Page 33 of The Price of Power

“Yes, yes,” she all but chanted with every rhythmic breath. “Please. Yes.”

It would have been so easy to take her over the edge. To watch her shatter. To feel even more of her warmth pour over my palm.

But that wasn’t what this was about.

She’d said she wanted to know the consequences of her actions, and by God, I was going to show her. Even if it tore me in half along with her.

I waited until her body tightened, until her cries had reached a fevered pitch, until I felt the start of the fluttering along her inner walls. Then I snatched my hand out of her pants and stepped back.

Her eyes flew open, her arms flying out the side to steady her shaking body before she crashed to the floor.

“Gabriel? What’s going on?” The sound of her pleading voice, questioning and begging for more all in the same breath, was almost enough to break my resolve.

Almost.

“I said you wouldn’t enjoy the consequences of frustrating me, Liv,” I said, pulling a pristine white handkerchief out of my breast pocket and wiping my fingers clean. “Now you know what it feels like.”

Her face began to burn as she struggled to catch her breath. I wasn’t sure if her flushed cheeks were from shame or anger until she opened her mouth, and rage-filled words poured out.

“That…That was a punishment? You bastard!”

“It was. And I’d watch your language…unless, of course, you want another one.” Tucking the handkerchief in my pants pocket, I pulled down my sleeve and straightened my coat before turning around and heading toward the door.

“Wait,” she called out before I reached the door. I didn’t have to stop—hell, after teaching her that lesson, I probably shouldn’t have—but I quickly realized that it took far more willpower to resist Liv’s voice than I’d originally thought. “Where are you going?”

“To talk with Matteo,” I answered without turning around.

“And what am I supposed to do while you’re gone?” she asked.

“I really don’t care,” I told her before throwing open the door and stepping out into the hall. “Just as long as you’re here when I get back.”

Chapter Ten

OLIVIA

Imust have stood there staring at the back of the door Gabriel had slammed for a full minute before I was able to recover from the shock. It was probably another minute after that until I felt steady enough to myself off the wall.

The first thing I did was zip back up my pants.

The sound alone was enough to send a searing jolt of shame straight through me. I’d been so determined not to let Gabriel seduce his way past my defenses, but one touch was all it took for my walls to come crumbling down. I hadn’t even tried to protest.

A part of me wanted to pretend it was because everything had happened so fast. That I never saw it coming. But that was a lie.

There had been no mistaking the lust in Gabriel’s gaze as he pinned me against the wall. The fire in his dark eyes had started heating my blood long before his touch had a chance. The moment he had me in his grasp, I knew what he wanted.

And even worse, I wanted to give it to him.

The only thing I didn’t want was the part where he stormed away, leaving me panting and alone.

I got that he was trying to prove a point—that he made the rules, that he was in control. A message that was completely undermined by the fact that he’d walked out of this room every bit as riled up by desire as I was.

He might have played it cool, but I knew what those sparks in his dark gaze meant, and it was comforting to realize I wasn’t the only one tortured by the lack of completion.

For a second, I was tempted to do something to remedy that frustration. I was alone, after all, and apparently, the bedroom was right behind me. As wound up as I was and with the image of Gabriel’s steamy stare burned into my mind, it wouldn’t take more than a couple of minutes to get myself off.

But in the end, I didn’t dare. Gabriel didn’t say how long he’d be gone, and the last thing I needed was to be in the middle of private time when he returned. After seeing how he’d reacted to a couple of simple questions, I wasn’t eager to find out how he’d deal with me taking matters into my own hands, so to speak.

So instead, I started poking around my new “home.”

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