Page 30 of Vengeful King

“I can’t imagine why.”

It’s more telling than I meant it to be. She looks up at me from under her lashes for a second, then returns to her glass.

“Maybe I just didn’t look the way he wanted,” she murmurs.

My cock throbs. I don’t know what man in their right mind wouldn’t like the way she looks. It’s everything—not just her face but her movements, the poised angle of her body and the way she’s careful with every part of herself.

“He obviously wanted you,” I say. I stand up from behind the desk, and she looks up at me. Her eyes are locked on mine, her lips parted just a little. “Why else would he have chased you so far?”

“I don’t know. Maybe he didn’t want me. Maybe he just wanted to control me. Like a doll.”

She gulps down the last of her whiskey, then sets the glass down on my desk. She stands up, and as she does, I stride around the desk toward her. We face each other, standing so close that her chest almost brushes against me as it rises and falls with each breath.

The air is thick with tension, quiet and heavy.

“You’re not a doll,” I murmur. “You’re marble.”

Pristine, hard, beautiful. Untouchable.

Or at least… she should be. But the only thing I want in the entire world right now is to touch her.

“I have a rule,” I tell her.

It’smyrule. There wasn’t really one before, but as soon as I took control of the club, it was the first thing I did. I know why I made that decision, but now, looking at her, I can’t quite remember any of the reasons.

Katrina is barely breathing. She’s looking at me, her gaze trailing over my face. “What rule?”

“No fraternizing with dancers.”

“Oh.”

There’s a bare flicker of dismay in her eyes. It sends something rushing through me, a low heat that adds to my arousal. It’s easy to see the little emotions hiding behind her gray eyes. It’s easy to tell what she’s thinking when I’m this close to her.

It’s been a long time since I’ve met a woman like her. No one has ever gotten under my skin like this.

“Should I break that rule for you?” I ask her, my voice a low rasp.

“What?” She blinks, as if she can’t focus. Like it’s taking all of her attention to think with me standing so close to her.

I take a half-step closer, until she’s trapped between me and the desk. Letting her see the raw desire in my eyes, I repeat my words.

“I’m willing to break my rule. Once. For you. Do you want that?”

Silence falls as my words die out, but I can hear my pulse rushing in my ears. The adrenaline in my veins is matched only by how much I want her.

She hesitates, her eyes wide, the directness of the question throwing her for a loop. It’s the first time I’ve seen her steadiness waver, and for a long moment, I think she might try to slip around me and escape out the door. That she might run, like a deer runs from a wolf, and never look back.

But she doesn’t.

Instead, she makes a small noise in the back of her throat, surges up onto her tiptoes, and presses her lips to mine.

CHAPTER11

Katrina

Lachlan’s mouth is firm against mine, his scent surrounding me as our kiss deepens.

This is what I’ve been waiting for, working for.

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