Page 60 of The Broken Queen

A chill came over my body that wasn’t there before. Someone was out here with me. I froze, trying to remain inconspicuous.

“Why did you take off like that?”

A part of me relaxed when I heard his voice, but the other part of me stayed on high alert. Why did he affect me so much? I hated him.

No, I loved him.

I sounded like a freaking teenager, pining away for a boy who didn’t love me.

I stood up, dusted the dirt off my ass and held out my hand. “My phone.”

I needed to get my phone back from him. If I could do that, I might stand a chance against him.

I was getting tired of being pushed around. Father, Slade, Zeke, the fucking kingdom. Everyone wanted a piece of me, just so they could use me and throw me in the trash.

No more.

Father never wanted me to be a weak little princess, so maybe it was time to follow his lead.

Slade’s gaze narrowed. “No.”

Like a two year old having a tantrum, I stomped my foot. He would give me the phone, I would call a cab, and forget this heavenly spot ever existed. It wasn’t for me;, it was for someone else. Someone down the road that he would fall in love with, andgive the world to. It was for that person, Slade, and Julianna to all become a family.

My mind was coming up with every worst case scenario in the book, but I didn’t care anymore.I’m over it.

I took a step forward, ignoring the chill as the breeze enveloped me on this fifty degree night. “Give me, my fucking phone, Slade.”

Something snapped inside of him, and his lips met mine in a frenzy. We were out in the middle of God knows where, but his lips owned mine as if nothing had changed.

He pulled back, "Bend over."

I narrowed my eyes, stepped back, and placed my hands on my hips. "No."

“Do you have any idea what you did to me back there?” His breath was visible in the chilly air, his body shaking with an emotion I’d never seen from him before. His jaw was tight, and his body was still, too still for him to be human.

He didn’t care about me, I wasn’t going to believe that he did, especially aftereverythingwe’d been through. I had every right to be pissed at him. Why should I fall into his trapagain?

“I’m not the one who is forcing the mother of his child to marry a monster.” I folded my arms over my chest, trying to shake the cold air that chilled my bones and brought goosebumps to my skin.

“And I’m not the one who is refusing to listen to the whole planbeforeI jump to conclusions. I had more to say, but youranoff before I had the chance to finish.”

I shook my head.Why couldn’t I just believe him? Why did I have to push against what he was providing me?

When he said I had to marry the one person in the world who would be worse than Father, I freaked. Zeke was just as bad, if not worse than him. There were times when it seemed like he would care, but he was just putting on a show.

“Do you have any idea what it’s like? For yourparentto tell you he’s arranged a marriage to yourrapist?Not to mention the love of your life saying you had to go ahead and go through with that marriage because there was no other option, no otherplanin place to where that won’t have to happen? Until you’ve been in my shoes Slade, I don’t want to fucking hear it.”

He cursed and rushed me. Before I could blink he had me bent against the tree, with my jeans piled around my ankles. A breathy moan escaped my lips when his hand rested on my ass.

"Are you denying me?"

I flinched when his hand landed on my ass, hard. My throat went dry.The mother fucker had spanked me.He actually spanked me.

Asshole.

Another slap filled the woods, but I couldn't be bothered by it. I would've sold my soul to the devil if it meant he kept his hands on me. His hand moved away, and suddenly I was cold. His heat disappeared, and I wanted it back. I heard the rustling of a belt buckle and stiffened.

"What are you doing?" my voice cracked at the end.

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