Mine to Hold (22 page)

“Calm down, Tyler.” Her voice shook. As frightened as she was, panicking wasn’t going to help either of them. She had to keep him from doing his worst.

“Fuck that!” He strained against the cuffs. But the two feet separating him from Eric might as well have been a chasm.

“Relax, babe,” Eric murmured in her ear, spreading kisses across her jaw, heading toward her mouth. “I just want to kiss you, make you feel good.”

No, he just wanted to flaunt her to Tyler.

She shivered. Familiarity mixed with her fear. A huge part of her was furious, even felt betrayed all over again . . . but even now, guilt clung like frost to a window. On the surface, her marriage had ended because Eric hadn’t been able to handle the sexual favor he’d asked of his wife and his best friend. But deep down, they’d divorced because she had been more in love with Tyler than her own husband after that night—and Eric had known it. It would be easy to lay all the blame at his feet—but not entirely fair. She’d played her role.

“Eric, don’t . . .” She almost couldn’t look at him. “This isn’t going to solve anything. What’s done is done.”

He took hold of her face and forced her stare into his. The anguish and lack of self-confidence there wrenched at her heart. Since she’d gone, she knew he worked too many hours and drank too much when he was off duty. She’d heard that he plowed through dozens of women, as if trying to prove that he was no less appealing than Tyler.

Fighting Eric physically was futile. Since regaining his mobility, he’d clearly been working out. He’d never been in better shape. Her only choice was to try to fend him off with words. And if she could give him any peace, maybe this would stop and they could all move on with their lives.

“Babe . . . Did I—I matter to you? Really?”

There was his painful insecurity. He hated it, and the vulnerability always made him so angry that he got mean. She had to talk fast. “Of course! I married you. I lived with you. I bought a house with you. I took care of you when you were shot. I loved you.”

“But you never once responded to sex with me the way you did to Tyler that night.” Self-doubt clouded his eyes.

“It doesn’t matter anymore,” she tried to argue. “What we had is over.”

“Because of him. And I hate the way we ended, babe. I want to remember what you feel like again.” Eric bent toward her.

His gaze caught hers, fused her stare with his as he came closer, closer. Before she could shove him away, he pressed their lips together, then nudged her mouth open and dove in. In the background, she could hear Tyler growl, his handcuffs rattle against the stainless steel. But the nervous roar of her heartbeat filled her ears. Eric tasted like whiskey and desperation. Aversion filled her, and she tried to wrench away, wishing she were anyplace else. But he couldn’t stay in this emotional limbo where he both wanted and hated her, where he seemed determined to punish all of them for the past.

Del pushed against the hard granite of his chest, dying a little inside. Two years ago, she would have been so grateful for any sign that he didn’t hate her. Now, everything inside her rebelled. She pushed again, but Eric didn’t notice, merely dragged her closer, fitting his hard body against her curves and moaning into her mouth.

“I’m going to make you come, babe. It’s going to feel so good.”

No chance of that happening. She gave him a little shove.

“Del! Goddamn it, no!” Tyler shouted.

When Eric tried to take her mouth again, she bit his lip. He yelped, and she broke away.

“What the hell are you doing? You want to play rough? Is that how you like it now? Fine by me.” Eric licked at the little cut she’d made in his lip and began to unbutton his shirt, looking at her with nasty promise in his eyes.

Her belly flipped, turned. Nerves set in, but she forced herself to try to stay calm. Both men were damn near rabid with anger. If she lost it, too, this was going to get ugly fast. Tyler getting in the middle of it was only challenging Eric more and making him ratchet up faster. She gave Tyler a little shake of her head. He had to understand that they’d get nowhere finding the flash drive or healing their past unless Eric could get some confidence and closure.

“It’s not easy to watch, is it?” Eric gloated. “Seeing me kiss her? Wait until I put my hands and lips all over her, then get my cock deep inside her and fuck her breathless. How furious and helpless do you think you’re going to feel then?”

Chapter Eleven

F
UCK
no
. His inability to help Del brewed a raging fury in Tyler that he felt to the very core of his being. “You begged me to have sex with Del. I didn’t ask for this shit today.”

“When you demanded she come for you repeatedly, then knocked her up, you absolutely did,” Eric assured.

“Eric . . .” Del protested. “I don’t want this. You’re forcing me. If we were any other two people, you’d arrest the bastard for what you’re doing to me now.”

His former friend just shrugged, seemingly determined to prove something to everyone in the room, especially himself. Del sought to defuse the situation, but the way he’d worked himself up, Tyler doubted that saying anything to the stubborn bastard was going to do a damn bit of good.

Eric freed the last of his buttons and shoved his shirt off his shoulders. He’d always been in good shape, but now his body was leaner, harder, roped with more muscle. Bigger. Del’s breathing turned ragged. Her eyes went wide with fear.

Anger pumped through Tyler’s veins. Dread kicked him in the stomach. Again, he yanked on the cuff. The refrigerator was heavier than a motherfucker, and it screeched across the hardwood floor another inch or two. His wrist throbbed like a bitch. Drops of blood burned their way down his forearm. He didn’t care. Whatever it took to get to Del.

“Come here, babe.” Eric brushed his knuckles across her nipples, tweaking one hard enough to make her whimper.

“Get your fucking hands off her,” Tyler demanded, grabbing both handles of the refrigerator now and trying to drag it close enough to kick Eric’s ass. The heavy-duty plug tethered to the wall prevented him from going any farther.

And Tyler couldn’t unsee the way his former friend manhandled her, the way she struggled against him futilely. The vision burned into his brain. A violent urge to pound Eric into the ground roared through him.

Then the bastard upped the stakes and yanked off Del’s shirt in a few swipes of his hand. She screamed and shoved at him, fighting the panic dawning on her face. “Eric, don’t. Please. Listen to reason. This is wrong and you know it.”

“No means no!” Tyler roared.

Eric ignored them both and clawed her bra off, even as Del fought, kicking and slapping. In seconds, she stood half naked, backing away. When she tried to cross her arms over her bare breasts, he grabbed her wrists and held them together at the small of her back, forcing her to arch closer to him.

“None of that,” Eric chastised her. “Give me everything you gave him.”

“No,” she shouted. “I don’t want this! How many times do I have to say that?”

“Give me a chance. I’ll change your mind.” Eric cradled a breast in his hand, and a fresh need to kill crashed through Tyler. “God, I missed these. You’ve always had pretty tits.”

“Goddamn it, stop now!” Tyler roared. “Or I swear I’ll kill you.”

She sent him a glance that begged for his silence. Del wanted him to shut up and let her handle it? That went against every protective instinct he possessed. He knew she’d be dead if she didn’t get her hands on that flash drive, and Eric, the jealous bastard, wasn’t about to let her search for it until he got his pound of flesh.

His former pal didn’t respond to the threat, merely shifted so Tyler would have a great view of him pinching Del’s bare nipple. “You didn’t stop that night when I wanted you to. Instead, you fucked her more. I think I’ll take a page out of your book.”

He’d barely processed that stab in the back before Eric lifted her breast and bent toward it. Del cringed, screamed, and pushed at him with all her might. Tyler saw red.

Fuck, he’d give anything to spare her this, to be able to fight this battle for her. Del needed him, and he’d never imagined that Eric would force his point or try to heal his own inferiority complex this way. Tyler wouldn’t make the mistake of underestimating him twice.

Her ex-husband came after her again, going after the sensitive tip of her breast she’d managed to keep from him. She pushed hard at his chest. “Stop, damn you!”

“Listen! The difference between that night and now? I wasn’t forcing her,” Tyler ground out. “I would never hurt her.”

Eric caressed her shoulder. “I wouldn’t, either.”

“Don’t you think she’d be running out the door now if she didn’t need your help? Call it what you want, but she said no. If you go any further, it’s rape.”

Eric merely grabbed Del’s arm tightly, forcing her to be still, and licked her nipple, dragging his tongue across the tip, throwing every ounce of possessive fury to race through Tyler’s veins. Del looked ashen, shaken as she punched at him.

Tyler didn’t bother to fight the urge to rip Eric limb from limb. He lunged, dragging the refrigerator across the floor with a screech another few inches, pulling the cord from the wall. “I’m going to annihilate you into so many pieces, they’ll need tweezers to find all the parts.”

“But first, you’ll know the joy of watching the woman you love coming for another man.”

As Eric backed Del against the counter so she had nowhere to retreat, he took her nipple back into his mouth. He tore at the snap of her pants. Even as Del shoved at him, he yanked her zipper down, jerking everything, including her panties, around her hips. Then he thrust his hand between her legs.

Del screamed and fought, but it only insinuated the bastard’s fingers deeper in her folds.

“You’re not wet yet,” Eric chided. “Stay still. Let me fix that.”

“What part of no don’t you understand?” She sounded damn close to hysterical, and Tyler had to fight back another wave of fury. “You’re angry and feel betrayed. I understand.” Del squeezed her thighs together, trying to dislodge him. “But I do
not
want this.”

“You will.”

“I won’t!” She sobbed. “It’s over, done. We’re divorced. I didn’t
reject
you. We grew apart and put an end to the marriage. Just move on.”

As Eric shook his head and rubbed in slow circles around Del’s pussy, frustration poured hot acid fury all over Tyler. He growled and kicked at the refrigerator. God, it hurt to watch them, especially when tears began to run down her cheeks. Another mountain of impotent rage crashed through Tyler, like the bowels of hell had opened up and poured in pure molten fury.

“We can’t go back in time,” she pointed out. “And you can’t force me to want you.”

“Look at me.” Eric tangled his free hand in her hair and yanked, snapping her head back. Del’s eyes flew open, and he pinned her beneath his furious, dark stare. Violence poured off him.

Tyler feared there was a good chance Eric would leave Del violated and broken if he didn’t do something fast. As much as he hated to give Eric the satisfaction, Tyler gladly swallowed his pride.

“You wanted to hurt me, make me jealous? Angry?” he challenged Eric. “You got it. You win. Watching you touch her is like having my insides gnawed on and spit out. It’s fucking torture. You hate me, not Del, so stop hurting her, and let’s settle this like men.”

“No, Tyler!” she protested.

Eric paused, clearly listening. “Go on . . .”

“You want the chance to beat the shit out of me? Take it now. Don’t be a coward and hurt the woman. Come fight me like a man.”

Eric cocked his head. Some part of him was tempted. But then he turned his focus on Del again, as if he knew Tyler would hate seeing her mauled way more than having a black eye.

“I’d rather touch her. Come on, babe,” he murmured.

Del recoiled, her expression filling with resolve. “I’m sorry for the way things turned out. I’m sorry if what happened between me and Tyler makes you feel rejected.” Then she shoved Eric’s hand away from her pussy and finally got enough space between them to knee him in the balls. He doubled over and grunted out in pain. Tyler would have clapped if he could have.

“Del . . .” Eric groaned.

“I’m sorry for a lot of things, but I’ll never be sorry for defending myself. Don’t ever fucking touch me again.”

Eric growled and grimaced as he tried to stand upright again.

She yanked her panties up, wriggled into her jeans—then slapped his face. “I won’t let you use me to drive Tyler over the edge. Eric, you manipulated me, then took your anger out on me and abandoned me when I needed you most. I’ll never trust you with my body again. Stop your pity party. My feelings have nothing to do with your looks or prowess. You showed me in a million different ways that you didn’t love me. Blaming me for your request and the consequence of it was the worst. Just . . . move on. If it makes you feel any better, Tyler and I aren’t planning any sort of happily ever after. We’re just trying to keep Seth and me alive.”

Eric winced, blinking at her in shock as he continued to cup his gonads. “You don’t need to fuck him to stay alive.”

“No, but I need reassurance and human contact from a man I trust.”

Tyler was damn proud of the way she stood up for herself and told Eric exactly why he was a douche bag. But the tears filling her eyes—and the dispassionate way she reduced their relationship to irrelevance—stabbed Tyler right in the chest.

“He’s the first person to hold me since the divorce,” Del went on. “I know you can’t say the same.”

Eric looked away, guilt all over his face. “Goddamn it, Del. Why him?”

“Because he never once let me down,” she whispered. “Because he would never do what you just did.”

“Fuck.” Eric blinked, frowned, as if finally realizing that he’d done something terribly wrong. He eased back into the nearest kitchen chair, folding his big body into it with a sigh and dropping his face into his hands. “I guess I deserved that. I never meant to hurt you . . . But you bruised my pride.”

“You bruised my trust.” Once it seemed clear that the fight had gone out of Eric, she reached for the rest of her clothes and yanked them on. “When we were married, I wanted to love and believe in you so badly, and when you turned your back on me for honoring your wishes . . . you crushed me.”

“I didn’t know how to handle what happened.” His face tightened, a deep frown settling between his brows. “I expected it to feel like I was with you again. Instead, it was like watching you reveal what was really in your heart.”

“Tyler made me feel beautiful and treasured that night. With all the anger you’d blasted at the world after your shooting, I hadn’t felt that in a really long time.”

Eric whipped a stunned stare up to her, as if she’d stabbed him in the heart again. The acceptance settled across his face. “I’m sorry. I loved you in my way. Maybe that wasn’t how you needed to be loved. God, I’m so fucked up. So damn angry.” His face crumbled, and he looked as if he might cry. But he manned up and swallowed the tears down.

With a frown, Eric waved a hand in the air. “Go. See if you can find what you’re looking for, then leave. I can’t do this anymore.”

Solemnly, Del nodded and approached Eric. “That makes two of us. Get some professional help. Find someone you can truly love. Handcuff key?”

After a moment’s hesitation, Eric fished it from his pocket and set it in her palm.

Tyler watched her make her way to him, then fit the key into the hole. He breathed out. It wasn’t a sigh of relief. Anticipation thrummed through him, making his heart race, his fists clench. He was going to destroy the fucker now—and he couldn’t wait. But the closer Del got, the more she looked pale and terrified. “Angel?”

She met his gaze, her blue eyes watery. “I’m fine.”

But she wasn’t, and a renewed ferocity consumed Tyler. “Bullshit. He hurt you.”

Closing her eyes, he saw as Del tried not to reveal how much Eric’s rough treatment had disturbed her, but it bled through. It wouldn’t be enough to leave Eric battered and dead on the floor. Tyler wanted to tear the asshole up into small, unrecognizable pieces. Whatever it took to keep her safe.

“I’ll be fine,” she murmured. “Are you all right? You’re bleeding.”

He glanced at his wrist. “It’s nothing. Let me loose. Let me at the son of a bitch.”

“No.” She turned the key and freed his wrist, leaving the other cuff attached to the refrigerator.

“I’m going to tear him limb from limb.” He took a ground-eating step toward Eric, menace charging through him.

Del grabbed his arm tightly with both hands and tugged. “Be smart. Don’t do it.”

His entire body shook with the need to dismantle Eric. Rage gnawed at him. His fists clenched. His heart pumped.

“If you touch him, they’ll throw the book at you,” Del pointed out. “And if you go to jail, what happens to me and Seth?”

They probably died.
Fuck
. And if he disrespected her wishes, was he any better than Eric?

Tyler gritted his teeth and dragged her into his arms. God, she felt good here, and he wanted to eliminate Eric because he couldn’t stand the thought of seeing Del hurt or threatened ever again. But in this case, she was right.

That didn’t stop the adrenaline from coursing through his system like a drug, revving him up. He was jagged, on edge. How the hell was he going to make her feel safe while taking the top off his frustration? He needed to either fight or fuck.

“All right. I won’t touch him.”
Yet
.