Page 18 of The Bratva's Auctioned Bride

To my surprise, Alex cocked a brow at that, taking me in with a measuring gaze as he took up another step, inadvertently forcing me back in response. “Is that so?”

The shift in his demeanor caught me off guard, and for a moment, I couldn’t think of anything to say in return as I noticed that new gleam in his eyes. I moved back further until my back bumped into the countertop behind me. “Of course it is…”

That look only deepened, a faint smirk spreading across his lips as he closed in, leaning closer. That mischievous sparkin his eyes made my stomach clench. Before I could get away, he trapped me against the counter with both hands on either side of me, all never taking his gaze off me.

“You keep talking about your freedom and choices, or lack thereof, so then answer me this,” he began, eyes sweeping over me before returning to mine again. “Why don’t you fight back like you mean it? Why don’t you kick, punch, and scream at me and do everything in your power to escape me?”

His words, along with his proximity, sent a shiver down my spine, and I swallowed hard as I looked up at him, able to pull in the fragrance of his designer cologne.

When I couldn’t find the words in me, far too distracted by how near he was, Alex chuckled and reached up to sweep a stray hair from my face. I shivered indiscernibly as his skin brushed against mine.

Despite my anger and hatred of him, I could feel my conviction wavering.

“Where’d that fire go, hm?” he teased, his voice a low hum that made my heart race. With a knowing grin, he leaned in until his lips nearly brushed against my ear. “Right when it was turning me on, too.”

I pulled in a breath at that, suddenly aware of how quiet the room seemed compared to only a few moments prior. Still, his proximity made it feel like my throat was closing up, and any attempt at speaking was completely useless.

Alex hummed to himself as he brought that hand to my chin, gently propping it up, and making me look at him completely. Another thrill flickered through my heart. I felt completely defenseless against his beautiful face and the charming grin that made my heart clench. We were so close, I could feel the warmth from his skin radiating against mine.

“Since you’re so concerned about choices, I’ll leave you with one now,” he began, eyes raking over me. “Either you can resist me and swear up and down that you don’t want this, or you can give in. You can admit to us both that you aren’t as against this whole thing as you’re trying to seem.”

As much as the challenge in his tone irritated me to no end, and as much as I wanted to prove him wrong, that desire to resist seemed so pointless in that moment. I couldn’t even convince myself anymore.

I wanted more than anything to shut that desire off and ignore it completely for my sake. To not give him even a moment of satisfaction. But as he looked down at me, his face close enough for me to feel the faint mingling of our breath, that resistance lost all of its appeal.

Taking in those deep brown eyes, along with his other handsome features and the surprising boyish charm of his freckles, the tension was thick enough for me to feel how it surrounded us. I didn’t want to deny it. Something in me wouldn’t let that happen.

By then, my eyes flickered down to his lips, noting how tempting they looked. How perfectly inviting and irresistible they were—waiting for me to give in and take the bait.

Despite the alarms going off in my head, the last of my self-restraint crumbled away, and I couldn’t help myself. I didn’t want to anymore.

Crossing what was left of the space between us, I pressed my lips against his and immediately lost myself to the feeling.

Even if I went that extra distance willingly, my head started reeling anyway, and that resistance was as good as dead the moment his mouth melded with mine in a breathless kiss.

Giving in completely, I shivered as I felt his hands against my hips, and I knew there was no turning back.

Chapter 10 - Lara

There was no pretending how excruciatingly addictive the feeling of his lips on mine felt—not when I couldn’t get enough.

As the kiss lingered, my fingers instinctively moved to the nape of his neck and ran through his hair. I caught the faintest shiver that moved through him as a result, and his mouth pressed against mine even firmer than before.

The rush of it made me sigh into the kiss, losing all sense of why I was even mad at him, or what had been the problem in the first place. Instead, I could only focus on how soft his lips were against mine, and how his hands nearly seared my hips with their warmth.

He was all-encompassing in that moment, surrounding me completely as he didn’t waste a second of that kiss. He drank me up greedily, and I did the same in return, feeling that ache deep within me.

Something in my mind was telling me to be angry, to hate him, and cast aside how perfectly his hands glided up my sides, squeezing me with what seemed like affection. It wanted me to regain my critical thinking and push him off me.

But it was all too good to reject. He was filling my head with a pleasant haze, and I just couldn’t say no.

One of his hands came up to cradle my cheek as he melded his lips with mine hungrily before his tongue flicked against my lower lip. Mind reeling, I parted my mouth for him, only to feel a rush of pleasure move through me the moment he explored me even deeper. The soft caress of his tongue against mine made my thighs clench, and I knew I was too far gone.

With that warmth pulsing between my legs, there was no coming back from want and desire.

The only semblance of hate left in my system as he kissed me so fervently I could hardly breathe was that I found him so attractive despite it all. How he could so easily pull me in with his handsome features and his charm, and the way the feeling of his lips on mine could make me toss my convictions away without a second thought.

Feeling dizzy as Alex broke the kiss to press his lips against my neck, he rested them just beneath my ear, and the gentle panting of his breath on me forced a shiver down my spine.

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