Page 42 of Phantom Mine

I won’t let it.

However, I can’t deny that I am momentarily distracted. I barely slept, unable to think about anything other than Melody. The intoxicating taste of her skin on my lips had kept me awake through the night, with my hand wrapped around my cock and my head completed fucked with thoughts of her.

Staying away is no longer possible. Getting her the hell out of my system is the only option. The itch is getting scratched tonight, then I’ll be able to focus.

The curtains to the left of the stage move and the woman in question appears, wrapped in a two-piece red lace set that throttles my blood pressure. Possessive fury flames to life in my veins. It’s not one of the outfits I approved.

Melody’s eyes widen when she sees me. She spins, clearly intent on disappearing back behind the curtains.

“Stay.” The order whips from my lips and freezes her in place. The view of her ass in those red lace cheeky undies hardens my cock to stone. “Look at me.”

Melody turns slowly. When she faces me, her chin is jutted out in that defiant stance I’ve come to know from her.

She tries to hide it, but the fear is clear in her body. It’s there in the way she trembles almost imperceptibly and in the way her gaze wavers as she stares back at me.

It pisses me off. Unlike my brother, I don’t get off on fear.

“Come here.”

She hesitates, eyeing the distance between us critically and coming to the conclusion that she prefers her chances standing where she is.

“A hundred thousand pounds.”

Surely, that'll—

Melody swallows thickly, but ultimately decides I have a point. She walks off the elevated platform and down onto the main floor where I’m sitting. I spread my legs in the velvet chair, motioning for her to come stand between them.

Her teeth dig into her bottom lip, a pretty flush coloring her cheeks as she glances down at my parted thighs. I wonder if she knows I’m about fifteen seconds away from pinning her to the floor and making myself at home in her pussy. My cock throbs angrily against the band of my trousers, demanding release and access to the pretty girl in front of me.

“Why did you lie for me?” She sounds genuinely bemused. “Why didn’t you give me up to your brother?”

My eyes trace over the heat lingering on her cheeks.

“I probably should have.”

Her throat works. “Yes.”

“But I didn’t.”

“No. You didn’t.”

“Incredibly stupid of me,” I murmur, reaching with a hand to cup the back of her bare thigh. When my fingers make contact, an answering tremor runs through her. “Are you still afraid of me?”

Her jaw clenches decidedly. “I’m not afraid.”

Liar.

“Should I expect to have another knife pressed to my throat if I touch you?” She shakes her head slowly. “Should I search the mere suggestion of clothing you’ve chosen to wear today to confirm you’re as unarmed as you say?”

“I didn’t say I wasn’t armed, just that I wasn’t planning on using it on you.” Her lips twitch in amusement. “Although, the night is young.” Taut sexual tension fills the air and I make a low noise in my throat. “Why did you lie?” she asks again.

My hand inches slowly up her thigh towards the curve of her ass. Her eyes burn on mine. Her gaze has me so addicted that I’d commit a crime just to get her to look at me.

“If I knew the answer to that question,pavona, then maybe I wouldn’t lay awake in my bed at night, thinking about you.”

I should be questioning her like I told Enzo I would, but those thoughts are so far from my consciousness right now, I can’t even access them. The primal, animal part of my brain is in control and it’s clamoring forher, regardless of who she is or why she’s here.

Melody gasps when my fingers make contact with the curve of her ass. With my gaze still pinned on hers, I curl my fingers under the fabric and reach beneath it to cup her ass, watching with greedy eyes as her pupils dilate and expand.

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