Page 43 of Filthy Promises

I reach out, brush my thumb across her lower lip. She gasps, freezing in place like a startled deer. “I could make it so younever tell anyone what you saw,” I murmur. “There are ways to ensure silence. Permanent ones.”

Her eyes widen with fear, but she doesn’t pull away from my touch. “I won’t tell. I promise.”

I consider her words. Considerher. The terrified but determined woman sitting before me, trembling under my touch but still refusing to cower.

Her pulse jumps under my touch. I can practically hear her heart hammering in her chest.

“Are you afraid of me, Rowan?” I ask, leaning closer.

She nods, a tiny movement. “Yes.”

“Yet you want me.” It’s not a question. I know desire when I see it.

The flush deepens on her cheeks, spreading down her throat. “That’s not?—”

“Don’t lie,” I cut her off. “Not about this.”

Her breathing quickens as I trail my fingers down her neck, feeling her pulse race beneath my touch.

“Yes,” she whispers, the confession dragged out of her.

I slide my hand into her hair, gripping it just tight enough to tilt her face up to mine. Her lips part, those green eyes wide with a cocktail of fear and want.

“What would you do if I kissed you right now?” I ask, my voice rough.

I slide my fingers deeper into her hair, gripping the strands until her breath hitches. Pain and pleasure—the razor’s edge I’ve walked my entire life.

“I said,What would you do if I kissed you right now?”

She doesn’t answer with words. Her body does it for her—the way her pupils dilate, swallowing the green of her irises. The way her tongue darts out to wet her lips. The way she leans forward, almost imperceptibly, closing the distance between us.

Fuck. She’s intoxicating in her fear, her need, her surrender.

I tighten my grip on her hair, forcing her head back further, exposing the vulnerable column of her throat. I could destroy her in a dozen different ways right now. She knows it. And still, she arches into my touch.

“This is what will happen,” I breathe against her ear. “You will keep my secrets. You will be loyal only to me. And in return…” I drag my lips along the shell of her ear, feeling her shudder beneath me. “I’ll make sure you never regret it.”

I press my mouth to the pulse point on her neck, tasting her skin. She whimpers. Her hands cling to the arms of the chair like it’s the only thing keeping her from floating away.

Or from climbing into my lap.

I pull back from her neck, watching the red mark bloom where my mouth just was. A brand. A warning.

Mine.

“Tell me what you want, Rowan,” I demand, my voice barely human. I’ve never wanted anyone like this—raw and violent andconsuming. I want to break her apart and rebuild her in my image.

Her breathing comes in short, desperate pants. “I—I don’t know.”

“Liar.” I twist my hand tighter in her hair until tears prick the corners of her eyes. “Tell me.”

“You,” she whispers. “I want you.”

I lean in until our lips almost touch, her breath mingling with mine. I could take her right here on my desk, make her scream my name, ruin her for any other man.

But power isn’t about taking.

It’s about making them beg you to take it.

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