Page 120 of Bitter Heat

He was in a tuxedo with a dark purple rose pinned to his pocket. “I need a word with my bride.”

Thea immediately dropped her head and backed out of the room. “Of course, sir!”

Roth closed the door and locked it before he slipped his hand into his pockets. She dropped her hand from the neckline of her gown.

“You look beautiful.” His shoes clicked on the wood floors as he walked toward her. “Your sisters tried to stop me from seeing you. They say it’s bad luck to see the bride before the wedding.”

He stopped behind her, so close she got a whiff of his cologne.

“I don’t believe in luck. I believe you make your own destiny.” There was a taut pause and then, “Having second thoughts, Jasmine?”

Her eyes collided with his in the mirror.

“Bad girl,” he murmured as he brushed her veil to the side and pressed a kiss on her exposed nape. “Everything is in place. All I need is you.” He pressed a kiss at the top of her spine and held her still with a grip on her hips when she tried to step away. “There’s nowhere you can hide from me. I’d hunt you down.”

Her chest was so tight, she could barely breathe.

“You think you have a choice, but you don’t,” he whispered as one hand splayed over her tummy. “Everything’s already in motion. You’re in too fucking deep, princess.”

“Roth, she said—”

“I don’t give a fuck what she said,” he said ad his hand slid down, probing the layers of tulle. “She’s poison.”

She grabbed his wrist. “What are you doing?”

“Reminding you what matters.”

Her grip on his wrist didn’t hold him back as his fingers burrowed into the layered skirt until he found the heart of her.

“Spread for me.”

“Fuck you.”

“I will if you want me to. I’ll open that door and let your family watch.”

She clenched her teeth and spread her legs. “I hate you.”

He rubbed the coarse tulle against her. The sun beamed down on the wicked scene. She, the proper and classic bride with the debauched fiancé coping a feel before the ceremony. His eyes bored into hers in the mirror as he expertly roused her, burying her fear and anxieties beneath a tidal wave of sensation.

She clenched her teeth to hold back her moan. “Stop, Roth.”

“I need you to say two words for me, and it’ll all be over. You can do that for me, can’t you?”

She shuddered as he worked her roughly. Her mind went white as she focused on the crest just out of reach.

“Do you know why you ran from me?” he asked harshly.

She gripped his wrist to hold him still so she could fuck herself on his fingers. His arm came around her waist and held her still as he ground himself against her ass.

“It’s because you know you belong to me. You crave what I give you. You’re not strong enough to fight me, so you run. That fucking ends now.”

His fingers scissored, and she let out a ragged moan.

“You have no idea what I’ve done to bring us here. No one comes between us. Our parents don’t get a say.”

Her breath hitched as she felt her orgasm coming. “Jamie.”

“Yes, Jamie,” he crooned in her ear. “Are you with me, Jasmine?”

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