Page 8 of Devil's Den

“It didn’t exactly come up,” she said.

He shook his head. “I should have known.”

“You’re blaming me?” she asked.

“Yes, you should have told me what was going on or the fact you’d never been with a man.”

She couldn’t help it, her mouth fell open, she was in so much shock. “Wow, forgive me for not telling a perfect stranger who threatened to hurt my brother. I didn’t think a guy like you would even care.”

“A guy like me?”

“Come on, Rome. You came to my brother and threatened to kill him unless I agreed to belong to you for a month. That kind of guy.” She shook her head and got to her feet. She’d been lining her shoes up, and she thought she kept hers in pretty good condition but opposite Rome’s, they looked a mess. They were worn and scruffy. “So don’t start accusing me. You didn’t ask and I didn’t know if it was in the job description to tell you I was a virgin.”

“How?” he asked.

“Huh, you’re not making any sense to me. You know how women remain virgins, they don’t have sex. I didn’t have any kind of sex with anyone. That is how I’ve remained a virgin.”

“I don’t mean that, for fuck’s sake, I know how one remains a virgin. I want to know how you did,” he said.“You’re fucking beautiful, and you’re kind. Men must have been clamoring to get to you.”

In a moment like this, she shouldn’t have been feeling pretty good at him calling her “beautiful,” or “fucking beautiful.” The compliments were so sweet, and yet, she had to keep her wits about her.

“I don’t have to justify anything to you,” she said. “Not a single thing.” She refused to.

“I could have made it better,” Rome said.

She had been about to brush past him, but he captured her arm and then pressed her up against the wall.

“It didn’t have to be such a painful experience for your first time.”

“Instead, you said, ‘what the fuck,’ and then you left. You ran away.”

“I didn’t run away.”

“Yeah, you kind of did. I wonder what people would think if they knew a girl’s virgin pussy terrified you.”

He reached out and his fingers stroked her neck. “Are you threatening me?”

“No, I’m not, actually. I am hurt, and I’m lashing out at you.” She frowned. There was nothing good for her that came out of the last few hours.

Her virginity wasn’t accepted, and above all, a guy like Rome had run away like she was some kind of vermin. Yeah, there was no way she was going to be telling anyone what happened this evening. Not a soul.

Also, he failed to see that she didn’t have anyone else to tell. There was just her, and she was going to listen to his advice. When it came to her brother, the alarm bells had already been going off inside her head before Rome turned up at the door.

It would only be a matter of time before he got them both into trouble. She loved her brother, but she wasn’t going to takethe fall for him. This with Rome, would be the last thing she ever did for him.

“I wouldn’t tell anyone about what happened here.” She didn’t want to remember. His fingers didn’t leave her throat.

She looked at him as he stared back at her, and neither of them spoke. They just looked at one another. Beth wanted to ask him what he was thinking, but it didn’t seem right.

He leaned in close and she held her breath, not knowing what was coming next, anticipating, waiting, curious, and then his lips brushed across hers. The kiss was so unexpected. Kind of sweet.

And then, he deepened the kiss.

Against her wishes, Beth closed her eyes and then let out a moan as he growled against her lips. She placed her hand on his chest and started to move up, about to wrap them around his neck, but he pulled away before she could do that.

“Get some rest,” he said.

He pulled away and without another look, he left the bedroom.

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