Page 23 of Cruel Tyrant

“Do you want help finishing up?”

She shrugs and waves a hand at the half-constructed shelves. “I mean, I don’t want to take up your time. You can if you want.”

I step into the room and crash down beside her, aware of the smell of her shampoo and the curves of her body. She’s in jeans and a simple black t-shirt, but I can’t stop looking at her and thinking about that first night. I’ve been craving her presence for a while now, and being this close makes me yearn to dig my fist into her hair and tighten my grip, just to hear her gasp.

We don’t talk about anything important as we work. I keep snatching glances at her as the shelves come together, and she catches me staring more than once. But I don’t care; I love the little sheen of sweat on her forehead, the pink in her cheeks, the flash of skin at her midriff every time she reaches her arms up over her head. Her arms are long and her legs are curvy, and every inch of this woman makes me feel like I need to bury my mouth between her legs again.

“That went a lot faster than I thought,” she says once we’re finished. She stands back, wiping her hands together, and admires our work.

“That’s because I am an extremely talented builder.” I drape an arm around her shoulders and my heart does an extra beat, but I don’t feel like I’m going to lose myself. If anything, a bead of sweat rolls down my back, and a kernel of desire simmers deep in my guts.

“Please, I did all the work before you got here.”

“We both know I’m very good with my hands.”

She rolls her eyes but looks up at me and we pause like that, inches apart, bodies pressed together. She turns slightly to face me, her chest to mine, and I can feel her soft breasts against my muscles as my other hand rests on her hip, and her head tilts to the side, her lips spread slightly, giving me the most delicious kiss me stare in the whole world. My mouth waters, and it’s taking all my willpower not to drag her to the floor and ravish her until her ass is pink and bruised and her body is soft and satisfied.

“I meant to say this sooner, but I’m sorry about the other day.”

My eyebrows raise. “Are you apologizing?”

“For once, you deserve it. I shouldn’t have called your house creepy. I get that you’re dealing with your own stuff, and I was just frustrated with myself. I had a bad call with my friend, and—” She stops herself and takes a deep breath. I love the way her chest rises and falls, bringing her closer to me for a brief second. “I won’t make excuses. I shouldn’t have done it, that’s all.”

“I appreciate you saying that.” I brush a knuckle across her cheek and instead of turning away, she leans into my touch. My heart’s racing, and I swear she can feel it hammering through my shirt. “But I didn’t do this because you called me creepy.”

“Yeah? You didn’t? Sort of felt like you did.”

“I built it because you deserve your own space.” I move my hand back into her thick, luscious dark hair. It’s so fucking soft and I want to bury my face in it and breathe deep as I thrust hard between her legs. God damn, I am so fucking gone for this girl right now, and I don’t understand why.

“That’s very… weird, honestly, coming from you.”

“Weird how?” I run my fingers through her hair and grip gently. She lets out a soft whimper, her eyes wide and surprised. But she doesn’t try to get away.

“You come off all controlling and intense one second, and then you’re building me my own rooms the next, even though I know you don’t like them. You force me to sleep in your bed, but you haven’t crossed any lines, and don’t pretend like you don’t want to.”

I swallow back a groan, because she’s right, there are a whole lot of lines I want to cross right about now. “I’m easing you into this,” I whisper, tightening my grip on her. “Would you prefer it if I were harder on you?”

“Maybe,” she says, her mouth open, and I can see her pulse going crazy in her throat, and fucking hell, that one word maybe just wrecked me for life.

I pull her hair back, tilting her chin into the air. She whimpers as I kiss her neck, peppering it from her throat to her chin, before moving toward her lips.

“You want me to get all possessive and controlling, dolcezza? Would you prefer it if I kept you chained to my bed?”

“Maybe not that far.”

I bite her lower lip. “That’s the game you’re playing, baby. You don’t want to push me.” Because I’ve shielded her from the worst of me, but I’m on the edge of losing control and I don’t know what she’ll think if I let myself spiral into this desire.

“Test me.” She’s breathing fast and her fingers dig into my back. “You don’t know what I can handle.”

That finally breaks me. Whatever willpower I had left, whatever invisible barriers were keeping me from finally losing control, they’re all fucking gone.

I bury her mouth with mine. I brand her with my kiss, sear her with my tongue, invade her and dominate her, holding her hair tight and pulling hard. She’s whimpering and moaning into my kiss, and I’m growling like a fucking beast, because I’ve been hiding this ever since she came to live with me, and now all those pent-up emotions are breaking free.

“Since you’re so fucking proud of your new shelves, how about I fuck you up against them?” I say as I turn her around and shove her up against the side. The whole wall rattles as I bite her neck from behind, one hand wrapped around her throat, the other yanking down her jeans.

“Here I thought you were scary,” she says, which makes me pull her hair. She moans as my other hand cups her pussy and, fuck, she’s dripping wet. She’s been taunting and teasing me, and it worked her the hell up.

“Baby, you don’t know what I am yet,” I say and sink two fingers inside of her nice and deep until my palm’s pressed against her ass. “But I’m going to fuck your soaking wet pussy with these fingers, and then I’m going to shove my fingers into your fucking mouth while my cock takes your lovely little pussy. When I’m finished with you, you’re going to get on your knees and say thank you. Do you understand?”

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