Page 42 of Emperor of Wrath

I’m spiraling. The pain and shame of those years are smashing against the walls and barriers inside. The screams I held back and the horrors my body and soul endured in shuddering silence begin to wail and rise up as the room spins and my vision goes dark.

It feels like I’m about to drown under the weight and the pain of it all. And so I reach out for the one rock I can grab hold of.

I do the only thing I can to silence the agony and drown out the horrific memories of a monster surging up inside.

In one motion, I grab Kenzo’s tie, yank him down, and crush my mouth to his, kissing him.

And the whole damn world goes still.

It escalates quickly. One second, I’m holding his tie and pressing my lips to his. The next, it’s like Kenzo comes alive. His hand tightens on my wrist, pulling me hard against him. His mouth opens, his tongue dancing over my lips and then plunging between them.

His dark, masculine groans rumble through my body and turn my core to molten lava as the spicy clean scent of him consumes me.

His hand on the back of my neck slides up, his fingers threading into my hair and gripping me possessively as he kisses me. Around us, partygoers begin to laugh and smile, clapping and taking pictures as I melt against Kenzo’s chest in the single most powerful, gravity-shifting kiss of my entire life.

…And for the first time in longer than I can remember, the screaming in my head goes utterly and completely silent.

I don’t know how long it lasts. But I do know when he finally pulls back, his teeth raking across my bottom lip, my legs are shaking and I’ve stepped into a different reality.

A ragged breath leaves my swollen lips as I stare up at him. My mouth curls a little at the edges, my pulse roaring as Kenzo locks eyes with me.

He turns to flash the crowd a smile as I stand there still staring up at him like a fool.

Slowly, he turns back to me. But there’s no confusion or even happiness in his eyes. There’s no charming grin, no eager lips.

Just wrath and malice lurking under the surface as he leans down, his lips brushing my ear so that only I can hear.

“Don’t think for a second I don’t know what you just did,” he hisses quietly.

His hand slides back to the nape of my neck, gripping it firmly and making me wince.

“Don’t ever fucking take me for a fool again, Annika,” he snarls. “And don’t take me for a man who’ll take another’s scraps, either. When I do more than kiss you, princess—and I will—you’ll be thinking of me and only me. Is that fucking clear?”

I’m trembling, but I nod quickly, swallowing the lump in my throat. “Yes.”

“Good girl,” he growls.

His hands drop from me.

“Now, let’s go sign this fucking contract and get it over with.”

He turns and walks away.

9

KENZO

There’s a fury roaring through my veins I don’t quite understand as I walk away from a woman I’m not entirely sure I want to be walking away from.

Such is my confusion when it comes to Annika.

I want to be rid of her, yet I want her wrapped up in me. I want to hate her, yet I want to possess her completely. I want to punish her…and, well, I want to punish her.

Angrily, I duck into Sota’s home office and stride across the elegantly tasteful room decorated with priceless Edo-era Japanese artifacts to Sota’s bar cart. I pour a heavy splash of the good scotch I know he keeps in here, bringing it to my lips. My eyes stab out of the fourth-floor window looking across the West Village.

What the fuck is this fury inside me? This raging wrath? I mean, obviously I’m not jealous. But it’s still completely fucking not okay for her to be getting so close and chummy with whoever that motherfucker was.

I swallow a gulp of scotch, trying to place him. Older, well-dressed but a little sleazy. I didn’t get a good look at his face, but given that he got into the party, he’s someone important that either Kir or Sota knows.

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