Page 64 of Seeking Vengeance

“You owe me a goodbye.” I shrug.

He steps closer, the tips of his shoes nudging mine. “Well, you’re going to be disappointed.” He cages me against the counter, one hand on either side of my waist. “There are no more goodbyes for us.”

I hold in a smirk. “Ever?”

“Ever.” He leans in, but doesn’t touch. I’m almost certain it’s a strategy. To make me want what he holds back. “Is there anything else I can compensate you with?” The question is purred with the most sinister seduction.

He wants me to voice my desires. To ask for sex. “I’m sure we could find a suitable compromise.”

His lips kick with a grin as he glides a gentle hand through my hair. “You captivate me. You’re bold and fearless enough to fly across the country to see me. Yet hesitant and almost unsure when it comes to voicing how much you want to fuck me.”

I suck in a shallow breath.

“You’re a puzzle I need to solve.” He slides his hands over my hips and lifts me onto the counter, just like he did in the hotel bathroom in Denver.

“And once you have me figured out?” I raise a brow. “What then?”

“I don’t think that will happen. This is a rest-of-my-life type of task.”

I laugh, my humor quickly smothered by his mouth swooping down on mine.

He kisses me with severity. With strength and conviction and lust. His lips are so damn commanding. His hands a steel-like grip at my waist.

When he pulls back, I’m panting, struggling to catch my breath… my thoughts.

“You think I’m kidding, amore mio,” he whispers. “But this isn’t a game. You mean something.We’remeant to mean something.”

“What if you’re wrong?” My insecurities voice themselves before I can rein them in. “What then?”

He narrows his eyes, staring at me with fascination. “Then you can walk away without any animosity between us… But that’s a future that isn’t in the cards.”

He makes everything seem so easy. So dreamy. And maybe that’s what our world could be like—all rainbows and unicorns—if I were another person.

“We’re adults, Layla,” he continues. “I’ll make sure you don’t regret your time with me.”

I want him to be right.God, how I want it.

I want to be protected. Not by an overbearing brother, but by an adoring, passionate lover. I want more of this giddy feeling in my stomach. I want freedom and happiness and a fresh slate.

“I think you might be right.” I lock my legs around his, encouraging him to decimate the space between us, the hem of my dress rising to my crotch. “I want this.”

He lowers his hold from the adamant force at my waist to the most delicious hold on my upper thighs. He keeps his hands there, his thumbs mere inches from where my body demands attention as he stares down at me, waiting.

“Do you want me to beg?” I ask.

“No. You never need to beg for anything.” He digs his fingers into my flesh. “My hunger isn’t a charitable donation you ever need to plead for. But I do want more of an assurance that this is what you want, because every other time I’ve had my hands on you it’s felt like shock or intimidation has played a role.”

I nod, even though the devil on my shoulder whispers I’m only here because I’ve fled my family and he was the only one I had to turn to. The only person I know who doesn’t owe my brother favors.

“I’m here for you.” It’s still the truth. “All the other times I was, too. Even under duress I can make clear choices.”

“Be sure, Layla. I’m playing for keeps.”

“Are you trying to talk me out of this?”

“Never.” His eyes glaze with lust, his nostrils flaring slightly before his mouth steals mine again.

It’s a frenzy of lips and tongues and teeth. A wild dance of my snatching fingers at his collared shirt and his strong hands on my heated skin.

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