Page 45 of Cruel Crown

The hand with the skeletal shading was already looking swollen. With both hands, I massaged it while I saw his intake of breath.

“The steroids will help with the pain and pull you through for the next few days. If you get hurt, you can always go to the infirmary and they will fix you up.”

“This was your room?” Gideon said, referring to my earlier statement.

I didn’t answer him right away. Instead, I flicked the needle because the last thing I needed was an air bubble to kill him.

“Don’t move…I don’t want to hurt you,” I said softly.

Gideon went still; his body stopped moving, and the energy in the room changed. It somehow electrified, and if I thought I had all of him before, this was him about to be restrained. I wanted to push him, but I refrained.

When I finished with the injection, I made a move to get up, but stopped when he touched my chin.

I looked up at him and almost drowned with the intensity of those whiskey eyes.

“Did I hurt you?” he asked, his eyes leisurely trailing down my body. His hand moved to my cheek, and he turned it to the side where a small bruise had started to form from where Francesca had hit me. With his thumb, he rubbed the spot gently. “Did I do that?”

“No, I’ll be fine; nothing an ice bath won’t fix.”

There was a pregnant pause, and I started to move away so I could sit up, but he brought one of his hands to the back of my nape, stopping me.

“Were you jealous?” There was no smirk on his face nor any gloating.

“You heard what Paco said, didn’t you?” I raised a brow.

“Are you mad?” he asked as his fingers ran through my hair. I fought the urge to succumb to his touch.

“No, it’s just hair.”

“Why keep it so long?” he stayed still looking intently at my face for the answer to his question.

“Because men prefer it that way.” My face stayed stoic as ever as I watched his jaw become rigid and his eyes hard.

“I meant what I said, Petal. The only person allowed to pull it is me,” he said through clenched teeth. To prove his point, he gripped the now short hair from the nape and pulled my face toward his until we were nose to nose.

“Were you jealous?”

I smiled sadly at him, and I brought my hands to his cheeks. “It doesn’t matter what I felt. I have no say about what or who you do. And you don’t get a say to what I do.”

“Why are you here, then?” he whispered against my temple. It was an excellent question. Unfortunately for him, I wasn’t obliged to answer. When he saw I wasn’t going to speak, his demeanor changed. He wrapped one hand around my waist and lifted me so I was straddling him.

“Feel that, Petal?” he asked as he thrust his hips so I would feel his arousal. “I’ve been fucking hard the moment you and Francesca started going at it.”

How easy would it be to give in? One of us had to have some self-preservation, and it was clear it had to be me. He was about to speak, but I put my finger to his mouth to silence him. “What happened today was only the beginning. We will continue to be pitted against each other.”

“I don’t care,” he said. “I meant what I say, Petal. You either do things my way or I will—”

“Snitch?” I raised a brow defiantly at him.

Gideon gave me a cruel smile. “No, baby, I’m going to do whatever I have to do to make sure I win, and you don’t have to like it.”

“And what are you going to win? Death?” I started to wiggle in his lap, trying to leave because he just didn’t get it. He didn’t reply; instead, he pulled my short hair and brought my head down, and he slammed his lips against mine.

Poison—this kiss was poison. It was raw and jagged, filled with emotions neither of us should be feeling, not when they could be used against each other. The thing about poison was that more often than not, it was always sweet.

My mouth parted for him, and my arms wrapped around his shoulders. Gideon moaned his approval as one of his hands moved down and cupped my ass.

“I’m going to make you beg for me,” he whispered against my mouth. Then he started to kiss my neck. “Make you scream my name.” He flipped me on the bed and hovered on top of me. “I’m going to own all of you.”

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