Page 44 of Guarded

She stands to her full height. Her arms fall to her sides, and she bites down on her bottom lip. I make my way to her, annoyed by the distance between us.

“I did. I know you wanted to kiss a stranger, so you made the dumb decision to kiss Chunks in front of me. I know you want to eat a funnel cake and use your vibrator. But it’s the last one that you crossed off. Who are you in love with, Ari?” I run my knuckles over the outline of her jaw.

A pitiful part of me feels like a kid again. There’s too much hope and anticipation that my name will fall from her lips. But it doesn’t. Instead, she looks into my eyes and says.

“No one.”

My knuckles continue to explore her. Falling from the outline of her jaw over the curve in her neck. She swallows, but her eyes stay glued to mine. I trace the fabric of her dress. The heart-shaped halter that pushes her boobs up at the entrance.

It’s the only time my eyes can pull themselves away from hers as I stare at the hardening peaks. My knuckles circle her nipple through the tight fabric.

“Has anyone ever touched you here?”

She sucks in a breath but answers my question by shaking her head. I grab her jaw gently between my index finger and thumb.

“Use your big girl words, Ari,” I say, my lips inches from hers.

“No,” she whispers the confession.

I want to devour her. The need is so strong that I have to release her and take a step back.

“You’re doing something to me that I can’t control. Tell me to stop.” I warn her.

She walks toward me.

“No. Don’t stop,” she pleads.

“Ari,” I growl, but she’s lifting my hands back to her aching nipples.

“Ari. I’m warning you right now. This isn’t what you want. You’re drunk.”

“I’m fully aware of what’s going on, and I want you to touch me,” she says.

“I have a depraved taste when it comes to intimacy.” It’s the only warning I give her.

“What-what kind of taste?”

“Dominance and submission. Do you know about that?”

She shakes her head again, and I drop my hand that’s gotten lost in massaging her breasts.

“Use your big girl words.”

“No, Sir.” She says, her words shooting straight to my cock.

It’s starving for her. My cock is starving, and it is hellbent on taking her sweet innocence. I close the distance between us and stroke her cheek.

“I’m not gentle, Princess.” My last warning before I turn to leave. I’m almost out the door, but her pleas stop me.

“Nero. Please. Don’t go.”

This would be the final mistake I make today. The only problem is that I don’t see staying a mistake—not when I know how much she needs this distraction.

I drop my hand from the handle and turn to face her. Her eyes search mine, and I see the same hunger inside them. I take slow and calculated steps toward her.

The angel on my shoulder is dead. He has no say in this. Only the demon within has a say. And he wants to Ariella Reyes.

I stop when my boots meet the points of her stilettos. Pushing her hair behind her shoulder, I lean in to whisper my first command.

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