Page 61 of Ruthless Desire

But he doesn't.

Instead, he smiles. A slow, sinister curl of the lips that chills me to the marrow.

"Oh, moy voron," he murmurs, his voice a silken purr. "You have no idea how special you are. How much I delight in showing you off, watching you dazzle and shimmer for my amusement."

He leans in closer, his breath ghosting across my cheek. "But never forget - you shine for me and me alone. Every glimmer, every spark, belongs to me. And I will snuff you out like a candle's flame should you forget your place."

I try to pull away, to put some distance between his hungry mouth and my jumping pulse. But my back hits the door, the handle jabbing painfully into my spine.

Trapped. Pinned like a butterfly to a collector's board.

"I know my place," I hiss, tilting my chin in a show of bravery I don't truly feel. "The unwilling prisoner of a madman. The victim of a monster who knows nothing of real love or loyalty."

Something dark and fathomless flickers in Dante's eyes, a chasm of unnamed emotion. His hand comes up to cup my cheek, his thumb pressing cruelly into the hollow beneath my cheekbone.

"You know nothing of what I feel for you," he rasps, his voice tight with some unfathomable tension. "The depths I would plumb, the depravities I would embrace, to keep you by my side. There is no limit to my obsession, no end to the lengths I'll go to make you mine in truth."

I stare at him, my heart a wild drum in my chest. It's the closest he's ever come to a confession, an acknowledgment of the twisted emotions that drive his every vice like a stake.

I want to recoil, to deny the black enormity of what he's professing. But some dark, damaged part of me revels in it, swoons at this sinister seduction.

For so long, I've thought myself unworthy of any form of love, tainted and broken by the cruel hand life dealt me.

But here, now, in the grip of a man more monstrous than any nightmare could conjure... I have never felt so wanted. So coveted, so wildly, violently desired.

It's a dark revelation, one that shakes me to my core.

I can't bear to be under his smoldering gaze another second.

I twist away and fumble at the handle.

I need to get out.

I need to run.

I need to escape this intoxicating undertow before I drown for good.

The door swings open, and I tumble out, my heels catching on the slick pavement. I hear Dante's shout, and feel the swipe of his fingers against my arm, grasping, claiming.

But I wrench free, the silk of my gown tearing with an audible rip.

Then I'm off, running into the night in an unthinking flight, my breath sawing in my lungs.

The valet stand is just ahead. I stumble towards it, my hair coming loose from its artful arrangement, my feet screaming in protest at the punishing pace. But I don't stop, the urge to flee overwhelming all else.

"Keys," I gasp, thrusting my hand out to the startled attendant. "Now, please, I need-"

But he's already backing away, his eyes wide with a fear that has nothing to do with me. No, his gaze is fixed over my shoulder, on the dark figure stalking towards us with predatory intent.

Dante. Of course it's Dante, his eyes black with fury, his mouth set in a grim line. He looks like vengeance personified, a dark god come to earth to mete out punishment.

Panic rises like bile in my throat. I can't go back, can't submit to his twisted desires, his cruel manipulations. Not again, not ever.

In a burst of desperate strength, I lunge for the key cabinet, my scrabbling fingers closing around the first set I touch. The attendant yelps, making a grab for me, but I slip past him, my feet flying across the pavement.

I slam into the car, a sleek black beast of an SUV, nearly dropping the key fob as my hands shake. The locks click open and I scramble inside, the plush leather interior enveloping me like a cocoon.

In the rearview mirror, I see Dante closing in, his strides long and purposeful. His face is a mask of cold anger, a promise of retribution etched in every harsh line.

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