Honor Bound by Joey Hill (speld decodable readers .txt) 📕

palmed her stomach. Between the tight corset and the three glasses of wine, not to mention the packed-in dance floor, she shook her head. “Too crowded. I need some air.”

Shawn nodded and stood. “How about a walk outside to clear your head?”

“Perfect.” With great relief she took his hand and he led her down the stairs and onto the outside deck. The night was warm, but there was a breeze, and she could breathe

infinitely better out here.

He walked her to a corner area out of sight from the doorway. Low-hanging palm trees waved in the breeze. It was dark, private, very romantic.

He led her to the railing, where the sounds of the ocean crashed against the shore. They were alone. Maybe she didn’t have butterflies fluttering in her stomach, but she’d get there . . . eventually.

She leaned against the rail and turned to him. “This is nice.”

He moved in, slid his arm around her waist. “You are so beautiful.”

Okay, that line was starting to get old.

“Thanks. You look nice, too.”

“I want to kiss you.”

Then do it. Don’t tell me about it.

His face was inches from hers. He stared at her . . . and kept staring at her. Ella noticed his eyes were a little glassy. They’d been at the club for a few hours now. How much had Shawn had to drink? She’d had three glasses of wine, but she’d danced off the effects and hadn’t paid much attention at all to the shots he’d been slamming. He’d seemed okay.

Plus, he was really tall. And she was used to hanging out with men who could drink her under the table and still be stone-cold sober at the end of the night. Surely he was okay.

“Can I kiss you?”

Oh, for God’s sake. “Sure.”

After his tentative request, she expected light, an easy brush of his lips across hers. He shocked the hell out of her by jerking her into his arms and jamming his lips on hers. His tongue thrust inside, jabbing in and out, in and out. He tasted like whiskey, and his hands roamed down her back to grab her ass. He drew her against his cock, which was already hard.

She was not turned on. This was not pleasant. It wasn’t romantic. It wasn’t sexy. She palmed his chest and pushed away, resisting the urge to wipe her lips with the back of her hand. “Whoa, tiger. That was a little sudden.”

He looked perplexed. “You said yes.”

She blew out a breath. “Yes, I did, didn’t I.” She started to explain, but he grabbed her again, kissed her, turned her around so her back was against the railing. He held tight to her while he plundered her mouth. This time, when she tried to push him away, he didn’t stop.

He didn’t stop.

She didn’t like this. She tried to wrench her mouth away but he lifted one hand to the back of her head and held her there, made moaning noises and ground his cock against her hip.

She felt sick, violated, wanted out of this. She wasn’t ready—not for this.

Couldn’t he tell she wanted to stop? She finally wedged her arm from his tight hold and scratched his neck. He jerked back.

“Ow. What the hell was that for?”

“I was trying to get you to stop. Are you oblivious?”

“You wanted this. You want this.”

She shook her head, wrapped her arms around herself. “No. I don’t want this. I don’t want you. You need to go.” How could this night have turned so bad?

“You started it. You agreed. You said yes.”

Oh, no. She might be inexperienced, but she wasn’t stupid. This guy was history. She narrowed her gaze. “And then I said stop. I said no. What part of me desperately trying to push you away did you not understand?”

“And when a lady says no, she means it, asshole.”

Ella’s gaze whipped to the sound of a very familiar male voice behind Shawn.

Clay?

Clay was here? What the hell was he doing here?

And he was pissed. His brows were knit in a furious frown as he advanced on Shawn and fisted his hand into Shawn’s Hawaiian shirt.

“You look like a smart guy. Smart enough to read a woman’s signals. When she says no, when her body language says no, you’d better be smart enough to start listening.”

Shawn was no short, lightweight guy, but he was dwarfed by Clay. He cast a decidedly uncomfortable look up at Clay and nodded. “Yeah. I got it.”

Clay pushed him aside. “Take a hike.”

Shawn stumbled over himself in his eagerness to get the hell out of there.

Ella slid onto the nearest bench, stupefied.

Clay came over and squatted down in front of her. “You okay?”

She nodded. “I’m fine.”

He drew her hands in between his. “Your hands are shaking.”

“He scared the shit out of me.”

“He was a dick. Want me to go kick his ass?”

She laughed. Clay would do that, too. “No. I think you got your message across. He probably peed himself.”

Clay’s lips lifted. “Good. He deserved it.”

“Clay, what are you doing here?”

“Fishing.”

She arched a brow. “Fishing?”

“Deep sea. There are a couple great excursions this time of year. And you know it’s a good time of year in our business to take a few days off.”

She nodded. “True. I can’t believe we’re at the same place.” But then it hit her. Of course. Clay had gifted the condo to Tish and her husband. “You mentioned at the meeting the other day that you have a condo at the same place as Tish.”

“Yeah.”

“And you knew I was coming here.”

“Yes, I did.”

“You followed me?”

“No. I came here to go fishing.”

She didn’t believe him. Then again, what kind of ego did she have that she thought he was here for her? That was ridiculous. “So this is all coincidence.”

“I came over here for a few drinks and to check out the action at the club. Noisy as hell in there. So I came outside for some fresh air. That’s when I spotted you tusslin’ with that asshole.”

She lifted her gaze to