Page 103 of Monk

I didn’t answer.

Instead, I just stood there, my jaw tight, my hands clenched into fists at my sides.

“Do you have any idea what you just did?” she continued, her voice rising. “He’s going to call the police! He’s going to press charges! And then what, John? Then what?”

“He’s not calling anyone,” I said flatly.

“You don’t know that!”

“Yeah, I do,” I replied, my voice hard. “Because he knows if he does, I’ll make good on my promise.”

Lina’s face flushed with anger. “You can’t just—” She broke off, shaking her head. “I don’t need your help! I don’t need the club! I don’t need any of this!”

She turned and started walking toward her truck, her shoulders rigid.

And something inside me snapped as I closed the distance between us in three long strides, grabbed her wrist, and spun her back around.

“Let go of me?—”

I kissed her.

Hard.

Possessive.

Desperate.

My mouth crashed down on hers, swallowing her protest, claiming her the way I had been dying to since I walked out of that courthouse. She tried to fight it, tried to push me away, but I didn’t let her. I cupped the back of her head with one hand, holding her in place, and deepened the kiss.

And then she melted.

Her hands, which had been shoving at my chest, fisted in my cut instead. Her mouth opened under mine, and she kissed me back with the same desperate need I felt.

When I finally pulled back, we were both breathing hard. Her eyes were wide, her lips swollen, her cheeks flushed. “You’remine, Carolina,” I growled, my voice rough. “My woman. My family. And I’m done asking permission.”

She stared at me, her chest heaving, tears shimmering in her eyes. “John.”

“Which room is yours?” I demanded.

Her eyes widened. “What?”

“Which. Room. Is. Yours?”

She shook her head, her jaw setting stubbornly. “No. We’re not?—”

I didn’t let her finish as I brought my hand down hard on her ass. The crack echoed across the yard as Lina gasped, her entire body going rigid. “I asked you a question,” I said, my voice low and dangerous. “Which room is yours?”

She didn’t answer. She just stared at me, her pupils dilated, her breathing shallow.

I smacked her ass again, harder this time.

She whimpered.

“Still not hearing an answer, baby,” I said.

“John—”

I bent down, wrapped my arm around her thighs, and hauled her over my shoulder in one smooth motion.