Page 51 of The Devil's Deal

I pull in a quick, sharp inhale, the rhythm of my quaking heartbeats slicing through my rib cage. A heavy ball of anxiety forms in the emptiness of my stomach, diving deeper.

I can’t seem to turn down the fire he’s an expert at setting. He’s an aphrodisiac and the whole fucking meal. But this is purely sexual, and that’s all it’ll ever be.

He drops my wrist, his hand falling to my hip, grazing up as his eyes stay fastened on mine.

“If you weren’t his daughter…” His fingers climb higher, reaching my arm, trailing up, biting into my skin until he finds the back of my neck. “I’d have you naked and thoroughly fucked multiple times. I can tell how badly you need it.”

My core aches, needing the emptiness to be filled with his all-consuming power. Needing to end this persistent desire for a man I should never want.

He draws even nearer until his lips skim over mine.

“But, baby…” he says, his gravelly tone dripping with masculine husk. “I know you more than you realize.”

He smiles against my mouth, and I let out a whimper just as his tongue snakes out, the tip dipping in between my lips.

“And this little act of yours…” he continues, “…is never gonna work on me.”

His hand spreads over the back of my head, his fingers sinking gradually into my long hair, like a serpent before an attack. He fists my strands in his palm, winding it around his wrist, pulling my head backward with brutal force.

A moan falls from my lips, one that tells him how much I enjoy a little pain with a little pleasure.

“Whatever this is, Chiara…”

He yanks harder, and I hiss.

“It’ll never work. I’ll never touch you,” he promises, his intense gaze piercing through mine. “Not even if you were naked and spread open for me like an offering, your fingers inside you, begging for my cock.”

He tilts his lips over my jaw, his nose creeping up my neck, sending goose bumps erupting throughout my body.

His mouth lands over the soft spot below my ear, his breaths feathering softly over my skin there until the need to come overwhelms all my thoughts.

He pulls in a quick inhale. “Save that energy on surviving. You’ll need it.”

Dropping both hands away from me, he gets to his feet, turning toward the door, as though walking away from me and whatever just happened is the easiest thing in the world.

I sit there with some of the groceries still on the floor for me to put away, my breaths tormenting me with every pull.

I have my work cut out for me. He’s not as easily manipulated as I thought he’d be. That’s okay, though. He doesn’t realize how much more I can push him. When I’m through, I won’t need to beg for anything. He’ll be the one doing all the begging.

“Wait!” I call out as his hand lands on the doorknob.

He pivots, snapping his glare at me. “Make it fast. I have to go.”

“What did my father do? I need to know.”

His teeth clench and a fist forms at his side. At first, I don’t think he’ll tell me, but after long, dragged-out seconds, he begins to answer.

“He killed two people who were very important to me.”

Even though he said the words with an edge, I feel the raw ache in every syllable. I close my eyes, my heart breaking for the two people I didn’t know.

Whoever he lost meant a lot to him. That much is clear. I’m sure they were innocent. It wouldn’t surprise me if my father used the murders as some kind of leverage. My father’s such a fucking asshole. He deserves what’s coming to him.

Brian turns for the door.

“Hey, before you go,” I say. “You should know something.”

He releases an annoyed exhale, facing me. “What is it now?”

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