Page 5 of A Heart So Savage

Kingston ran his hand down the length of Ava’s spine. The soft threat of his fingertips told her to remain still or suffer the consequences. But she could not help her response. Squirming against him, panic rose once more in her chest. The depths of Kingston’s possessiveness spoken aloud was eye-opening.

“She isn’t here for your pleasure or for you to torment,” Kingston continued calmly. “She’s here because she’s mine. Until I decide otherwise, she’smine.You will treat her with respect and deference for her position as mine. Otherwise, I’ll have no choice but to dismiss you in the same manner I dismissed Malcolm. All of my men understand this. Do you, brother?”

There was a long stretch of silence. With her face smashed against the table, Ava could not see either man, but violence swirled in the air between them. Like electrical jolts of energy, animosity and hate shimmered and snapped. She was caught in the middle of that bad blood now. A target for Oliver. And an outlet for the younger man to hurt the half-brother he despised.

The danger of her new status was glaringly obvious. She was not safe as Kingston’s property. As his personal toy. If anything, she was at a greater risk than ever before because of it. His enemies would use her to get to him.

Did Kingston realize what he had done in claiming her with such ferocity?

A little sob escaped Ava’s throat before she could swallow it back down. Terror bubbled inside her. She kicked out a leg in mindless reaction.

Kingston’s hand around her wrists tightened imperceptibly. It was a subtle reminder that he ruled her and everyone else in his orbit.

Oliver laughed softly. “Of course, King. I get what you’re saying. I should treat your new pet as if she were a dear, treasured sister.” His tone was slightly sarcastic. “Right?”

“Something like that,” Kingston replied in a mildly amused tone. “Now, get the fuck out and close the door when you go. It seems thispetrequires firmer instruction when it comes to her new status.”

ChapterTwo

These chains hold me tight.

Your arms, even tighter.

Kingston keptAva’s hands imprisoned in the dip of her lower back even after Oliver’s departure. How he wanted to wrap his hands around her throat. To squeeze until the flutter of her heartbeat tickled his fingers. He craved the motion of her swallow reflex. Wanted to experience the futile struggle as she tried breathing without his permission. Because that’s what she was doing to him. Strangling him within the depths of an irrational possessiveness.

It left him feeling unbalanced. Unhinged. He did not like it at all. Damn Oliver for reminding him just how shaky his hold on Ava Bella Blue really was. And damn her for making him care so much about protecting her.

Claiming her so forcefully opened him up to enemies who would use Ava against him. Enemies like Oliver, who constantly prowled for evidence of Kingston’s weaknesses.

Ava squirmed again, shifting her feet in restless response to the tightening of Kingston’s grip. She feared Oliver, and that was good. But she should be far more terrified of the man currently holding her down over a pool table. After all, her life was in his hands. He could squeeze it into non-existence in a matter of seconds.

“Be still, Ava.”

“What are you going to do to me? I obeyed you…”

His fingers dug into her hip, biting through the jeans she wore. “But you haven’t. Not really. Now, do as I say and be still.”

She huffed in frustration, but Kingston waited until her strained muscles relaxed, and she finally slumped against the table in reluctant defeat.

A wry grin twisted Kingston’s lips. “Good girl.”

Her fingers curled into the palms of her own hands with the unexpected praise. A tiny shiver, almost unnoticeable, passed through her body. It was proof of how much she needed those words.

“I think I should make a rule. No jeans. Ever,” he said in a deep voice. “They make it too damned difficult to touch what I want most.” Backing away a few inches, he inserted a knee between her thighs and nudged. “Spread your legs for me, Ava.”

For a brief second, she hesitated before shifting her feet into a wider stance. Obediently, she waited for his next command while sprawled over the priceless antique pool table as though it were a patrol car, and he was an officer patting her down.

Kingston debated ripping the garments from her body. He could strip her bare, shred every article of clothing she wore, and she would not dare fight him. But that might be too much.

He would still punish her, but it would be tamer than what he genuinely wanted. What he needed. Whatsheneeded.

Smoothing his palm over the swell of her ass, he squeezed each rounded cheek in turn, gratified when a low moan slipped from Ava’s lips.

“I want to spank your ass red for that fucking stunt you pulled the other morning,” Kingston murmured. “But I’m afraid if I start, I won’t stop until I’ve broken you. And I don’t want that—not yet.”

Ava was silent, but she did jerk away from the abrupt sting of his hand striking her bottom. He did it again, harder this time, and she cried out in feeble protest.

“I wonder if you realize the danger of your actions. How close you were to being raped by Malcom. Let this be a warning, Ava.Alwaysobey me. Always. Even when it twists your guts with hate to do as I command.”

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