No one spoke the entire way home, each lost in their own thoughts and perceptions. She was humming that maddening melody from the bar. It was infectious and it brought back the image of her hips curving sensuously. She was running her finger over the leather material of his jacket, absentmindedly as he drove them home. Not even aware of the effect she was having on him.

Gabe cast a brief eye over the bare skin of her thighs and legs and the way her outfit emphasised her breasts and waist. He was quietly seething with rage over her outfit. What did she want to gain by wearing such an outfit? He'd never seen her in anything that revealing outside before  and it was making a meal out of the tenuous grip he had on his temper.

Last night had been torture and enduring the work day, just metres from her but emotionally thousands of miles away was more than he could bear at times.

"How was your game?" she asked when they were turning into the cul de sac of their street, and it scrambled his brain.

"We won," he managed to get out.

"Yeah?" A smile stretched across her lips. "What was the score?"

"17-16."

"Cool."

"How was your day? he asked, maybe because he felt obliged or maybe because he genuinely wanted to know. He couldn't decide.

"Not too bad." She was being typically British and infuriatingly obfuscating. That could mean anything from she found a million dollar check to she almost died.

He helped her down from the cab of his truck when they got home. She was far too unstable in her heels and the alcohol she had consumed for just a steadying hand, he had to lift her down.  His hands lingered on her bare thighs; and a wave of possessiveness he had never felt that strongly before came rushing at him.

They walked to the door with his hand on the small of her back. When they neared the door, Gabe pushed her behind him so she was standing shielded by his body. He did it out of instinct as he opened the front door and disabled the alarm. It still couldn't hurt to be too cautious.

She shot him a pouting, dirty look meant to assert her independence or whatever and it only fuelled his self-righteous anger. He thought that he had cooled off enough to be in her presence and behave rationally but he had clearly thought wrong.

Natalia had hardly taken off her shoes before Gabe found himself manhandling her into the wall. She began to push him but he was solid stone that would not budge, he grunted as he picked her up by the waist, moving his hands so that one was gripping her hair and holding her behind her head and the other was under her ass.

She had no choice but to wrap her legs around his middle to balance herself. Her eyes nearly rolled into the back of her head when her thinly covered core caught over the straining bulge in his jeans.

"You've no idea, what you do to me do you?" His voice was gritty and menacing in her ear. "I want to strangle your beautiful neck and kiss you until you can't breathe. Sometimes at the same time and if you keep pushing me little girl I'm going to do both."

Natalia whimpered at his dark promise, subconsciously offering up her neck. He leaned, running the tip of his nose over her pulse point. Her breath hitched in anticipation of feeling his lips there, one of her insanely sensitive erogenous zones.

"You're still mad," she breathed.

He bit into the fleshy part of her neck, where her artery pulsed with life. It made her yelp and tighten her thighs around him. "That is an understatement."

"Tell me how to make it better."

"You said you didn't know me, I can't think of a better way to remedy that than for you to get reacquainted with me."

She whimpered as he slid his mouth over hers, biting her soft full lips, pushing his tongue inside and devouring her mouth with savage, demanding kisses. His tongue sought entrance and she let him in, deepening the kiss, molding his lips against hers.

She pulled away before he was ready, "I think we should talk," she suggested and how could he take the offer seriously with her molten eyes and kiss-swollen lips?

Gabe caught her neck, pulling her back. "No," he growled, kissing her again. She tried to get out of his embrace but her pushing against him was no match for her position sandwiched between the wall and the hard planes of his body.

She reared her hand back and gave him a smack in the face that resounded around the hallway. His jaw exploded with smarting pain where she had struck him, along with red-hot anger and confusion.

He shifted back away from her, reeling from the suddenness of it.

She shook her fingers back and forth, taking in a staggered breath, as she stared at him, her eyes wildy darting around his face for a reaction.

"Did you hurt yourself, baby?"

Her ring finger was red and rapidly turning a bluish green where it had made the most contact with his face, He lifted the finger for inspection before sucking it into his mouth to ease the throbbing.

Her eyes widened at his calm, much calmer demeanour and his unexpected actions.

"What's the matter? Did you think I would hit you back?"

When she didn't answer; he let her down from his grip, feeling his anger and angst twirled in lust wash away from him like water into a drain.

"Wait, are you scared of me?" The realisation made him feel sick.

"No, oh good heavens no!" she answered, placing her uninjured hand on his chest when she realised her extended silence had given him the wrong idea. "I'm just wary of violence," she said but didn't elaborate. Her gaze drifted to the left like she often did when she was withholding something.

"I would never hurt you and I would rather die than let anyone else hurt you."

"You see, that's what's new to me and it's my hang-up, not yours."

"Tell me how I can make it better?" he asked, echoing her words from before. He knew it struck a chord when her eyes lost some of the weariness and dubiety that he had put there.

"This is good..." she spread her fingers over his chest with a little nod.

"But...?"

"It scared me...seeing you the other day. It's a side of you that I know logically exists but I never expected to see for myself."

"I'm sorry," he said softly, he was starting to get it. He palmed the back of her head, bringing her closer to him and pulling her into a tight embrace. "You're softer and sweeter than I deserve or know what to do with and I made a mistake not seeing that before and treating you accordingly."

"It's okay..."

"No, you always let me off the hook too easy, let me feel this."

"I'm sorry that I hit you." This time she pulled away and pushed off his chest to look up into his eyes. She looked morose and remorseful.

"Mm, I probably deserved it."

"You did, I'm glad you can see that," she smiled, somewhat shyly up at him. He smiled back.

"I hated fighting with you. It's been the worst two days."

"Let's, what did you call it...kill it?

She giggled at his attempt at her vernacular. "Dead it," she corrected. "It's...let's dead it."

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This chapter was going to be SO different as you can see from the beginning...but I like the turn it took.

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Leave me your thoughts! :)