Page 63 of Wicked Dreams

He doesn’t cushion our landing either. I don’t have time to protect myself, except to bring my arms in like tucked wings. We hit the ground hard on our shoulders, sliding and rolling down an embankment, and I immediately propel us sideways. We’re a wild tangle of limbs, but every instinct in me screams tofight.

Fight, flight, or freeze?

Right now, I’m choosing the first. I flail and catch him in the mouth. My knee lands dangerously close to his groin. He grunts in my ear.

One of his legs pins mine. I drag my nails down his throat, and his wild gaze crashes into mine. He catches my wrists and pins them above my head. Fury burns through me. A wild banshee screech leaves my lips, surprising both of us.

But I’m immobile—and as soon as that’s confirmed, triumph glints in his gaze.

The last thing I expect him to do is kiss me.

But he does. Hard.

Another mind game.

Second kiss ever, and I want to scream into his mouth.

His lips slide across mine, rough and insistent. Our lips part, our teeth clash. Doesn’t matter.Fuck, I’m kissing him back. But he still doesn’t stop. That’s not losing the game, I suppose. It’s some other sacrifice I’d have to make.

I bite his lower lip. The sharp metallic flavor of blood touches my tongue, but he doesn’t stop. His tongue surges into my mouth, easily claiming all of my space. All of my oxygen.

I hate you, I say on repeat in my mind, if only to try to remind myself that I’m not this person. I’m not the person who falls for the bully. I’m not the girl who falls to her knees when the handsome boy pays attention to her.

If I want to win his games, I need to remember that.

If I lose, I could lose myself, too.

“Kiss me,” he growls against my lips.

It’s my only reprieve, then he’s back on me.

Damn it, the kiss brings out feelings my body doesn’t know how to handle. His hand slides down my side, into my sweatpants. His fingers follow the same path his tongue did earlier, stroking in just the right places. I want to curse him out, but my mouth is a little busy at the moment.

His lips leave mine and drag down my throat. “I used to dream of this.”

Neck kisses? A whole new deal.

I moan. It’s surreal, and for a moment I’ve left my body, watching us on the damp grass.

Who is that on the ground, making sounds she’s only heard in movies? Feeling things she doesn’t have a right to feel?

A burning ache spreads through me, chased by a spark of something extraordinary. I shift. I curl my fingers into fists. His pace between my legs slows, his fingers inching along my throbbing skin.

“Should I leave you like this?” he asks. “Spread out, begging for me?”

He rises on his elbow, staring down at me while his fingers move on the most sensitive part of me.

How did I go from sleeping in my own bed,alone, to this?

“Finish the job or bring me home,” I say on an exhale.

He pouts, and his finger dips back into me.Insideme, where it has no business being. And yet my muscles clench at his digit on their own, and his knowing smile fucks me up.

Not in a good way.

“I guess I’ll take you home, then, little lamb.”

Chapter 14

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