Page 87 of Redeeming the Villain

“Yeah.” I force myself to continue to take deep breaths even though I’m already feeling better.

I want it to keep going that way, even if Malik’s close proximity is threatening my breathing to shallow out.

“Aren’t you supposed to be somewhere right now?”

He lowers me slightly and twists a doorknob with his hand, pushing the door open with his foot. “I’m right where I need to be.”

My heart skips in a beat—in a safe and loving way.

Carrying me through the threshold, he brings me into some kind of lounge room, locking the door behind us.

Walking over to the couch, he turns and sits down on the far-left cushion, setting me in his lap with my feet resting up on the armrest.

“Better?” he asks, and a smirk lifts his lips.

“Much.” I grin, feeling almost as good as new. “You didn’t care about my well-being at all. You just wanted to get me alone, huh?”

He throws his head back on the couch and laughs. “Absolutely. You’ve figured me out.”

His smile is big, his pearly whites on full display. I don’t know if I’ve seen him smile like this. It’s reaching all the way up to his eyes, twinkling at me as he gazes down.

“Do you need to lie like this for longer?” he asks.

“Oh, I’ll be okay if you need to go. I’ll be fine. I can find my way back?—”

His hand cuts me off, sliding over my mouth.

“Stop.” His spine straightens, and I feel his excitement shift beneath my ass, pressing into me. “I’m not leaving you, Bug. I’m just wondering how long you need before you can sit up.”

My cheeks burn at what I’m about to do, and I haven’t even done it yet. I sit up in his lap, moving my hips left and right as I hook my arm around his neck.

“Alora.” My name leaves his lips in a mix of a growl and a groan, his hand snaking around my waist. “Careful. You aren’t feeling the best right now, and I don’t want to exhaust you even more. But if you keep that up, it’s going to be very,veryhard not to.”

My core pulses from his words. “What are you going to do? You have a hockey game to get to.” My lips tip up into a smirk.

His stare darkens as he runs his finger across my collarbone before wrapping his tattooed hand around my throat. “You think I won’t stay up here with you and say fuck the rest of the world? Test me, Alora. Idareyou.”

He wouldn’t actually though, right?

Like, he has to go back downstairs at some point. I’m sure he’s supposed to be somewhere right now even.

But … hedid tell me to dare him.

Tilting my head toward him, I press my lips against the base of his neck. Sticking the tip of my tongue out, I run it up the length, over the black ink running vertically on his skin.

“Alora.” His chest vibrates as his deep, spine-tingling tone rattles through the room.

This is such a bad idea. But then why am I so excited?

“One more move, and I’m not letting you out of here until I get to taste you,” he warns me, as if that’s not what I’m trying to achieve.

I breathe against his ear, “Idareyou.”

All of a sudden, I’m on my back on the couch, and he’s leaning over me, his hair falling forward and his chain dangling out of his jersey.

He eyes me like a starving animal. “Don’t say I didn’t warn you, baby.” He attacks, his mouth assaulting my neck in torturous kisses and flicks of his tongue. “Mmm. You smell so good.”

It’s like his mouth knows where all of my buttons are and his tongue pushes every single one. I moan, and his hand clamps down over my mouth.

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