Page 35 of A Heart So Savage

She didn’t want him holding her hand. The simple act was a lie. One she wanted no part of.

“But what else?” Ava’s voice wavered with awareness of the subtle shift in their situation. Did he feel it, too? This sense of belonging. Of fate. Of lives entangled until the end of eternity with no end to this captivity.

Leaping to her feet, she began pacing, suddenly terrified at what she was feeling.

Kingston reclined in his chair, watching her nervous burst of energy. “I’ve business ventures and investments all over the world, Ava. Some are legitimate, others, not so much. If you want to know whether I traffic women or children, I don’t. I don’t deal drugs, although the nature of this business makes it a factor in certain dealings with associates. My father was heavily involved in such criminal behavior. My way of doing business is very different.”

If she wasn’t so scared of plummeting to her death, Ava would have considered flinging open an emergency door and leaping from the plane. Everything felt as though it were crowding around her. Suffocating her until she could hardly breathe. “You would have sold me to the highest bidder, Kingston.Youwere willing to auction off my virginity to pay Carson’s debt. How do you explain that?”

“I never said I was different ineverything, lamb. Although, if it makes you feel better, I probably wouldn’t have gone through with the auction.”

“Don’t tell me you’ve developed a conscience,” Ava mocked. “Don’t tell me you grew a heart after you planned on selling me and profiting off your crime. You would have handed me over to anyone with the right amount of cash.”

“Oh, I haven’t a heart, lamb.” Kingston’s smile was dark. “Lucky for you I changed my mind about the auction. And as you can see by your current position, Icouldn’tlet you go once I fucked you. I told you before, Miss Blue, I’m not a good man. Thinking that I’ll suddenly sprout wings and a fucking halo while professing undying love simply because I enjoy your sweet cunt squeezing my cock would be very foolish.”

Ava’s mouth tightened into a hard line, dismayed by his crudeness. “I’m not stupid, Kingston. Monsters don’t fall in love with their victims. They devour until there’s nothing left and move on to the next unfortunate person.”

A gleam sparked in Kingston’s dark gaze. “When the offering is as goddamn delicious as you, it is rather hard to resist.”

A discreet knock on the privacy panel door interrupted whatever Ava might have said in response. The door slid open, and the attractive brunette stewardess popped her head into the opening.

“Would you care for refreshments, Mister Winter? The Dom Perignon is perfectly chilled.”

The brunette’s faintly accented voice was sweet as honey and cloyingly solicitous. Ava’s gaze narrowed on the young woman who gave her a simpering smile. The claustrophobia from just moments before eased away with this new distraction. But how sick was it that the implied threat of another woman was enough to change her headspace? The dizzying ups and downs was making her think she was schizophrenic.

“That would be wonderful, Monique.” Kingston smiled the young woman. “Two glasses, please.”

“Of course.” Monique ducked into the crew’s galley. A few minutes later came the dull thump of a cork being popped. When the stewardess reappeared, she carried a silver tray with two exquisite crystal flutes balanced upon it. “Here you go, sir.”

The seductive way Monique uttered the word ‘sir’had Ava clenching her teeth. The stewardess offered one flute to Kingston with a sweet smile and a lingering brush of her hand.

Ava wondered if she could get away with dumping a glass over the woman’s head.

Monique handed Ava the second flute with a smile not nearly as friendly as the one she gave Kingston. “Miss.”

Kingston motioned toward the back of the jet. “There’s quite a bit more to see, Ava.”

Ava sipped the champagne, wrinkling her nose at the bubbles when they tickled. The only area left was probably a sleeping area of some sort and a private bath. She definitely did not need to see that. “I’m good here. Thanks.”

His brow lifted slightly as if he could not believe her refusal. “Come with me, Ava.” Grabbing her free hand, he tugged her toward the sliding door.

“Let me go,” Ava demanded, the champagne sloshing over the rim of the flute as she tried twisting out of his grip. She wanted to dash the beverage in his handsome, smug face but lacked the courage.

“Must I remind you of our contract, lamb?” Annoyance darkened Kingston’s features as his hand tightened around her fingers. The next moment, the jet hit a pocket of turbulence, sending Ava jostling against him. Champagne soaked the front of his suit.

“Now look what you’ve done!” Monique scolded Ava, her tone one of scandalized shock. Taking their flutes, she set them down in a secure area andtskedat Kingston. “Sir, let’s get you out of that coat.”

Unscathed by the spill, Ava retreated while the stewardess bustled between them, dabbing at the wet spots on Kingston’s coat with a white cloth. Rubbing the broad expanse of his chest, Monique stared up at him with an inviting smile stretching her pouty lips.

Ava rolled her eyes at the woman’s painfully obvious tactics even as a perplexing mixture of hatred and jealousy suffused her veins. She watched the stewardess fuss over her captor. Oh, how she wanted to dive onto the girl and pummel that perfect face with her fists. Yank all the shiny, brunette hair out from Monique’s scalp and scratch the smooth planes of those alabaster cheeks until they bled.

The depth of such emotions, the overwhelming sense that Monique touched something that washers, made Ava dizzy. She shouldn’t feel this way, much less harbor an intense desire to act upon her urges. It was beyond sick. It was twisted and wrong. Kingston did not belong to her, and she didn’t belong to him, and yet…

And yet… shewashis. He vowed he had no use for other women during this damnable arrangement. Was it unreasonable to expect him to stand by his word?

Kingston’s gaze clashed with Ava’s, a glint of smugness lurking in the dark blue depths. He was fully aware of the disturbing turmoil surging through her body and her confusion on how to handle it.

“Thank you, Monique.”

---