Page 42 of The Verdict

“Huh?” I blinked, so caught up in the tangle of her temptation I didn’t know what she was talking about until it was too late.

“Getting your cock pierced.”

Air hissed through my lips as a sharp pang of lust went straight through me. I spun to face her, towering over her upturned face.

“Rhys…” Her tongue dragged over her lips as though it were rolling out the wet, pink carpet for my kiss.

“You shouldn’t say that word,” I said, my voice like gravel.

Her eyes went wide. “Why not?”

Because I’m weak.

Because I want you.

Because I’m so fucking hard I can’t see straight.

I gritted my teeth.Dammit.

“Because the only cock that gets to come off your tongue is mine.”

The doors opened, and I couldn’t get through them fast enough. This was my goddamn fault. I shouldn’t have offered to walk her. At that moment, I wanted to be a gentleman. In reality, I’d set myself up for torture.

Within moments, we were in front of her door, and she faced me like she wanted me to crush her to it.

“Rhys—”

“Goodnight, Merritt.”

She didn’t try to hide her wounded expression, and I didn’t try to soften my abruptness. I turned and strode to my own door, knowing one more second—one more look—would be the final straw.

My chest heaved as I shut my door behind me, a sheen of sweat coating my skin as air fled my lungs, branding me a traitor to my own body in its retreat. One breath. One ragged breath was all I managed before I spun and slammed my fist into the wall with a shout.

“Fuck.”The bones of my hand were no match for the concrete as it split my knuckles and drew blood. “Fucking fuck, Rhys.”

I was losing it.And all for a woman.I took one step—a single step—before the knock on my door held me hostage.

Don’t do it,Dare’s voice in my head warned as I looked back, staring at the door and praying I’d imagined the sound—praying my desire was just playing tricks on me.

The knock sounded again.

Walk away, Rhys.

She was a victim. Innocent of a crime she was being accused of. We were no longer two strangers in the dark room of a hotel who could fuck and never look back. We knew each other now—we knew who we were. There were so many more complications now. So many more risks.

And still, it didn’t stop me.

Maybe time had made me bolder, too.

Within a second, I was yanking the door back open and planting my other hand on the doorframe to physically hold myself back from her.

“What are you doing?”

She stepped closer, her chin turned up. “I want you.”

My jaw locked and my teeth tightened as I uttered, “Real or fake?”

She reached for my shirt, curling her fingers into the fabric. “Kiss me and find out.”

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