Chapter 77: An Affection He Couldn’t Hide.

Chapter 77.

Bunny’s POV.

Xavier didn’t move. He didn’t even blink. He just held his stung cheek, his dark eyes blazing completely red while the thick veins in his neck stretched and twisted so hard it looked like he was fighting every single instinct in his body not to retaliate.

I stared right back at him, my breathing heavy, my chest heaving up and down.

“What? Are you going to slap me back?”

Xavier’s heavy brows pulled together instantly, and he stared down at me with a very surprised, almost pained expression.

“No, Bum,” he said, his deep voice dropping into a tone filled with so much raw sincerity it almost threw me off. “You know I would never hurt you.”

He sounded completely genuine, but I wasn’t buying it. Not today.

“You would never hurt me, yet you just did,” I threw right back at him, my voice cracking slightly.

His brows pulled together even tighter, and he stared at me like he was desperately trying to process my words, like he couldn’t comprehend how his actions could have caused me pain.

“Did you think dragging me out of that place like I was some misbehaving child was fine?!” I asked, now completely losing my grip on my emotions and screaming at the top of my voice.

“You were staring at him, gisting and speaking to him in that way,” Xavier growled out, his jaw clenching tightly.

“And that justifies your actions?!”

“No!” he roared back, stepping closer until his massive shadow completely swallowed me. “But it justifies my feelings! You have never smiled that way with me, Bunny! Never! But you were so damn comfortable with him!”

“Because he is my friend!”

“And you are my woman!” he groaned loudly, countering my every single word with a dangerous, possessive fire burning in his eyes.

I froze, his words echoing in the quiet driveway.

His woman?

Yes, he had said to me a lot of times that I belonged to him, that I was his. But did that make him mine?

Usually, in moments like this, I would never speak. I wouldn’t be able to find my voice at all, and I would just swallow the fear. But after everything that had just happened between Daniel and me, the absolute last thing I wanted on this earth was another toxic heartbreak. I couldn’t do it again.

“You say I am yours?” I whispered, my voice trembling but sharp. “But are you mine, Xavier? You have absolutely no right to be jealous! We are not even in a relationship!”

I hated myself the exact second the words left my mouth. I hated admitting out loud that I was completely giving myself to a man I wasn’t even in a relationship with.

I was still deeply trapped in my own messy thoughts when Xavier suddenly surged forward like a predator. Before I could even step back, his large hand found my wrist, and he grabbed me firmly, yanking my small body roughly against his chest.

“Xavier!” I gasped, my heart thumping loudly and frantically against my ribs.

“And who the hell says that we need a relationship to affirm anything, Bunny?!” he groaned possessively straight into my face, his breath hot against my skin. “Isn’t it already obvious that you are mine? Your voice, your heart, your body, and your entire fucking soul! It is all mine.”

My heart thumped roughly, a wave of heat rushing through me, and before I could bring myself to say a single word to fight back, Xavier moved his free hand to the back of my neck. He grabbed me firmly, anchoring me in place before forcefully pulling me closer to his body and claiming my lips with his in a very rough, desperate kiss.

My eyes widened in total shock. The anger inside me exploded, and I began to tug wildly at his shirt, smacking his head and shoulders roughly with my hands while he kept kissing me, holding me tighter and tugging me completely into his space.

Unable to break free from his iron grip, and refusing to let him win this way, I bit down hard on his lower lip.

“Ouuuch!” Xavier gasped against my mouth, flinching slightly.

I didn’t give him a single second to recover. The moment his grip loosened, I drew my hand back and sent another rough, resounding slap straight across his cheek.

SMACK!

Xavier’s head snapped sideways from the force. When he finally brought his face forward again, he didn’t look angry. He just moved his large hand to his lips, dragging his thumb against his lower lip to wipe the bright red blood clean before calmly licking it off his finger. His eyes never left mine.

“Do you really think pushing me away would make me leave you, Bunny?” he asked, his voice low and raspy.

“And do you think kissing me would change anything?!” I snapped back, my eyes brimming with hot tears.

Xavier went completely still now, his dark eyes darkening with so much intense need, his jaw tight as he stood there, watching the tears finally spill over my cheeks.

Xavier’s POV

I stood perfectly still, just staring down at Bunny.

She looked so incredibly sad, so completely broken standing there in front of the house I had bought for her. But looking at her tears, I honestly didn’t think I had hurt her. In my mind, I hadn’t done anything wrong. I had simply pulled her from the hands of another man and brought her into my arms where she belonged. Shouldn’t that show her that I care? Shouldn’t a gesture like that show her how much I want her?

“Every single time, you kiss me!” Bunny sobbed out, her small shoulders shaking as she looked up at me. “But you never apologize, Xavier! You hurt my feelings, and you fucking make me feel like everything is normal! I know you don’t love me! I know you don’t care! I know you have a whole line of women just waiting to have you, and that’s fine! But if you must lead my poor heart on, then you have absolutely no right to take me away from the people who would never truly leave me!”

My heart cracked violently at the sheer weight of her words pressing into my chest.

Did she say they would never leave?

So… she truly thought I was going to leave her?

A low, bitter scoff formed at the corner of my lips, but I couldn’t even force it out. The sound died right in my throat because I was too completely heartbroken. But I wasn’t broken because of her slaps or her insults… I was broken from seeing her this sad. I was shattered from hearing her say that I was going to abandon her when, the truth was, I was the one who was too damn scared that she would be the one to leave.

I was terrified that she would be the one to pack up and leave my pathetic, broken heart behind.

For years… I have cared for her from a distance. I have stalked her every move, watched over her safety, and I never once stopped. But what I felt for her wasn’t some mere, childish infatuation. I knew she cared about me, and God, I cared even more.

But one of the main reasons I had resisted the urge to get close to her for so long was because I truly believed I wasn’t capable of love. I was too broken. I was too vulnerable, and the fact that she could see right through my vulnerability made her my biggest, most terrifying weakness.

Everyone on that campus, everyone in the business world, sees me as Xavier Thorne. They see the 6’4” rich guy who has broad shoulders, millions in the bank, and a dangerous, untouchable aura. But Bunny? Even with the fear clearly shining in her eyes, she could see right through the mask. She could see that underneath it all, I was nothing but a pathetic, shattered piece of glass who had mastered the art of hiding deep pain behind a cold exterior.

How could I not love her? How could she think for a single second that I would ever let her go?