Page 45 of Cruel Dominion

“You haven’t been in my life in years. And in case you forgot, you broke up with me. You don’t just get to reappear and have me followed!”

I grabbed the hand poking me and pulled it against my chest. “Yes, I do. Because you’re mine, Anna. You always have been. Remember?”

I pushed down the sleeve of her gown to reveal a small rope burn on her slender wrist. I ran my thumb over the reddened skin, and she winced. Fury burned in my chest.

“Those assholes shouldn’t have gotten close enough to touch you,” I growled.

I’d need to be more careful. My men should’ve gotten there faster. They should’ve seen the others coming a mile away. If they couldn’t do their job properly, I’d just have to do it myself. Then I really would be her ‘stalker.’

The thought didn’t perturb me one bit. She belonged to me and I had every right to protect what was mine.

“I’m fine,” she insisted, trying to yank her hand away. “Let me go, Carter. You can’t keep doing this. I’m not yours.”

I grabbed her by the neck and kissed her. I was as possessive and claiming as I wanted to be, forcing her lips to part for me. I nipped at her lips and beat back her tongue even as she fought me.

Her claws sank into my shoulders, but they weren’t trying to scare me away. No. They were pulling me in. She couldn’t lie to me; she craved this version of me. The version who would take whatever he wanted. Who would force her to do what she wanted instead of what was expected of her.

I ripped my mouth away from hers. “Still think you’re not mine? Because you let me kiss you like I own you.”

“You’re delusional,” she said. The dazed-looking expression on her face betrayed her. I could read exactly what she wanted.

And I was ready to take advantage.

She was terrified to admit it to herself. That I was what she wanted. That this twisted love was why she came home.

Anna Vaughn couldn’t accept that she would never be her father’s puppet because she craved the sorts of things a life spent in a gilded cage couldn’t give her.

She read my stare and as those lips parted, I brushed my thumb up her jaw until it rested against her lips. They parted, just slightly. Just enough.

And I grinned as I sank the digit into her mouth, sliding the pad of my thumb over her tongue, pushing into the back of her throat.

Her eyes rolled back and a soft curse left my lips as I pushed her down until she was seated on the settee.

She went without more protest than a single gasping breath as my thumb left her mouth, blinking as if waking from a dream.

“I’m so fucking angry with you,” she said, her voice breathy as her hands clutched the edges of the seat cushions.

“I know,” I crooned, tilting her chin up. “I want to see those pretty green eyes looking up at me.”

She glared at me, and I thought she would defy me. She looked equal parts regal and wrathful, like a deposed queen kneeling to her conqueror. The image made my mouth water.

“I hate you.”

“I know.”

This time when her lips parted for me, I pushed my two middle fingers past them, gliding them over her tongue.

Her knuckles turned white.

I drank in the sight of her. The feel of her tongue on my fingers as I thrust them deeper, testing how far she could go. Her eyes rolled back again and I knew she loved this just as much as I did. Love and hate. They were one and the same for us.

A tightrope we walked on, getting closer to each other with every careful, balanced step.

She looked like sex personified as she tipped her head back, taking my fingers into her throat.

Every muscle in my body tightened as I felt the hot press of her throat closing around my fingers. I groaned, a curse pushing through my clenched teeth as I wrapped my other hand around her pretty neck and squeezed.

She moaned around my fingers, gagging lightly.

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