Page 55 of A King So Savage

“You should wear such things often,” Kingston replied huskily. His dark blue eyes searched hers, then dropped to stare at the outline of her mouth. Ava startled when his thumb brushed lightly across her bottom lip, smudging the scarlet lipstick just enough so that it imprinted onto his skin. “You are gorgeous dressed like this. Wearing these shoes… this dress. Even more so because you are dressed for my pleasure.”

Ava held her breath, hating how his attention made her so compliant. His words did something strange to her insides. She was melting into his arms, head swimming with overwhelming desire and awareness. She wanted him as badly as he wanted her, and it was horrifying. “Your decorator likely wouldn’t agree, considering my heel is probably ripping the fringe on this expensive rug,” she responded with a nervous laugh.

“Let me fix that…”

Then he sank to his knees before her.

His stance was reminiscent of a man proposing, and Ava’s hands immediately slid to his shoulders, holding on tightly to retain her balance. In an almost dazed state of consciousness, she stared down at the top of Kingston’s head. A dizzying sense of déjà vu overtook her as flashbacks of the cell assaulted her memory.

Memories of this man on his knees before her. Worshipping her body with his mouth. His tongue. His teeth.

Ava’s knees nearly buckled when he spread a large hand over her calf as a way of steadying her balance.

Kingston worked swiftly, untangling the fringe and freeing the shoe within a matter of seconds. But when he was done, he remained kneeling at her feet, gazing up at her from beneath the thick fringe of his eyelashes.

It should be criminal for a man to possess such thick eyelashes, to smell so damn good, and to be so good-looking. All that wickedness hidden beneath such a handsome veneer.

“There. No harm done,” he whispered, both hands now cupping her calves. Slowly, he slid them higher until they were at her knees, then higher still until he gripped the back of her thighs. He held her like that for a long moment while Ava’s breath lodged in her throat.

His hands were so warm. Hot, actually. Burning through the sheer thigh-high stockings as though she wore nothing but gossamer. His fingers pressed harder, leaving matched divots in her flesh.

Ava shivered with disturbing restlessness.

“Fuck, you are beautiful, Ava Blue. So damned beautiful.” His thumbs moved up and down in a caressing manner, his hands moving higher until they slipped beneath the dress’s short hem. Those large, rough hands coasted even higher until they cupped the cheeks of her bare behind exposed by the skimpy thong. Ava’s face heated with embarrassment.

“Did you miss me while I was away, Ava?” he demanded in a low voice that made her insides clench.

“No. I did not.” Ava gasped, digging her fingers into his shoulders. “Kingston. You shouldn’t…”

He squeezed her flesh in response, a dark chuckle escaping him when she let out a breathy moan.

“You are a liar. God, I’d love nothing more than to toss you up onto that table and devour my dessert before the first course is served. I’d feast on you until you screamed for mercy. Until you begged me to fuck you. However,” Kingston’s hands slowly withdrew, sliding away from Ava as he rose to his feet. He towered over her, a wicked grin curving his beautiful mouth as he took her hand. Pressing a hot kiss to the back of it, he held tight when she would have jerked free. “You want that, and this isn’t about whatyouwant.”

ChapterEighteen

Not with a cloudless sky so far

Above

And Hell not so far

Below

Ava’s mouthtightened with his words.

He’d angered her. Mostly because what he said was the truth. But Ava couldn’t possibly know he found this attraction between them just as perplexing and infuriating as she obviously did.

While away in the city, he’d spent a great deal of time checking the cameras for glimpses of his prisoner as she drifted in and out of the mansion’s rooms and explored the grounds of his estate. And he logged in too many times to count during the night just so he could watch her sleep in that king-size bed.

Pulling a chair out from the table, Kingston indicated she should sit down. Ava hesitated for a brief moment before sliding into the cool wooden seat.

Her eyes darted to the place setting opposite her own as Kingston sat in the chair situated at the head of the table.

“It’s not just the two of us for dinner tonight,” he murmured. “Doctor Abbott will be joining us. You do like Doctor Abbott, don’t you?”

He could see the question made Ava nervous. Was she worried about what he might do if she said yes?

“It’s okay if you like Neil, Ava. He’s one of my closest confidants. A trusted friend. Iwantyou to like him.”

---