Page 3 of Brutal Obsession

“What the hell are you doing?”

He should know he can’t get this close to a woman without consequences. Not with all those pheromones leaking off him. He could hurt someone.

Namely, me.

The charming expression he usually wears like a custom-tailored shirt is nowhere to be found. Instead, his eyes appear stormy.

He inches closer and bends down to growl in my ear. “Why did you agree?”

My brain blanks. “Agree to what?”

With his huge body boxing me in and his warm breath fanning my cheek, I struggle to focus. Honestly, it should be a crime for one man to ooze so much sex appeal.

“Agree to marry Finn. He’s not the one you want.”

When he straightens, his cocks his head, studying me with predatory gleam stillness.

I blink and wonder if I’m dreaming. For the life of me, I can’t come up with a single rational reason for those words to stumble from Cian’s mouth.

When seconds tick by without a response, his lips twitch up into a knowing grin.

That’s enough to help me find my tongue. “Excuse me?” I squeak.

He grips my chin and tilts my head so he can drag his nose up the side of my throat. “Go ahead. Admit that I’m right. Admit that you want me instead.”

The taunt knives across my already frayed nerves. The overwhelming force of his presence, that edible scent of his, the way his slightest touch just caused an outbreak of goosebumps…it’s all too much. Combined with rising anxiety over catching my flight without getting caught, the arrogance dripping off him like melted butter snaps the last of my control.

Fast as a heartbeat, I grab my glass and toss pinot grigio at his face.

“What the fuck?”

He recoils, squeezing his eyes shut while white wine streams down his perfect cheekbones and onto his crisp shirt.

Reason returns as I gawk at him in horror.

Holy shit. Did I really just do that? I feel like I somehow channeled my sister Riley’s attitude.

Time for me to leave. I can wait for Bex outside.

After flinging enough cash on the bar to cover my bill, I scurry between tables toward the exit, using the adrenaline raging in my veins to lend me speed.

Shoving through a door beneath a red exit sign, I haul ass straight out into the alley behind King’s Crossing.

Great. Cian wound me up so much that I took a wrong turn leaving the freaking bar. There’s no way I’m going back intherethough.Not with you-know-who wearing my pinot grigio and probably in the midst of plotting my death.

I orient myself to the main street, his statement replaying with every step.

He’s not the one you want.

Cian knows as well as I do that arranged marriages are the norm in our world. Why he decided to taunt me about my wedding day as though I chose any of this for myself is beyond me.

Whatever the reason, screw him. Who does he think he?—

Thick fingers clamp around my forearm.

I whip back, ready to unleash a scream until that heady, woodsy scent envelops me.

Glancing down at the oversized paw wrapped around my arm, I huff out a shaky sigh. “Please let go.”

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