Page 50 of The Dollhouse

Behind me, Lake whispered, “Uh, is this a family thing or…”

Roman shocked me by standing. Within a second, he was at my side, and he pulled me away from Lake by grabbing my throat. Within the next moment, my back was against a wall, and Carter was stopping Lake from stupidly trying to save me. Lake’s hands were tied behind his back, so I had no idea what he thought he was going to do.

With his fingers curling around my throat, Roman whispered, “I should put a bullet in his head and make you watch.” Such venom in his words; I really wished it was directed at me and not Lake. If anyone should be on the receiving end of his threats, it should be me.

I knew he was serious too, so I didn’t say anything, keeping my jaw firmly clamped shut, my eyes focused on the thinning of Roman’s lips. To stare into his eyes right now would be equal to asking for a beating, daring him to prove it, to back up his threat with actions, and I did not want to be the cause of Lake’s death.

Still holding onto my neck, Roman gestured with his other hand to Carter, who got the hint. He grabbed Lake and hauled him out, and even though Lake tried to fight to remain, tried to call out for me—basically only tried to make sure I would be okay—it didn’t matter. Carter and Lake exited the room, a new kind of silence falling upon us.

“Well?” Roman egged me on, the tips of his fingers tightening their hold on my throat, stifling any deep breaths I might’ve inhaled otherwise. “You always have so much to say, Zoey. Why so silent now, hmm?” Mocking me, almost.

God, I hated him.

I hated that I didn’t hate him, even after all of this. What the hell was wrong with me?

“If you hurt him,” I whispered, slowly lifting my gaze to meet his dark stare, fighting the urge I had to let myself be swallowed up by everything that was Roman Russo. “If you lay a finger on his head or tell Carter to do it, I will hate you until the day I die.”

Roman practically growled now, but I didn’t care. I didn’t dare stop.

“You might have my body, but you won’t have all of me. You won’t have my heart,” I spoke, gaining the courage that had vanished the moment Carter practically threw Lake onto his knees earlier. “You won’t have my soul. Wasn’t that what you wanted from the beginning, Roman? Didn’t you want everything I had to give?”

He pressed his hips against me, pushing me harder upon the wall. “I wanted you to be mine—”

Though I was well aware the man could snap my neck with a flick of his wrist, I cut in, “Yeah? Well, you and Carter disappeared. You up and left me without even telling me where you were going or how long you’d be gone. What the hell was I supposed to do? Lake was there when you weren’t—when you couldn’t be. He is kind and sweet and everything you’re not.”

To my surprise, my harsh words did not earn me a choking, or even a neck snap. Roman simply stood there, glaring at me, moving to hold his other hand against the wall beside my head, his entire body leaning against mine, reminding me just how small I was when compared to the devil in a suit.

“I know what I agreed to with you,” I whispered, blinking once, a desperate need to make everything better nestled deep within me. “I know, but I can’t lie anymore.”

The hand holding my throat moved upward until he cupped my jaw, angling my head up so he could rest his forehead against mine. “Do you think your precious Lake will still want to be with you once he knows the truth? Do you think that I’ll let you run around with whoever you please when you’re not in my company? That is not how this works—”

“If you want me to choose you,” I decided to play his game, “I won’t do it. I would rather walk away from all of you than choose—and if you think you can keep me, if you think you can force me to be yours… you have no idea what a Marbella is capable of.” It wasn’t like I enjoyed using my last name. Roman wasn’t from Hillcrest, so he didn’t know what families did there, but he would learn.

Force me to do anything I didn’t want to do, and he’d learn. They always did. I would not let myself become some slave, some puppet to his desires, unless I wanted to.

Roman inhaled, breathing me in as he gripped my jaw tighter, forcing my lips to part as I winced under his grasp. “You,” he murmured. “You are…” He trailed off for a while, letting me imagine what word he was going to use.

Not for long, though, for the next thing I knew, his mouth crashed down upon mine, drawing what little breath I had in my lungs out, all but forcing me to give into him. How could anyone kiss Roman Russo and not want to bend to his will?

He broke the kiss enough to mutter, “An insolent—” His lips brushed against mine with the words before swallowing me again, the passion behind his mouth nothing short of furious and angry.

It was impossible to fight it, to fight him, not when I could feel the fire from his body seeping into mine, the way his lean figure pressed against me, the hand still cupping my jaw refusing to let go as he devoured everything I was and everything I would be.

“Brat,” Roman finished, digging his hips into mine, making me feel the hardness there, pressing against my stomach. He kissed me so hard and so fast it felt like my lips would be bruised, but I didn’t care, and obviously neither did he. “I should make you regret everything you said… but all I want to do is fuck you against this wall and hear you scream my name.”

Oh, it was effortless, hopping back on the Roman train, letting him do whatever the fuck he wanted to me. Still, he and I would need to have a longer discussion about Lake—and kidnapping in general, I think—however, that would be a discussion for another time.

Right now, all I wanted was for him to take me, too.

“What are you waiting for?” I whispered, smirking up at him.

The hand holding onto my jaw left it, the one on the wall beside me dropping as he tore at the clothes keeping us apart. All he did was undo his belt and his pants, causing his shirt to become untucked. His hands were rough as he went at my shorts, his forehead leaning against mine as he yanked them down, my strappy panties with it. His fingers traced my slit, curving up my body until that same hand returned to my neck, holding onto me in a way that meant he was claiming me.

This wasn’t a dream. I was really about to have sex with Roman for real, right after he had his men kidnap both me and Lake.

Needless to say, this was a little wrong—but also needless to say, I didn’t much care. I wanted to feel that hard cock inside of me, know how it felt to be filled to the brim with his length. I’d tasted him, given him head, but not this. Not unless you counted my dream.

Roman’s dark gaze commanded mine as I felt his cock pressing between my legs. With a jerk of his hips, he pushed himself in, never once breaking eye contact, forcing intimacy between us as he took me hard and fast, making me groan as I wondered if I’d truly lost it. Had I gone insane when I wasn’t looking?

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