Page 14 of Alien Prince Fake Fiancé

“Victory or death. How could I forget? Are all Caldorians as stubborn and bullheaded as you?” She batted her eyelashes at him, her smile as wide and insincere as the day was long. She knew she was pushing his buttons when his lips thinned in annoyance and reveled in the small victory.

“Back to the insults, are we,shenga?” he growled. “And here I thought your lack of good sense was a temporary condition. Do youwantme to spank you?”

“No!”

He stilled. “Then what do you want from me?” Lifting one hand to gently tuck a loose strand of hair behind her ear, he spoke quietly, more to himself than to her. “You chose another, then tracked me down. Deliberately provoked me.”

“No..I..” Not sure what to say to that, or to his sudden change in mood, she stood frozen in his embrace. What did she want from him? She should have waited. Talked to him later, after the challenge was over. She hadn’t thought it all the way through. Half panicked and a whole lot angry when he stormed out of the room, she’d simply chased after him with a vague plan to set things right. To explain.

“Are you ready to admit you made a mistake?”

Mistake? She still couldn’t choose him. She couldn’t. She needed to get out of there before she did something really stupid. “The only mistake I made was in letting you keep me here so long.”

Ignoring the sharp pang in her heart at his pained expression, she lunged to the side and made a mad dash for the door. She smashed her palm against the scanner, relieved when the door opened with a ‘whoosh’.

Before she could make good her escape, from behind her a steely arm hooked around her waist, lifting her off her feet once again. Not one to give up, she curled her legs up toward her chest and placed her feet on the wall next to the door. With a mighty shove, she sent them both careening backwards.

Zade took the brunt of her weight, cushioning her as they hit the ground with a loud thud, landing in a tangled heap of arms and legs.

The impact knocked her hair stick loose, her auburn mass of curls spilled down, tangling them even further as they grappled on the floor. The more she struggled, the tighter he squeezed. She was straining with all her might, and he wasn’t even breathing hard. Then he had the audacity to laugh at her. She let out a scream of frustration. “Ugh! This isn’t funny anymore!”

“Stop fighting and admit you have been bested,” he countered, easily keeping up with her escape attempts. Zadegrunted as he took a blow to the ribs. “You cannot defeat me. Accept your punishment and we can be done with this.”

Ashlyn screamed in fury and fought harder to break away. She couldn’t win against a giant of a man like Zade, which only served to make her angry. “My punishment?” she raged. “What about your punishment? You’re the one who kidnapped me and called me a gold digger, remember? You deserve it more than me.”

He barked with surprised laughter. “You wish to spank me?”

“I never said that,” she hissed, “but now that you mention it, bend over big boy.”

Zade tried to maintain his calm, cool exterior. His shoulders began to shake with silent laughter. He couldn’t contain it. A deep, rich, booming laugh erupted. What was he to do with her? He had never allowed a female to get under his skin the way she did, and many had tried.

“It wasn’t meant to be funny,” she grumbled, setting him off again. Every time she thought he was done, he started up again, eventually easing her anger and tickling her innate sense of humor as she imagined him bending over for a spanking. Sometimes her mouth got ahead of her brain.

Her lips twitched first, followed by a snicker she tried to cover with a cough, until finally they were both laughing.

As they calmed down, she became uncomfortably aware of his very large, muscular physique and the way her body had relaxed into his, her back to his front. One forearm was still wrapped around her waist, one hand rested on her hip, and her head nestled snugly below his chin. It felt way too good.

She pushed against his arm to let him know he needed to move it. He did, but only to flip her around, facing him, then locked both arms around her waist, as immovable as a mountain, his grip unbreakable.

Normally she would have been all over that. She loved men. They were so..masculine. Hot silk over cold steel. Zade’s nearness was making it hard for her to think clearly. And, oh god, he smelled good. She needed distance. She batted her eyelashes, pasted on a sugary smile as wide and insincere as the day was long. “Perhaps you could release me before your odor does me in.”

His lips thinned in annoyance. She reveled in the small victory as she strained to break free of her man-cage.

“Back to the insults, are we?” he shot back.

To her surprise, he abruptly released her. She scrambled up and sideways, not stopping until she was only a few feet from the door, ready to make a break for it if he made a move to come after her. Maybe now she could explain. She didn’t question why she still wanted to.

Zade let her go, content to watch. His gaze, hooded and dark, followed her every step. Her chest rose as she took in a deep, ragged breath. He cataloged the movement under the thin top. Her nipples were beaded, hard, and rubbed against the fabric.

His jaw clenched with tension. She kept forgetting his senses were keener than a human’s. She was lying. She very much liked his scent. Even so, he knew she wasn't going to apologize or admit she made a mistake in choosing Antonelius. There was no way to move forward. He needed to change his strategy.Fulack! That isn’t why you brought her here. Stick to the plan.

When she didn’t bolt for the door, he rose from the floor and walked casually to where she stood, careful not to scare her with preternatural speed, giving her plenty of time to run. She remained still, so he slowly reached out and took her tiny hand in his own, much larger one.

Ashlyn hesitated, unsure how to proceed. Something important had changed. She could feel it. He was getting into her personal space, making her ultra conscious of how much biggerhe was; how strong and heavily muscled, all without touching her. Her core throbbed in sync with her thundering heart.

He lowered his voice and asked, “Are you finally ready to stop fighting me?”

She chewed the inside of her lip before answering, a nervous habit she’d picked up as a child and never been able to shake. She wasn’t going to forget that he wanted to spank her. “I’ll stop insulting you when you stop acting like a beast and listen.”

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