Page 186 of Hateful Games

Either I tell him there is someone but it’d be a lie. Or I let him believe it’s my wicked imagination. Neither answer is a safe choice.

I take the cowardly route. “It’s fiction, Nova. Nothing to do with reality.”

He leans in, caging me with his broad shoulders. His musky cologne driving me crazy. “That’s why I said inspired, not who you did it with.”

His cockiness makes me bristle. I have slept with other men. He’s conceited enough to pretend I haven’t. “What if I have? What are you going to do?”

“Kill the bastard.”

I swear I feel the earth shake. He can’t mean that, right? I breathlessly scold, “That’s not funny.”

“Who said it was a joke?”

“No one,” I blurt out, scared of his savage promise. “And I have no intention of ever doing it.”

It makes him smile devilishly. “Too bad. Because it’s my duty as your husband to make your fantasies true that you’re so curious about enough to write. I don’t mind if you wish to pretend otherwise. Making you blush like this only makes my cock harder, sweetheart.”

“You’re depraved.”

“Yet I’m not the one who wrote about a girl getting chased and fucked in a haunted house,” he teases. When I try to look away and shove him back, he grabs my chin. “I don’t want you to hide your desires from me, Rose. Every filthy, twisted, and corrupted fantasy you think of, I want to be the first and only man to know them. If you think I’m going to judge, you’re deadly wrong. No craving, no matter how taboo or wrong, is off-limits between us. I may treat you like my pretty slut and my dirty girl but it doesn’t mean I don’t respect you as a woman.”

How does he know all the right things to say?

My fragile heart can’t cope.

Giving me a mischievous and breathtaking smirk, full of naughty promises, he says, “Besides, it’d be a sin if you didn’t do proper research. If not for me, do it for your readers. I’m happy to sacrifice myself for the cause.”

“How noble of you.”

“There’s going to be nothing noble about the deeds I’ll do to you.”

“I haven’t said yes yet.”

His chest vibrates with a low chuckle. “Your body already has. I can feel your heart racing. Your nipples are hard, and you’ve been biting your lips since the moment I crowded you. Instead of saying no, you’ve left the promise of saying yes hanging in the air. You only have until we leave for our honeymoon to play your games, my wife. Then I’m taking control. I’m making you mine.”

Chapter Forty-eight

Rosalie

Tonight is going to be a waste of time.

That I could be spending writing.

Nevertheless, when you’re born in the world of corruption, wealth and deceit, everyone has to play the part. Schmoozing is par for the course. Being the wife of one of the wealthiest men in the country makes it an obligation I can’t back out from.

The after-wedding reception will be the ultimate test to pass.

The one my cunning and emotionless father has been preparing me for all my life.

As I finish the last touches to my makeup, I wonder if Nova has any expectations on how I should behave.

The world doesn’t know it but my father is a sexist man and believes women only have a single role. To blend into the background while the men lead. It’s no wonder he never let either Jasmine or I into the family business.

Nova hasn’t shown any signs.

He finds my defiance and sarcasm amusing. Even though, in the past, he was cold-hearted every time we attended public events. His coldness bordering on indifference made me feel like dirt beneath his feet.

Will tonight be the same?

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