Page 56 of Crown Jewels
That didn’t make it any better. I was so mad at him, that I couldn’t see straight. “What the fuck is wrong with you.”
“You have no idea.” He blew out a breath and raised a bottle of beer to his lips.
It was like I was seeing him for the first time. The aura of extreme arrogance that rolled his shoulders back, the spark of darkness in his eyes that I hadn’t noticed before. He wasn’t the least bit apologetic about invading my privacy. Did I know him at all? Even the way his throat bobbed when he swallowed felt unfamiliar.
“Why would you do this to me?”
“I don’t know Emma,” he glared down at me. “Why did I do any of it.”
There was more?”
“Why did I watch you sleep, or follow you around campus. Why did I beat the fucking shit out of every guy that talked to you. Oh and you’ll love this one,” I backed up when he stepped closer. “Why do I have a stash of your panties in my room?”
Was it wrong that a part of me was flattered? Vahn Kessler was that guy. The cocky asshole who girls like me didn’t have a chance of getting. Was he messing with me? Because I was pretty sure that he hated me. He acted like he did.
“I don’t understand.”
“What don’t you understand?” Vahn continued pressing in on me with steady strides, until my back hit the wall. “That I can’t stop thinking about you…” His arm slammed down on the wall next to my head. “Or that I want to fuck you so bad that it hurts.”
I didn’t know what to say or do. So I nodded at the bottle in his hand. “Can I have a drink of that?”
My throat suddenly felt parched.
Vahn lifted the bottle, using two fingers to dangle the neck, and held out for me.
I didn’t say a word. I just took it and poured some in my mouth. The liquid burned down my throat. Not because of the alcohol, but because of the way Vahn was staring at me with sin and darkness in his eyes. The more I swallowed back, the darker his stare became. As if my drinking was getting him off.
And damn it if a part of me didn’t like the way he was looking at me. Vahn Kessler and his domineering stare was messing me up. Drinking a beer should not make my core clench like this. It was also the only thing that made me feel like I had some distance from Vahn.
As long as that bottle was pressed to my mouth, I wouldn’t think about the heat coming off him in waves. That worked until Vahn’s hand grazed over my leg.
“I like these shorts.” He tugged on the hemline of cotton wrapped around my thigh, making me choke on the mouthful I was swallowing.
I coughed out a, “They’re comfortable.”
That seemed like a stupid response after I said it. Not that Vahn cared. He was too busy looking down at the hand he was moving up my thigh.
“What do you have on under these?” he muttered, though I wasn’t sure he was speaking to me.
It was like he was in a trance of some sort. I was afraid to move. There was this intensity coming off him that scared me. At least that’s what I told myself. I was just as mesmerized as he was. I couldn’t stop staring at the way he was watching me. People didn’t look at me like that. I wasn’t that girl.
Maybe I was to him?
I tipped my head, “Vahn…”
“I’m gonna fuck you now Emma. You can fight me if you want…” his eyes rolled up to mine. “But I’m done waiting.”
That was when I noticed the strain on his face. Vahn was barely holding on, but he was fighting to keep control. Was he afraid of hurting me? Was that why he was fighting himself? His words from the shoot floated through my mind.
‘Keep your eyes on me.’
He didn’t do that because he wanted to get to work. He did it to comfort me, because I was afraid.
All the little things he’d said or done over the years came rushing back. The dinners he made when I forgot to eat, how he insisted on driving me certain places, and all the times he happened to show up when I was in trouble. Vahn was an asshole, but he always took care of me.
“You’ve been protecting me the whole time.”
“No, Parakeet, I’m no hero.” Vahn leaned in and growled in my ear, “I’m the bad guy.”
