Page 31 of The Billionaire Dating Game

“Alexei,” she breathed, his nearness played havoc on her senses.

“And I know you want me too. Even now you’re flushed. Is your skin tingling?”

She gasped when his finger ran the length of her neck.

“If I shove my finger into my pussy—”

“Mine,” she began to correct him until his hand pushed her dress aside and pressed his finger to her clit.

“Wrong. Mine.” He kissed her forehead. “I want you. Need you.”

Although he’d trapped her in his penthouse, then on his island, she’d stayed of her own will, not knowing he had made it impossible to leave. The love she felt for him couldn’t be discounted, because he hadn’t forced those emotions on her.

“Stay with me.”

The last words were a plea that broke her heart but… “How can I trust you won’t try to control me again? How can I be with someone who manipulates me to get what he wants?”

“I’d never do anything to hurt you.” He stepped away from her. “But I won’t pretend that part of me will change either. Where you’re concerned, there are no limits.”

“That’s just what I mean! I don’t know what you’re capable of…not really.”

He stilled. “You’re wondering how far I’d go…would I go as far as arson? Killing someone?”

Candice flinched. “That’s not what I meant—”

“At ten, I got my ass kicked for liking the wrong girl. After that experience, I spent the next seven years learning to fight. I became good at street fighting. At seventeen, the people that taught me to use my fists betrayed me when they beat the crap out of Dmitri for my prize money after my last match.” His muscles in his jaw flexed. “I burned their world down, and I vowed I’d never let anyone take advantage of me again.”

The words were spoken too calmly to not be laced in restrained pain. She saw it in the darkening of his eyes and the rigid set of his shoulders.

“Now you know how far I’d go. And you have my confession to arson.” He turned away. “You don’t want someone capable of being ruthless, and I don’t want a woman that won’t choose me.”

The pain in her heart was gut-wrenching.

“My pilot will take you wherever you choose. No one will stop you from leaving, Candice, and Stephen will fix your credit within the hour.”

Then he was gone. And her world shattered.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Alexei

Doorways were supposed to be a pathway to new beginnings, the future. The one that loomed before him led to nothing but hurt and pain. Emptiness.

Alexei rested his forehead against the cold glass door. Retreating was easier. Returning to his yacht where he’d spent the last two days was easier. Except, he had responsibilities.

In a short time, she’d crept into his thoughts, under his skin, and claimed his heart.How?When had he completely let down his guard…when had he fallen in love with her? And now he was paying the price.

Candice.

Just breathing her name buckled his knees. All the other times he thought himself in love paled in comparison to the hole growing wider in the center of his chest.

He missed her, wanted her…Ni! Needed her as much as he needed the blood pumping in his veins. Candice was life. His life. Yet, he’d let her go.

Idiot!

He could have demanded she stayed, he had the money and the means to keep her on the island indefinitely. He was a powerful man. Alexei squeezed his eyes shut. Why didn’t he? Because she had to stay of her own free will, choose him.

Now all that was left was her scent inside every nook and cranny of his house. Her rose perfume was on the walls, and the rooms bore evidence that she had been here. He walked through the house, no longer avoiding the inevitable.

---