Page 20 of Axel

“Get on your knees,” I demand.

She flashes me that sexyI like it when you’re bossysmile and obeys.

I spread her legs apart. She arches her back in invitation, and I plunge into her from behind. I reach around her waist and finger her clit like it’s my life’s mission. I don’t show an ounce of mercy with my finger or my cock until she comes apart.

I thrust harder and deeper, until I explode inside her depths.

“Fuck me,” I growl, bending forward to press a kiss to the back of her neck.

“I already did,” she teases.

“You free tonight, Princess?” It’s a silly question, considering she’s been staying the night with me every night since our first and only date. But tonight, I don’t want her only in my bed. I’m taking her out to celebrate her finishing her book, and I’m taking her toLavelle’s—in town. I’m going to lay everything out on the line.

“I won’t be back tonight,” she says, rolling on her back and then off the bed.

“Big plans?”

She slips into the bathroom, leaving the door open. “I have to pack.”

My entire body stiffens. “Pack?”

“My flight leaves tomorrow.”

“You’re still going.”

She reappears in the doorway, this time dressed. Her amber eyes are filled with stubbornness. “Axel, I was always leaving. I never tried to hide that.”

“You could stay.”

“No, I can’t.” She closes her laptop and starts packing up her things. “You know why.”

It’s as though she’s plunged an ice pick right into my heart. “Because of some damn superstition about your writing?” I sound like an angry prick, but I don’t care. I’m frustrated as hell by her flippant attitude. Have the last two weeks really meant nothing to her?

“It’s not a superstition.”

“Sure as hell sounds like one to me,” I fire back.

She returns my fury with a chilling gaze. “I know what works, and I honor that.”

I sense the lie behind her resolve, and suddenly it hits me. “You’re running.”

“From what?”

The finger that was just pleasuring slices the air between us, back and forth on repeat, as if the action can erase the growing chasm. “From this.”

“There is nothis.”

“The fuck there’s not, Princess.”

She stuffs the last of her clothes into a backpack and slings it over her shoulder. “You don’t have to call me that anymore.”

I block the doorway out of the bedroom. “Look me in the eyes and tell me you feel nothing for me.”

“You going to hold me prisoner until then?” she asks, staring at my chest.

“If you can look me dead in the eyes and tell me you don’t love me, I’ll step aside and never bother you again.”

Her body visibly jolts backward, and I feel the first ounce of hope that I’m finally getting through to her. Because I know damn well there are feelings here—strong feelings. I’ve been in love with her for days—hell probably since she first walked intoGet Inkedand asked for that sunflower tattoo. What I’ve been feeling isn’t one-sided. I’d bet my shop on it.

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