Page 12 of Tall, Royal Hater
She stopped right in front of me, leaning in a little too close and giving me a lungful of her sweet, peachy scent. “So, thank you for playing your part so damn well.” She grinned bright and sarcastic. “And maybe next time you want someone to pick you over me, mind your own fucking business and try not to make yourself look like the prick.”
With that, she stepped to my left, but just as her arm brushed mine, she stopped. “Oh, and Sheri? I’d avoid going anywhere near Kareem’s bedroom this evening if I was you. If you know what I mean.”
She winked and knocked my arm as she sashayed off. And I…fuck, I…
My heart pounded against my rib cage with the fists of a provoked gorilla, the vibrations of each smash reverberating through my entire being. It left me shaking, played the rumble of an earthquake in my ears, and smeared the edges of my vision in red-hot lava.
Fuck! She was such a little—
By the time I twisted to find her, she was standing on one of the treadmills under the windows, pushing a black wireless earbud into her ear, dismissing me and ending the conversation. As much as it irked me to let her think she’d won, I wasn’t about to give her the satisfaction of trying to continue arguing with her. Then she’d know how deeply she’d torn her way under my skin.
I didn’t have the patience, nor was I in the right headspace to finish my cool-down sets or push through any cardio. So, I returned the dumbbells to the rack, swiped my shaker bottle off the floor, and left. I tried hard not to walk like I was on a rampage up to my bedroom on the first floor.
I slammed the door shut behind me, then headed straight for my bedside cabinet and clunked the bottle down. The noise echoed in my ears for a beat. Then nothing.
I stood there, huffing and puffing, not knowing whether I wanted to rip apart the frame of my bed with my bare hands or rearrange my room again.
There was destruction inside me. The kind only Mariyah had ever been able to trigger. So many cracked paths with fumes, hotter than the inner core of Neves, spraying out each gap.
“Fucking brat,” I spat through my teeth, tugging at the long strands of my hair with both hands.
I needed to cool off. Quickly. Before I broke something.
Preferably Mariyah’s neck. Or—
I stormed away from my bed into the walk-in wardrobe in the top corner and quickly toed off my shoes and put them away. Ignoring my dishevelled appearance in the large mirror stuck on the far wall, I headed back out and into my ensuite bathroom next. I was desperate to wash the last ten minutes off my skin more than the sweat from my training session with the king.
I stripped out of my clothes, cursing at myself when I thought I ripped my T-shirt, before throwing them in the washing basketnext to the corner cabinet. Shower on, I moved straight under the cold spray, not bothering to wait for the water to reach room temperature. I relished the way it fizzled out the blanket of fire wrapped around me and returned some of my composure.
The water warmed, but I turned the temperature back down. It was easier to consciously steady my breaths with the cold compressing my lungs.In through the nose. Out through the mouth.
Combing my wet hair back, I closed my eyes and focused. Relaxed. Breathed. In. And out. In. And—
I’d avoid going anywhere near Kareem’s bedroom this evening if I was you.
A muscle twitched in my jaw as I ground my teeth together.Just breathe. In and out.
If you know what I mean.
My lashes flew open.
Fuck!There went my fucking composure. Back was the simultaneous pulsating and ripping sensation in my middle.
Except it was slipping low. Too low. And I was near panting through my teeth. Both in ire and the aching heat that I would never put a name to as long as it was associated with Mariyah.
“Fuck,” I growled and scrubbed a rough hand over my mouth as I turned my back to the water.
Impossible. The idea of Kareem and Mariyah was fucking impossible. He couldn’t be stupid enough to fall for the ridiculous, sweet façade she tried to play. And Mariyah—she—she…
I licked across the back of my teeth.
Mariyah was a fucking liar.
There was no way her and the king would work. He was too…nice for her.
In order to satisfy a brat like her, she needed someone who could put her in her place when she misbehaved. Someone tobend her over and spank her arse until her eyes and cunt watered. She needed her filthy mouth spat in and her nipples pulled until they were sore. And then she needed to be splayed out and tied to the four corners of my bed and pounded into the mattress.
But edging wouldn’t work. A stubborn menace like Mariyah wouldn’t fall for the temptation of possibility. She’d need to be given until she couldn’t take anymore. Until she sobbed that it was too much and begged and writhed underneath me—
