Page 38 of Monsters Wear Crowns
“Tonight,” he said softly, his voice a silk-covered threat, “I'll come back to your apartment. If I’m going to be stressing you out, I think it’s only fair I…ease the tension.”
My heart raced. I forced my expression into cold defiance even though I almost drooled thinking of his cock inside me again. “Is that so?”
His lips curved in a slow, dangerous smile. He was so close. Too close. His dark and expensive scent curled around me, making my head spin. I lifted my chin, refusing to let him see how much his presence affected me. I was powerful. I’d worked too damn hard to be anything else. But…it was hard to remember my strength when Rafe Vaughan looked at me like he wanted to devour me. Because there was danger in his eyes. A promise of things I’d only read about, things I’d dreamed about in the dark.
And that twisted part of me wanted to know what it would feel like to let him have his way with me again. “Let go of my fucking wrist,” I snapped, trying to ignore the heat simmering justbeneath my skin. My ego lashed out as I wasn’t accustomed to people being snippy with me. I was the snippy one, holding the power people desired.Theyneededmeto save them. To protect them. My heart desperately wanted to be ripped out and consumed whole by Rafe, but my logical mind was screaming that he was the worst thing for me.
His grip tightened just enough to make my pulse spike. Not enough to hurt, but enough to remind me exactly how strong he was. “You got it,Dela,” he said, his voice a mocking purr.
My eyes narrowed. I hated that nickname. “Shut up,” I hissed, trying to ignore how badly I needed him. “Let’s go. Now.”
His smirk deepened, but after a heartbeat, he released me–though his fingers lingered against my skin, a slow drag that made my knees weaken.
By the time we stepped out into the warm summer night, I’d mostly managed to collect myself. But then a sleek black limousine pulled up to the curb, and my stomach dipped.
I shot Rafe a warning look. “Don’t try anything in the car.”
He didn’t answer–not with words, at least. Just opened the door and gestured for me to slide in first. I did, and the moment he followed, the door clicked shut, and the driver’s window slid up with quiet finality.
The vibe shifted.
I glanced at Rafe, and that slow, wicked smile spread across his face.
“My driver knows,” he murmured, his voice like smoke and sin, “to leave you and I alone.”
Chapter 8
The second the privacy window clicked into place, the air in the car grew thick. It was oppressive and charged. I barely had time to shift in my seat before Rafe moved.
He was on me in an instant with a swift, undeniable certainty. His hand found my jaw, tilting my face toward his as his body crowded mine, and then his mouth was on me. The kiss was a slow burn and a collision all at once–a clash of heat and control, his teeth dragging against my lower lip before his tongue slid against mine. My fingers curled into his suit jacket without conscious thought, and the low sound he made in response sent a wild burst of heat through me.
“Oh, baby.” He smiled, all teeth. “You’ve been so starved of your desires that every time you’re around me,allthat’s in your pretty head is the thought of me fucking you.”
Before I could form a response, his hand slid down my throat, his fingers tracing the line of my collarbone before slipping lower to my breasts. The heat of his palm burned through the fabric of my dress, and when he leaned in again, his mouth brushed my ear.
“This dress…” he whispered, his voice like velvet and razor wire. “Do you want me to stop?”
I didn’t.
Instead, my breath caught when he pulled the neckline ofmy dress apart, exposing my full breasts to him. He knew I needed him. Of course, he knew.
“God, you’re beautiful,” he murmured, his teeth grazing my skin. The car hit a bump in the road, and I shifted closer to him without meaning to. His hand tightened on my hip, anchoring me, and the slight roughness of his touch sent sparks of sensation skittering across my skin.
“I should make you wait,” he said softly, his fingers tracing slow circles along my thigh. “But I don’t think you’d like that, would you,Dela?”
That damn nickname. I hated the way it made my stomach flip and made me want to hear him say it again and again in that low, sinful voice. “I hate you,” I whispered, but my fingers were already tangling in his hair, pulling his mouth back to mine.
He laughed against my lips, dark and wicked. “No, you don’t.” And when his hand slid higher, his touch turning dangerous and deliberate, I didn’t push him away. I didn’t stop him. In fact, I spread my thighs for him. My breath came out in ragged gasps as his fingers looped inside my red lace panties. His fingers were fuckingmagic, and I couldn’t deny myself. For years, I’d been so full of angst and stress. And now, when I could finally release some of the pressure, I was not about to turn it down. If he wanted to use me, I could use him, too.
The heat between us was clawing and consuming. And when Rafe’s mouth found mine again, it was nothing like the slow, teasing kiss from before. This was raw and demanding. Teeth and tongue and a hunger that felt like it might swallow me whole.
I gasped against his lips, but the sound turned into a low, broken noise when his fingers massaged my clit withmaddeningslowness.
“You’re shaking,” he murmured, his mouth trailing down my jaw. His teeth scraped my skin, and I jerked against him, but his grip only tightened, keeping me exactly where he wanted me.
“Because you’re–” My words broke off in another soft,involuntary sound when his fingers flexed, teasing just enough to make my pulse stutter wildly.
“Because I’mwhat?” he taunted, his breath hot against my throat.
