Page 43 of All That Glitters

She’s going strong in the scene, but her gaze keeps flicking down to my cock—too distracted, it seems, to really understand what she’s reading or where this scene is going.

She’ll have to run.

I’m damn well going to give chase.

“It seems you need to be taught the price for getting what you want.” I drop my hand to my cock and stroke it through the fabric.

“I’m not scared of you,” Empire as Alicia states.

“Then why are you sweating? I see your pulse in your neck, racing. You should not be scared. This is what you want, after all. You’ve talked a big talk, and now—” Shit, I forgot the line.

I want this so badly my hands are shaking. My body is tense. I can't wait to taste every inch of her. The thought of capturing her, feeling her tight body beneath mine and at my mercy, is liquid desire injected right into my bloodstream.

“It’s just a line, Marcus,” she reminds me for the thousandth time. “And it’s not even like you’re going to be the one saying it.”

“You’ve talked a big talk, and now you’re going to have to put your money where your mouth is, young one.” I take a step closer to her.

“I thought I’ve already done that,” she argues. The first hint of fear shows on Alicia’s face. Empire only looks horny, her hard nipples visible through her shirt. “Didn’t I show you on my back?”

Another step. “Not nearly enough.”

I slide my hands along the outside of her bare thighs, her skin like velvet. I pause at her hips before I drag my fingernails toward her inner thighs and higher, teasing her before circling her knees.

Her tongue darts out to wet her lips again, and I stare up at her, watching her cheeks pink, her chest heave.

It’s her line.

Her gaze drops to my throat and stays there.

“Well?” It’s my turn to prompt her.

She clears her throat and twists to glance at the script on the desktop. I’m not the only one aroused out of my mind. She’s turned on too.

She’s struggling to remember her lines, but there is something so innocent about the way she’s fumbling, the way she thinks she’s the one in control of this game. I’ve played along the best I could, but I want to eat her. I want to do one better than Mr. Patterson. I want to devour this beautiful creature alive.

“What are you going to do?” I grind out. “Do you think you’re going to run? I see you going for the door.”

Empire lets out a breathy chuckle. She’s nowhere near close to the door.

“There’s nowhere you can go to escape me, Alicia. You’re mine now. You’re mine in every possible way. I own you.”

“I belong to myself,” she insists.

“You belong to me,” I repeat. “You can run if you like. It will only make it so much sweeter when I catch you.”

“What will you do to me?”

“You’ve stirred my passion, and now you think you’ve paid the price. You’re nowhere near close to paying it, sweetheart. One way or another, I’m going to catch you.” I drop my head to the side of her neck and drag my nose up her overheated skin. “You might not like what happens when I do.”

“You’ll…rape me?”

“It’s not rape if you beg me for it,” I say as Mr. Patterson. “Trust me when I tell you, I know exactly what to do to your body to have you begging for it. You love it when I touch you. You love what my money does for you. Isn’t that what you’re really after?” I pause to wait for her answer.

In the script, Alicia runs, and Mr. Patterson is supposed to hunt her down. It’s a culmination of their cat and mouse game, where he goes from the hunted to the hunter.

Except they’re in his house, and he knows the labyrinthine halls better than she does.

In our case, Empire knows this house much better than I do. I’m the one at a disadvantage if she changes her mind and decides to hide.

---