Page 63 of Bound By Revenge

“Not until you tell me what the hell is wrong with you. I did everything you asked!”

“Oh, I know you did,” he says, his voice rising, the cracks in his composure showing. “Trust me, I’mso fuckingaware you did everything I asked.”

“Then what’s your problem?” I snap back, matching his intensity head-on. “What else do you want?”

In one swift move, he pulls me flush against him, his forehead pressing against mine as his voice drops to a deadly whisper. His dark eyes burn into mine as he rasps, “I want you not to go within a mile of that bastard ever again. I want to break every finger on his disgusting hands—over and over—until he learns to keep them off you. I want you to never smile at anyone but me the way you smiled at him tonight. But what Ireallywant”—his voice dips, laced with madness—“is to bend you over and fuck you into submission until you accept you belong to me.”

My heart hammers against my ribs, my breath coming in erratic pants, but I refuse to look away. I tilt my chin updefiantly, meeting his gaze head-on as I correct him. “No. What youreallywant isme.”

His deep brown eyes darken further, his lips parting as if to argue. Every inch of him coiled with tension and challenge. But then, as if something snaps inside him, his expression shifts, and he exhales a shaky breath.

“God help me,” he murmurs, his voice raw, “I do.”

His admission lands like a blow, knocking the wind out of both of us. But I don’t falter. Holding his gaze, I say, “Then fucking have me.”

Before I can fully process what’s happening, he yanks the limousine door open, his hand tightening possessively on my arm as he drags me inside.

Chapter 26

Nik

I warned her.

Again and again, I told Kat it was a bad idea to play these games with me.

But as usual, she didn’t listen. Worse, she wanted to see me lose all control, to have me eating out of the palm of her hand—just like she promised to do with McGuire.

“Fucking have me,” she dared.

If only it were that simple.

Left with no other choice, I dragged her into the back of the car with me, kicking and screaming. Her protests fill the confined space, but I don’t give her the satisfaction of seeing me snap. After watching her with McGuire, I’m already too close to it.

I toss the bane of my existence onto the front-facing seat, taking the one across from her. That’s when the tirade starts. She doesn’t hold back, launching into a passionate rant about how she’s “done” with mobsters, how we’re all going to be the death of her, and how I, naturally, am the worst of them all. All I can do is watch her, marveling at her flair for the dramatic.

With no sign of tiring, she adds, huffing, “Mother Theresa herself wouldn’t have had the patience to deal with your mood swings and awful communication skills!”

“For the love of God, just shut up,” I groan, rapping my knuckles on the partition between us and the driver, signaling him to start driving.

“Why don’t you come over here and make me?” she fires back, her flirtatious words a sharp contrast to her biting tone.

I lean forward, resting my forearms on my knees, my gaze locked on hers. “I want you to listen to me, and I want you to listen very carefully,” I say, my voice as steady as I can manage. “You are treading on very thin ice right now. I’ve been patient with you—verypatient—but you have no idea how close I am to snapping. And trust me, Kat, you won’t like me very much when that happens.”

The look she gives me makes my blood boil. “Try me,” she rasps, crossing her legs with deliberate defiance. “Somehow, I really doubt that.”

“You’re playing with fire,” I warn her.

“Good,” she shoots back, sweeping her dark hair away from her face with a flick of her wrist. “It’s about time. Because what I’ve been feeling for you is already burning me alive. And don’t even bother denying it—not after last night, and definitely not after tonight. I know a jealous man when I see one.”

“This won’t end the way you’re hoping,” I mutter through gritted teeth. Denying it would be pointless, and she damn well knows it.

“I’ll take my chances,” she says, sliding across the leather seat toward me with the grace of a predator closing in on its prey.

“I’m only going to say this once,” I snap as she rises from her seat, her eyes locked on mine. “Your silly attempts at seducing me aren’t welcome.”

With a smirk that could make lesser men crumble, she drops onto my lap, her soft curves molding perfectly against me. Without a word, she wraps her arms around my neck, her fingers threading into my hair as she straddles me. Then she leans forward and tortures me with a flick of her tongue against the seam of my lips. “Liar,” she whispers against my mouth.

I don’t know who moves first—her or me—but one second, her taunt lingers in the air; the next, my hands are in her hair, pulling her mouth to mine with enough force to shatter whatever restraint I have left. Soon, I can't tell where her breaths end and mine begins. It’s pure, all-consuming bliss. I slide my other arm around her waist, desperate to obliterate any distance between us. My free arm snakes around her waist, crushing her body to mine, desperate to erase the space between us.

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