Page 70 of Little Fury

“Where will home be for us when this is done?”

Marcus looks at me.“Someplace warm? I know you hate winter.”

“I do. Montana killed any love for winter I had.” I say with a laugh.

“You’re home for me, Ava. The address isn’t important. It just has to have you there. The rest is just background.” He genuinely believes that. I can see the sincerity in his eyes. But his body—is it anger? Is that what I feel coming off him?

He moves and sits in the armchair in front of the window, placing his scotch on the floor by his feet. He leans his forearms on his legs, undoing his tie and a couple of his shirtbuttons. He rolls his sleeves up, folding them below his elbow.

Fucking hell, how is he that attractive?

He sits there, elbows on his knees, chin resting on his thumbs, fingers clasped together, watching me.

Typically, that look goes instantly to my pussy, but right now, it causes me to pause ever so slightly. I feel a prickle at the back of my neck—a warning. I look at Marcus, watching him watch me. Something has changed, shifted. I don’t know what happened. I'm not even sure why I'm so convinced something has happened to us that I wasn’t privy to, but it’s there all the same—a crack in my trust in him, in us.

I stand across from him, both of us considering the other. He sits there, only his eyes moving as he watches me. Marcus shifts, letting one hand dangle between his thighs and using his other hand to rub his chin. He drags one of his fingers over his bottom lip. His eyes never leave mine.

I feel like prey under his gaze.

There's something different tonight.

He’s, different tonight.

I bite my bottom lip, watching the man in front of me try to contain something within him that wants to come out.

“Ava,”he saysdarkly, there’s a warning in my name.

“What? Do you want something from me?”I ask with my own warning.

He meets my eyes, leaning back in his chair.“I don’t think I’m in the mood not to have what I want tonight, Ava.”

Well, that doesn’t sound threatening at all.

He’s so tense; so many emotions roiling over him. He's clenching and releasing his fist. His jaw has a tick. Whatever happened today with his family has him ready for a fight, and that fight seems to be directed at me.

I take a step closer to him. Then another, until I’mstanding between his legs. His fist still clenching. The tension in him is palpable standing this close.

“Where are you tonight Marcus? What happened when you were gone?”

His eyes roam over my body, not meeting mine.“What happens after?”

“After what?”

“After I end my father, and I have control of the family.” His eyes haven't left my body, still not meeting mine as he collects his thoughts.

“Ask what you really want to know, Marcus.”He finally looks at me, raising a single eyebrow. There’s a challenge there.

His voice is low,“how about you tell me, Ava, what is it I really want to know.”

There it is.

I cock my head as I study him. Listening to the words he isn’t saying.

I take a breath before I answer.“You want to know, or you want me to tell you that I will happily work only for you,”I say. He says nothing. Instead, he takes a hand and runs it up my inner thigh, cupping me and grinding the heel of his palm into me. I widen my stance for him, still willing to play this game for the moment.

He pushes into me harder, rubbing the heel of his hand roughly against my core. The scrape of the fabric against my sensitive skin causes me to inhale sharply, not entirely from pleasure.

He likes that sound. I see his cock jump in his pants.“And will you, Ava? Work just for me? For the Rossi’s and, by extension, the Sokolovs? Will you take orders from me? From my grandfather Yuri?” He asks me these questions as he pushes into me harder.

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