Page 14 of Taken By Him

I scoot out of the nook. “What if I say no?” My heart jackhammers in my chest. This man kidnapped a woman yesterday, what will he do if I piss him off too much? But I don’t want to walk around on eggshells. I’m tired of it. I’m so tired of trying to placate those around me for fear of making a splash.

“Say no?” he asks, leaning one hip against the kitchen island.

“If I don’t agree to marry you?”

His eyes narrow to thin slits, but it doesn’t keep the heat from his glare hidden.

“Because I don’t want this. I don’t want to marry you.”

In three steps he’s in front of me, the toes of his expensive leather shoes pressed against the tips of my ballerina flats. He pinches my chin between his fingers in a hard grip and pushes my head back until I have to look down my nose to see him. Moving closer, he looms over me.

“Do you have a boyfriend? Someone you’re in love with?”

His question throws me for a moment. “No,” I answer when I recover.

His eyes roam over my face, more inspections. I’m not a liar, but I’m not sure he’s ever known anyone in his life that didn’t lie to him.

“Then we’ll work fine together,” he says, running the flat of his thumb over my bottom lip. The part of me that should be screaming at my legs to move, to carry me away from this dangerous man isn’t working. All that’s registering is the warmth of his touch, and how the pain of his grip is sending electric waves through my body, straight to my center.

“I don’t want to marry you,” I say firmly.

“We don’t always get the luxury of only doing what we want,” he says, shifting his hand to cradle the side of my face. His thumb traces my cheekbone. “You’ll be a good girl for me, Kasia. If you don’t... If you try to refuse me...” He leans closer to me, the tip of his nose pressing to my ear. “You’ll be punished like a bad, bad girl.”

I curl my fingers inward. This man could break me if he wanted to.

His mouth presses against my cheek, then my chin, finally he covers my mouth with his. It’s not tender, his kiss. It’s a branding. He’s marking me. I try to blank out, to just let it happen, but he won’t let me.

He grips the back of my neck, holds me to him and deepens the kiss. I want to fight him off, to push him away, punch him, kick at him, because despite what I want my insides to do, I’m melting beneath him. Maybe it’s the power, or the ownership he’s trying to convey.

When he pulls back, it’s with an arrogant grin. He knows what his touch is capable of doing. And I’m just another victim.

He must know I want to get away from him, because he fists his hand in my hair, holding me steady.

“You can look at me with all the hatred you want, Kasia, but you can’t hide the reaction your body has to my touch.”

“It’s just a physical reaction, nothing more.” I’m not telling the whole truth though. I’ve been kissed before. This is different. This left a tingle on my lips, and a wetness in my panties.

“I want to go back upstairs,” I say with gritted teeth.

“There’s that word again.Want.” His lips pull up into a wide, toothy smile.

“You’re an asshole,” I say hard, shoving at his chest. He still has my hair and he grips it even harder, twisting a little until I grimace at the sharp pain shooting through my scalp.

“Such a dirty mouth.” He turns away from me, walking me back to the breakfast nook where our plates still sit.

“Dominik,” I say reaching behind myself and smacking at his hands. “Stop it. You’re hurting me.”

“You wanted to play tough, Kasia, calling me an asshole. Not a great start to our relationship.” He’s mocking me. I hate him for it.

“You are an asshole, now let me go!” I demand. I have zero leverage here, but still I force myself to be strong. I know what he thinks of me, of what my father has told him. Kasia’s an obedient little thing. She’ll just lie down and take whatever you dish out.

“Again, she says it!” He laughs, but there’s no joy there. No levity.

Dominik plants his left foot on the bench of the nook and turns a heated glare on me. “Say it again and I’ll turn you over my knee and show you what happens to naughty girls in my house.”

This night has taken a turn I didn’t expect. How did I find myself here? Why can’t I stop myself, why do I push him?

“You. are. An. Asshole. Dominik Staszek. A fucking asshole.” I enunciate each word. I’ve lost my mind. There is no other explanation.

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