Page 55 of Forbidden Harvest

Kevin blinks in surprise. “Uh, I was just asking Aria?—”

“And I’m telling you, she’s not going.” Jared’s arm slips around my shoulders, pulling me against his side. “She’s staying right here.”

Lisa and Kevin exchange a bewildered glance. I open my mouth to protest, to insist I can make my own decisions, but Jared shoots me a dark look that silences me.

Kevin frowns. “Dude, I think Aria can speak for herself.”

“Trust me, she doesn’t want to go anywhere with you,” Jared sneers. “She’s got better things to do than waste her time.”

My cheeks flame with humiliation as Lisa’s eyebrows knit together in confusion. “Aria? Is everything okay?”

I swallow hard, my throat feeling impossibly dry as all eyes turn to me expectantly. How can I possibly explain the twisted dynamic between Jared and me? The thought of voicing it out loud makes me want to fade and disappear.

So, instead, I force a tight smile and nod stiffly. “Yeah, everything’s fine. I just...I can’t go for drinks tonight.”

Lisa’s frown deepens. “Okay, if you’re sure...”

“I’m sure,” I say, shooting Kevin an apologetic glance. “Maybe another time?”

He looks put out, but he nods. “Yeah, of course. Whenever you’re free.”

As Lisa and Kevin gather their things and head for the door, Jared’s grip on me remains vice-like. The moment the door clicks shut behind them, he whirls on me, his eyes blazing with a terrifying intensity.

“What the fuck was that?” he snarls, grabbing my chin. “You were going to go for a drink with him?”

I shake my head, fear coiling in my gut. “N-no, I swear, I wasn’t?—”

“Don’t lie to me.” His fingers dig painfully into my jaw. “I saw the way you looked at him. You wanted to go, didn’t you?”

Tears prick my eyes as I tremble before him. “Jared, he’s my friend, and yes, I would have gone for a drink, but it?—”

He silences me with a bruising kiss, all teeth, and desperation. When he finally pulls back, his eyes are wild, unhinged.

“You’re mine, Aria,” he growls against my lips. “Never forget that. You don’t get to go anywhere with a guy who wants to fuck you, got it?”

I shake my head. “Kevin doesn’t want to?—”

“Don’t play dumb, Aria,” he growls, his face inches from mine. “You think Kevin is just your friend? That he doesn’t want to get in your pants?”

I open my mouth to protest, but Jared cuts me off with a derisive snort.

“Wake up, baby. That guy has been trying to fuck you for years. All those lingering looks, always finding excuses to touch you or get you alone.” He leans in until our noses are almost brushing. “He wants you, and you’re too naive to see it.”

My heart stutters in my chest as fragments of memories flash through my mind—Kevin’s arm casually draped around my shoulders, the way his gaze sometimes drifts down my body when he thought I wasn’t looking. Things I’d brushed off as innocent gestures between friends.

“That’s... that’s not true,” I stammer, but the words sound feeble. “Kevin’s my friend. He doesn’t see me that way.”

Jared laughs. “God, you’re so fucking innocent sometimes. It’s adorable how clueless you are.” His thumb traces the curveof my lower lip, and I shiver. “Guys like him only want one thing from a girl like you. And I’ll be damned if I let him get his hands on what’s mine.”

There’s a dark glint in his eyes that makes my stomach twist. I know I should protest, should insist that he’s wrong about Kevin and our friendship. But something in the way Jared is looking at me renders me mute.

Because as much as I hate to admit it, a part of me craves this possessive side of him. It awakens something primal within me that both terrifies and excites me.

“I don’t ever want to see you alone with him again,” Jared murmurs, his mouth a hairsbreadth from mine. “No more ‘grabbing drinks’ or any other bullshit. You’re mine, Aria. And it’s time everyone knew it.”

His lips crash against mine in a searing, punishing kiss that leaves me breathless and dizzy. I reject his twisted claims and unhealthy jealousy.

But instead, I find myself melting into his arms and surrendering to the darkness that binds us together.

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