Page 33 of Claimed By Rage

Unless…

“What are you willing to do—” I lift the hem of my shirt high enough to flash the underside of my boobs—“for me to take these off?”

Swallowing hard, Rage sits up against the headboard. Red scratches tear across his shoulders, much like how I’m sure his fingerprints are pressed into my hips. His dark eyes glitter with a thousand possibilities. I have no clue what he’s willing to give me in return for a naked night between his sheets, but I need to play this smart.

He is ruled by his desires. I can use that to my advantage.

A shower would be heavenly, but this is a long game we’re playing. I need to think beyond tonight. What do I need to be the one on top?

Before Rage can offer me something, I jump ahead of him. “If you answer all of my questions, I’ll sleep naked tonight.”

“Three questions.” His lips curve into a sinful smirk. “Unless you wanna fuck. Then I’ll answer anything you want.”

I gape at him. “How can you still want sex? We just—we basically had sex!”

“Not the same.” He pats his thick thighs, and I catch a glimpse of his glistening cock. It isn’t hard, but itcouldbe very soon if I don’t shut this down. “Come sit on my lap and I’ll answer your questions.”

“Three questions, and I’m not sitting in your lap. Keep that thing away from me.”

He clicks his tongue. “Youlikemy thing.”

My face flames. I undress without addressing histhing.I don’t even look at it, focusing instead on the empty space on the bed beside Rage. I slip between the sheets and keep the blanketsbetween us, determined not to touch him. “Okay, first question.” I pick the first one that comes to mind, knowing that I can ease into the tougher ones. “Why did you hurt that man?”

It’s not the question I’m expecting to ask, and clearly Rage isn’t expecting it, either. He stares at me for a long moment, scanning my face. Slowly, his smile fades. “Because he doesn’t deserve you. Is that what you want to hear?”

I fiddle with the comforter. “I don’t want you to tell me what I want to hear. I want you to tell me the truth.”

“That is the truth.” Rage sighs, rubbing his jaw. “Seriously. Hedoesn’tdeserve you, Celia. None of us do.” He blows out a breath.

Thisis a new revelation. Rage, showing self-doubt? “You can’t honestly believe that,” I chuff, rolling my eyes. “You’re the most self-absorbed person I know.”

Rage’s throat clicks on a swallow. “You asked for honesty. I’m being honest.”

I purse my lips, not believing it for a second. Is he saying that he’s not a good guy? “Well. I guess we can agree on that, at least.” I level him with a look. “Youdon’tdeserve me.”

The statement rings as hollow as Rage’s subsequent laugh. “You think I don’t know that?” Shaking his head, he tumbles to the mattress and climbs on top of me, the comforter the only thing between us. “It’s impossible to fucking miss with how often you’ve been throwing it in my face. That’s what you’ve been trying to tell me this entire time, right? With all your fighting and your pushing and your flinty fucking gazes.” He growls, tearing at the blankets to get to me. We wrestle over the comforter, but he’s stronger, pulling it from my grasp in no time. Once my body is bared to him, he spreads his palm over the bottom rungs of my ribcage, like he’s searching for the heart tucked safely inside. “You fight so hard, Celia,so fucking hard.But I won’t take no for an answer. You even tried to spend yourevening with someone else tonight—” he snarls, the hurt in his eyes crackling like lightning—“and I nearly killed him for it.”

Then Rage kisses me, crushing my body beneath his own. He leans on his forearms and cradles my head in his hands, bringing my mouth closer to his, like he can’t get enough of the taste of me. With a groan, he releases my lips and leans his forehead against mine. “A better man would let you go. I know that. But Ican’t.Ever since I laid eyes on you, Iknewyou were mine.Ours,” he corrects, chuckling in that bitter, humorless way again. “Butminemore than anything. I can feel it in my bones, Celia. You were made to be mine. And no matter how much you resist me, I can’t let go.”

My heart flutters like a wild bird caught in a cage. People don’t talk like this about others. Aboutanything.This level of desire isn’t normal.“I don’t understand,” I murmur, touching Rage’s face. There’s a tiny indent over his cheekbone—a scar, if I had to guess. “Why me?”

There are any number of reasons why someone might want to sleep with me, but Rage doesn’t wantjustsex. That’s abundantly clear by how he sticks around during the daytime and agrees to me sleeping in his bed at night without actuallysleeping withhim. It’s not like we’re friends—I don’t know him from within the fashion industry—and I can’t recall ever having met any men named Rage, Rebel, or Ruin when I cavorted within the bratva’s circles. I don’t even know why they invited me toMidnightin the first place.

I don’t know why they choseme.

I take a shallow breath, a new question on the tip of my tongue. It might be my last one, I’m not sure—“Have we met before, Rage? BeforeMidnight.”

Rage unfurls his hands from my hair to fist the sheets beside my head. The sound he makes is agonizing. “Yes.”

My heart is already racing, but it jumps a beat. “When?”

“That doesn’t matter.” He shuts the question down immediately, nipping my jawline. “You asked me why I need you.” He moves to my neck and swipes his tongue along my pulse point, humming in satisfaction as it jumps. He pushes himself up to stare into my eyes. Even in the lamplight, his eyes are endless pools of black, consuming everything they meet. The flush on my cheeks. The sheen of sweat across my brow. The way there’s not a sliver of distance between us, our heartbeats warring against each other’s. When his gaze pings back to my face, he draws a deep breath and releases it nice and slow. “Ineedyou, Celia. Body. Mind. Soul. All of you. Because you’re perfect. I know you don’t believe me, but I promise, you are. For me, for my brothers, for the bratva.Perfect.”

I shake my head in quick, successive bursts. “No, you’re lying?—”

He pitches his hips forward, punching the air from my lungs with a heavy drag of his cock against my stomach. “Say that again,” he warns, “and I’m shoving it in your mouth.”

“You can’t!”

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