Page 21 of Ruthless Possession

I stood too, closing the space between us in a single step.Caging him in.

“What was that?”

He swallowed, his hands fisting at his sides.I tilted my head, voice dropping lower.“Finish your sentence, William.”

He licked his lips, eyes darting toward the exit, toward anything but me.Panicking.

I smirked.“That’s what I thought.”

He hated it.Hated me.Hated himself for wanting this.

I reached up, brushing a thumb over his bottom lip, watching his pupils blow wide.

“You can pretend all you want, pretty boy,” I whispered, “but we both know the truth.”

He exhaled shakily.I felt his resolve crumbling.And then, just to push him that little bit further, just to see him fall apart completely—

I turned and walked away.

CHAPTER 16

Noah

William was unraveling.I saw it in the way his fingers twitched when I was near, the way his breath hitched when I got too close.The way he clenched his jaw like he could physically hold himself together when all I wanted was to tear him apart.

I had spent weeks pulling him deeper, tangling him in a web so tight he could barely breathe, and still, he fought it.Still, he tried to deny me.

That ended tonight.He was done pretending.Done running.Done thinking he had a fucking choice.Because by the time I was through with him, there would be nothing left to fight.

I waited.

I let him think he was safe, let him believe he could slip away without consequence.I let him sit in his little apartment, lights off, door locked, as if that meant a damn thing.

And then I came for him.

His breath hitched the moment he saw me in his doorway.I didn’t say a word.Just stepped inside and shut the door behind me, locking us in.

“Noah.”

I ignored the way his voice shook.I ignored the way his hands balled into fists like he could stop what was about to happen.

Instead, I walked toward him.Slow.Measured.My eyes drinking in every inch of him—the tension in his shoulders, the slight tremor in his fingers, the way his chest rose and fell too fast.Like he was bracing himself.

Good.

“You’ve been running your mouth,” I murmured, stopping just close enough that I could feel his heat.“Acting like you don’t want this.”

He swallowed, his throat bobbing, but he didn’t answer.I reached up, brushing my knuckles along his jaw.His breath caught, his lips parting.Waiting.

Waiting for me to touch him.

Waiting for me to wreck him.

“You can fight all you want, pretty boy,” I whispered, tilting his chin up.“But we both know how this ends.”

His pulse pounded beneath my fingers.Desperate.Needy.Fucking begging for me.And still, he tried to deny it.

“You’re so full of yourself,” he muttered, voice shaking.“You think I—”

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