Page 100 of Knot What She Seems
I cut her off before she can continue, fury blazing through me. “You think I’m just here for the thrill of the chase?”
Her eyes flare with defiance. “I think you’re here because you’re used to getting whatever you want. But I’m not some prize to be won. And, if you actually get to know me, you’ll realize that.”
I don’t like that self-deprecating tone of hers. Not one fucking bit. I want to spank it out of her.
I take a step toward her, unsure of how she’ll react. I’m so much bigger than her that I’m afraid she’ll be intimidated or even frightened by me. Instead, she lifts her chin in the air and meets my stare unflinchingly, her eyes flinty.
“I don’t think you’re a prize, Princess,” I tell her, allowing a small, knowing smile to curve up my lips. “I think you’re my future. I think you’re my fate.” I let that hang between us, the words heavy with meaning, with truth. “And that means I won’t back down. Not until you see it too.”
Her eyes narrow. “I don’t give a damn about fate.”
I can see the walls she’s built, can see how deep she’s buried whatever vulnerability she has under layers of pride. I don’t know who hurt her in the past, but I want to topple these barricades she erected around herself. I want to see thetrueBrylee, the one who isn’t weighed down by past hurts and secrets she has yet to reveal.
“You should,” I tell her, my voice quieter now, sincere. “Because fate doesn’t care if you’re ready or not. It’s already decided that I belong to you, and I’m not leaving until you understand that.”
She sucks in a sharp gasp, and I can see the hesitation in her eyes. The smallest crack in her armor. That’s all I need. Before she can rebuild her wall up, I plow through, shattering her defenses like they’re nothing but papier-mâché.
“Give me a chance,” I say, my breath whispering across her face. “Giveusa chance. That’s all I’m asking for.”
I can see her wavering, her carefully constructed walls tumbling down around her. Once again, I wonder what happened in her past to create such shadows in her eyes. Is there a way I can find out without betraying her trust?
Her lips part, and I instinctively lean in even closer, her scent coiling around me?—
“Commander Ridge?” The unfamiliar voice comes from directly behind me, and I inwardly curse.
Brylee jumps a foot in the air as if she had just been electrocuted and hastily steps backward. Color darkens her cheeks, and despite my probing gaze, she won’t look up and meet my eyes.
With heavy reluctance, I turn to face the older gentleman standing just inside the doorframe, his posture immaculate and his hands clasped behind his back.
“The queen will see you now,” he tells me, already spinning on his heel and stalking away.
The queen.
Fuck.
I almost forgot why I came in the first place.
I fork my fingers through my hair and turn toward Brylee, prepared to ask her to wait for me here, but she’s already gone.
Her unique scent lingers in the air long after, torturing me with a future I’ll do anything to make a reality.
35
LUKA
“Tie or no tie?”I grumble to myself as I stand in front of the dingy bathroom mirror. One of the guys clearly didn’t wipe up when he brushed his teeth earlier, because there’s toothpaste splatter across the bottom edge. My fingers itch to clean it, but I’m cutting it close on time, so the mess will have to wait.
“Tie.” Colter appears in the doorway of the bathroom, a hulking presence. I can’t see his expression due to his mask, but I can imagine what he looks like, and the judgment makes the hair on the back of my neck prickle.
The fact that he feels he needs to weigh in makes me even more nervous about my date with Brylee tonight. I’m never nervous around women, but this is my first chance to impress our scent match. The first time she’s actually agreed to spend time with me without me barging my way into her life. The first time that a kiss is a real, viable possibility.
“Is a tie too much though?” I hold a burgundy tie up to my neck but hesitate, because even though I’m taking her to the nicest restaurant in town, she’s younger than we are—and seems far less formal than I would have expected for a royal.
She’s also so skittish that I’ve had to shoulder my way into spending time with her twice now, but once she lets her guard down…she’s been amazing.
Our time in the laundromat has been on constant replay inside my head for the past few days. The feel of her body as I pressed against her at the claw machine. Her soft scent as she unconsciously perfumed for me. I’ve had to touch myself more than once, and my knot is aching to slide inside of her.
But that will only ever happen if tonight goes well. If I can convince her to trust me. Us. It’s absolutely imperative that I show her Alpha Team X is more than a set of professors who are naturally hard on her brother, the alpha that’s set to become our king. An alpha who absolutely needs hardening…but I digress.
