Page 72 of Claiming Pretty

She began to massage the lotion into her skin again. She wanted to continue to pretend.

I wouldn’t allow that for much longer.

“You need to respect my decision,” Ava said, lifting onefoot, then the other to the side of the bathtub so she could lotion her legs.

She did her best to speak evenly as she said, “Yes, we had a connection back at the mansion. But I was yourprisoner. You were drugging me. You touched me for hours. Of course I came for you. Of course I felt… something. But I love him.”

“Youfeelmore than something for me, hummingbird,” I said through gritted teeth, my voice rising.

Ava’s eyes darted to the bathroom door, the thin barrier between us and Ciaran, then to mine in warning.

My cock responded to that look. I loved that fire. Her strength. Her sass.

She wasn’t some helpless damsel waiting for rescue. She was a force to be reckoned with—a bad bitch who saved herself, who faced the darkness head-on and won. With me alongside her always, of course.

“Whatever existed at Blackthorn, it’s over,” Ava said, her voice steady as she rose to her feet, the towel clutched firmly around her.

I stepped in front of her, the sole of my boots brushing the outside of her bare toes, forcing her to face me. Her proximity was intoxicating, her scent of damp skin and faint jasmine invading me.

“Look into my eyes and tell me you don’t feel anything for me,” I said, my voice low and steady, though inside, I was anything but.

Ava swallowed hard, her throat working painfully. She lifted her chin, her gaze meeting mine with something that felt like courage battling guilt. Her hesitation was the crack in the dam I needed.

“Tell me you don’t feel anything,” I pressed, softer now, more insistent, “and I’ll leave. I’ll leave you alone… forever.”

Her lips parted, and she swayed slightly on her feet, as if the weight of my words unsteadied her.

But she didn’t move back. Didn’t retreat. Ava never did. That was part of why I couldn’t stay away.

She wavered on the precipice, and I leaned closer, relentless.

I never promised her comfort or sunshine and roses. But that’s also not what Ava needed.

My love was consuming, raw, and unapologetically real. The kind of love that hurt but left her stronger, forged in its fire.

“I… I feel nothing,” she said, her voice fragile, breaking like glass.

But her eyes betrayed her before the words had fully left her lips. They darted to my mouth, lingering there, her breath shallow and rapid.

“Liar,” I murmured, leaning down, close enough to feel the heat of her exhale against my skin.

“I’m not… lying,” she stammered, but her voice wavered, thin and uneven.

Her breaths came in small gasps, shallow and desperate, like she was trying to pull air from a vacuum. Her lips, slick and parted, quivered as I held her in my gaze.

“Let me prove it to you,” I said, my voice barely more than a whisper before I closed the space between us.

The moment my lips claimed hers, a soft, startled sound escaped her throat.

She pressed her palms against my chest in a futile attempt to push me away, but her strength faltered almostinstantly. She melted into me, her resistance crumbling as her hands slid upward, tangling in my hair, gripping my shoulders, pulling me closer as though she couldn’t bear the space between us.

Her surrender was my victory, but it felt less like conquering and more like finding a missing piece of myself.

Ava wasn’t just yielding; she was meeting me. Consuming me as I consumed her, the fire between us burning too bright to be ignored, too wild to be tamed, too deep to be put out.

I hummed against her lips. “This doesn’t feel likenothing, hummingbird.”

“Ava!” Ciaran’s voice cut through the thick air, sharp and urgent. “I found something.”

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