Page 51 of A Heart So Savage

She shrugged. “It isn’t your fault Carson is morally bankrupt. What could you have done in that situation? We barely knew one another, and you had your own troubles to overcome. You had no obligation to me.”

As they swayed to the music, Kingston’s shoulders tightened with unexpected tension. Something about Ava made him feel…different.It was frustrating and unsettling, but he realized he would gleefully slaughter anyone who dared hurt her like he had.

Lowering his head, he rested his temple against hers and inhaled her intoxicating scent. She smelled like honeysuckles and roses. Like innocence and lush decadence. He smelled himself on her as well, the faintness of scotch and his own cologne mingling with hers to create a heady blend. She felt sorightin his arms. He couldn’t imagine anything being more perfect than this precise moment in time.

When he tugged her closer, Ava allowed it, her body naturally conforming to his. She melted against him, his arms a steady ballast holding her aloft. He kissed the tips of her fingers softly, delighting in her quick intake of breath. Turning her hand palm up, he pressed his mouth to the center of it.

The song came to an end, the last notes fading away but Ava did not retreat from the circle of his arms. Leaning slightly back, she stared at him while his lips moved softly over her palm.

“The song’s over,” Ava whispered, her gaze like molten fire.

“Is it?” Kingston’s words rumbled as he continued exploring her silken skin. He didn’t want the song to end. Didn’t want this moment to end.

“Yes,” she affirmed, stealing a glance at the stage. “The band stopped playing. I think they’re taking a break.”

“I’ll tell them to keep playing.”

She looked disturbed by that prospect. “I don’t want to dance anymore. Besides, you said it would be only one.”

“I could demand that you dance for me all night, and you’d have no choice but to obey.”

Ava took a step back as far as the muscle-clad arm around her waist would allow. Kingston cursed under his breath. He wasn’t sure why he’d said it like that. So cold and aloof.

Brutal and uncaring.

It shattered the previous melancholy sweetness, reminding him she was his prisoner. But still. Being this close to Ava, breathing her in, holding her in his arms as though they were really a couple out on a date, was twisting something loose inside him that had been tethered to walls of stone for a long time.

“Like a stripper? That kind of dancing?” Her tone was horrified, her green eyes wide.

“Yes.” It was so wrong giving that idea room to run, but the thought of Ava’s lithe body undulating while she undressed before him had Kingston’s cock hardening into a rod of steel.

She tried pulling free. “I might be your prisoner, but I won’t be your whore, too.”

“You’re not my whore, Ava. You’re just mine. Simple as that.”

“Not forever, though. There is an expiration date to all of this.” Ava clutched her purse closer to her body, something secretive flashing across her pale features.

“We’ll see.” Kingston shrugged. With the band no longer playing, the few couples also on the dance floor were now returning to their seats. The normal chatter of diners and the faint clinking of silverware were underscored by soft music playing over the restaurant’s sound system. The fact the two of them still stood in the middle of the dance floor was drawing attention.

“Time to return to our table, Ava.” Kingston gripped her arm a bit harder than necessary when he spied Nadia sulking back to her own table. Her companion was an older man, a distant business associate who enjoyed the company of younger women.

“Of course,sir,” Ava replied darkly.

“Damn it. Don’t give me that. Not right now,” he growled, pulling her along with him with such finesse it appeared he was simply being attentive.

“Oh, I’m sorry.” Ava’s tone dripped with sarcasm. “Wrong venue, is that it?”

She practically threw herself into the curved structure of their booth, sliding across the leather until she reached the very back of it. Kingston followed her, his body pressing close against hers. She immediately tried scooting away but his hard hand on the inside of her thigh stopped her progress.

With a scowl, she grabbed the champagne flute and took a big swallow of its contents.

“I think we should forgo dinner and satisfy your curiosity at LIST,” he purred. Two of his fingers anchored the underside of her chin, turning her face so he could smile into her eyes. “I’d love hearing you try to say ‘sir’ while you are on your knees with my cock deep in your throat.”

Ava sputtered, the descriptive threat catching her off-guard. He removed his fingers from her chin but maintained the grip on her thigh. While she dabbed her chin with a napkin, glaring at him, the waiter appeared with the first course of their meal.

“Behave now,” Kingston admonished quietly. “Or suffer the consequences with an audience.”

“You wouldn’t dare.” Gritting her teeth around the words, her panicked gaze flitted to David, their blissfully unaware waiter.

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