needed to convince her she was worth every bit of it.