14. Sienna

14

SIENNA

Lash doesn't say a word to me as he zips through the light traffic back to my place. I expected him to scream at me, to call me stupid, to do something, but this silent treatment is worse than all of that. I rub my hands up and down on his stomach, but he doesn't react to me at all.

It wasn't too long ago that I hated him and would never think to touch him like this, but now that I've experienced what his love feels like, I don't think I'm going to be able to survive without it. My heart drops to my feet when we get to my house, and instead of turning off the bike, he simply stops and waits for me to get off. He's going to drive off.

I can't allow it. I need to do something to show him that I'm sorry.

I slowly slide off the back of the bike, making sure to mind the muffler so I don't burn my legs. I play up my injury as I step onto the sidewalk.

"I might need a little help getting inside. Can you come with me, please?" I ask him and hold my breath, waiting to hear his response. He groans but still doesn't say anything. He turns off the bike, swings his leg over, and offers me his arm to lean on.

I walk slowly, trying to think of a way to get him to talk to me, but nothing I come up with seems like it'll work. I've never been this lost in my life.

By the time we actually get inside my apartment, he still hasn't said a word to me. He helps me inside and turns to walk right back out.

"No, Lash, wait." I grab hold of his vest and tug him backward. He pulls his arm away nearly violently, but I'm not going to be deterred. I slide in front of him, using my body to block the closed door that leads outside. If he wants to leave, he's going to have to physically go through me. It's a dangerous game I'm playing, but it's the only option I have left.

"Please wait. Just listen to me."

"Sienna, get the fuck out of my way," he growls at me.

"Don't talk to me like that," I snap at him.

"Don't talk to you like what? Like someone I don't give a fuck about? Like someone who I didn't just spend the better part of a week convincing that I was falling for her? Nah, I'm not going to do that. I'm going to speak to you exactly how you deserve. I'll speak to you like you're just some selfish bitch who nearly got me and my brothers killed all because you couldn't keep your simple ass home!" His tirade starts low, but by the end, he's shouting at me.

Every last one of his words strikes like a whip against my skin. I don't stop the tears from falling down my face.

"You don't mean that. I know you don't mean that." I shake my head side to side, desperately trying to keep myself in denial.

"I do mean it. I told you to wait. I told you I'd handle it," he shouts at me.

"Lash, I just wanted to help. I didn't know it was going to go like that." I look up at him.

"Yes, you did. I told you it'd go like that. I told you I'd fucking die if something were to happen to you. You told me you wouldn't go. You made me trust that you'd be safe. How the hell can you sit here and pretend to care for me and do something like that? What the hell am I even arguing with you for?" He shakes his head and grabs me by my shoulders to physically move me out of the way.

"No! Don't you leave me! Not now." I crumble down to the floor from my own lack of strength, not from him manhandling me.

"I just wanted to be there for them. I wanted to be the one who found Max and Lia. I wanted to be the one to look Fisher in the face and tell him he didn't win. I wanted it to be me. Yeah, I was selfish. I shouldn't have gone without you, but I did, and I nearly paid the price with my life. The sick part about all of that was that as that man was leading me away, I didn't think about my friends and family who might miss me once I went missing. I didn't think about my possessions. I was thinking about you. I'm so sorry, Lash. I fucked up. I do trust you. I believe in you; I just was too busy trying to make up for what happened to me before to realize that I was in over my head."

My voice cracks at the very end of my speech, and I let my head drop to my hands, where I sob uncontrollably—deep, soul-wrenching cries. For a long while, Lash doesn't say anything, but then I feel him lean down and wrap his arms around me. He lifts me from the floor and cradles me against his chest.

"Shh, please stop crying. I hate to see you like this, Red."

My tears don't stop for a long while, but all the while, Lash whispers sweet words into my ear. Finally after letting all my emotions drain out I lean back and stare into his eyes.

"I'm sorry, Lash. I'm so damn sorry."

"I know." He nods his head and gently runs a finger through my hair, pushing the strands away from my face. I'm sure my makeup looks a hot mess, but I wouldn't be able to tell from the way he's looking at me. He's looking at me like I'm the most beautiful girl in the world. I love this man. There's no denying it anymore.

It happened in just a matter of days, but I guess that's the way it goes.

"I'm sorry too. I shouldn't have shouted at you like that," Lash tells me, and I nod my head.

"It's okay. I know you were mad. But let's not make it a habit," I joke.

"How about you don't make it a habit of nearly being abducted and taken away from me?" He fires back right away.

I go still and wrap my arms around his neck. "You still with me, Lash? Am I still yours?"

"Like I could ever really let you go." His voice is deep and gritty, almost primal.

It's everything I want to hear right now.

The air crackles around us, and even though I know this might not be the best time, I can't resist. I jerk up on my tiptoes and press my mouth to his. He kisses me back just as hard, with all the emotions he had running through his body earlier. I swear I can feel his love, his fear, his anger, and his desperation all with just a swipe of his tongue. I did this to him. It's time for me to make it up to him.

Lash pushes me back hard against the door; the few pictures I have hanging on the wall rattle and threaten to fall at his strength.

He pulls back, grabbing hold of my neck and staring me in the eyes. "Did he fucking touch you?"

"No, he didn't. He didn't." I quickly put his mind at ease, and with that, he lifts me up so my legs wrap around his waist before he rushes us back to my bedroom.

Our hands move in a whirlwind. Clothes come undone and are on the floor before I even feel my feet firmly on the ground.

"I'll burn the world to ash before I let someone take you from me," Lash snarls before he grabs hold of my thighs and tips me backward so I'm on the bed. There's no need for foreplay. Not tonight. I'm already dripping wet for him. I feel his shaft bouncing hard and ready between my legs, and I hook one of them around his waist and urge him forward. I want to feel him now.

He slams into me, and we both scream out in intense pleasure. There's a bit of pain behind the thrust, but not enough for me to get him to stop. I want everything he has to offer me.

He takes me hard. My body clenches and shudders around him as my first climax slams into me nearly the second we really get going. He doesn't slow, doesn't stop to check on me. He's on his own mission.

"Oh god... Lash..." I scream his name. This isn't the time for ladylike whimpers; this is completely animalistic.

"Say it!" He orders, and I don't have to ask him what he's talking about. I already know. I know what he wants to hear—the words we've been dancing around since we started this.

"Fucking say it!" he orders again as he continues to piston into me.

"I love you!" I shout to the heavens as another orgasm rips through me. "Fuck!" He roars and slams into me one last time, bottoming out so deep I swear I feel him touching my furthest wall.

We both drop against the bed, and he buries his face in my neck.

"I love you too, Sienna. God help me, I do."

Lash nuzzles against me, and I have to fight to keep myself from falling asleep.