Page 8 of Velvet Chains

“You can't just lock me up like some prisoner!” She exclaimed as she walked toward me with fiery anger in her eyes. Her anger and words made me raise an eyebrow. She seemed to have forgotten what position she was in, here. Again.

“I can't? Watch me. I'd love to see you try to get out of here.” I responded as I stepped closer to her. I could see her frustration building.

She even began to look around. Her first move was to go check the window. Although there were no bars on it, we were so high up that she would break a leg or two if she tried to jump. She ran to the bathroom next and did the same for that window.

She came back to the room, looking dejected. I chuckled, choosing not to tell her that even if she made it through the window, both windows had motion sensors that would trigger an alarm if someone jumped out.

“For your own sake, stay here. If you step out of line again, you'll be lucky if the worst thing that happens is being locked up in this room.” This time when I spoke, I was close enough to her that whenever I inhaled, I took in a deep breath of the floral perfume that clung to her. It was mixed with her own scent, which made it even more enticing.

I couldn't stop myself from tracing the path of the redness on her cheeks downwards, to her neck and finally where it disappeared into the low neckline of her dress. I took in a deep breath to calm myself, but that backfired as I only inhaled more of her scent. The combination of the sight of her gloriously angry and her scent were a heady mix.

“You're the only danger I can see here.” She retorted, her chest heaving as she spoke. I allowed myself another look before I replied.

“Maybe you're a bit shortsighted. That's not my fault. Go get ready for bed.” I said. And although she looked fuming, I could see that in her eyes, there was something else other than anger. Something that made me want to lean in and kiss her.

“This is your room, isn't it? If I'm staying here, where are you going to sleep?” She finally responded after looking around.

Rather than respond, I gave her a grin. She instantly understood what I meant and began to back away.

“Where are you going?” I teased.

“I hate you!” She suddenly exclaimed, making me frown. I believed she wanted to hate me, and I didn’t really care, but the way her voice shook when she spoke showed that she lacked conviction.

“Do you? It doesn’t look like it.” I asked, getting closer and closer to her with every word. I looked at her again, from her brilliant eyes to the curves barely hidden by the dress she was wearing.

I had watched her all day, she was a vision in that dress. The back of it was like flimsy little threads woven through each other. Every step she took away from me would shift the threads, exposing tantalizing peeks of the creamy skin underneath.

“Do you really hate me? Or are you just scared of how much you like this?” I asked as I moved close enough for our breaths to intermingle.

I watched with amusement and frustration rising within me as her face turned even redder than it was before. She had a dazed look in her eyes for a few seconds before she snapped out of it and stumbled backwards.

She took slow unsteady steps, and I followed, making sure to close the space between us. With every step I took, I could feel the heat between us rise higher and higher, until all I wanted to do was fold her into my arms.

“Shut up. Why are you standing so close to me?” She suddenly spoke. Her words were harsh but I could not take them seriously when she spoke with such a red face and in such a shaky voice.

As she spoke, I looked into her eyes. What I saw there wasn't just fear or anger, there was something more. I felt my resolve weakening and I approached her. She had stopped moving backwards because the bed was in her way.

“Tell me you don’t want me.” I demanded.

We stood there, right in front of a bed, close enough to touch. My mind almost went blank as I reached out and touched her face. On her expressive face, I could see the different emotions she was feeling. She looked like she was fighting two very different urges; the urge to run away and the urge to kiss me. I groaned softly. That look on her face would be my undoing.

“I… Just- Just shut up!” She protested weakly.

I ran a finger down her cheek to her jawline, then I cupped her chin gently right before I finally responded.

“Make me.”

CHAPTER FIVE

ISABELLE

“You’re trembling,” Vincenzo said, moving closer. His voice was so deep that I could feel it in every part of my body. I shivered and stilled myself so that my legs wouldn’t give out.

“You hate that you want me, don’t you?” He asked, stepping even closer. For a few seconds I forgot how to breathe.

He was so close that I could smell him. I could see every feature of his face, I could hear him breathe. His closeness was driving me crazy. I wanted to jump his bones and at the same time I wanted to run away. He was smirking as usual, he knew the effect he had on me.

“I don’t want you.” I hated that my voice trembled when I spoke, but it did. His smirk deepened then, as he slipped his hand to the back of my neck and pulled me closer.

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