Page 11 of Vengeful Vows

Silence reigns supreme as he holds my hand for the next several minutes. It is the kind of quiet that should feel heavy with unspoken agitation, but somehow isn’t.

The longer I sit across from him, the faster my heart thumps.

For the first time in a long time, it isn’t panic.

When I finally build the courage to glance up, our eyes meet. Something I’ve never experienced before sends a shiver down my spine. Shockingly, I savor it instead of fearing it.

While returning Ark’s stare, I see the same fiery tension burning me alive mirrored in his hooded gaze. Goose bumps break across my skin, but neither of us speak, words not needed to relay a thousand.

I swallow hard, my throat suddenly dry when Ark’s tongue darts out to replenish his lips. Once wet, they shift slightly upward, the corners twitching as if fighting not to break into a smile.

My lips curve in response to his battle, an unvoiced acknowledgment of the electricity surging between us. The chemistry is undeniable, a magnetic pull that neither of us seemsto be able to ignore, but I’m still shocked. A man as gorgeous and successful as Ark could have any woman he wants, so why would he pick me?

When Ark’s hand suddenly moves for my face, the urge to break our stare down is strong, but I don’t want to shatter the moment. Instead, I let the tension that has reached a boiling point hold back my wish to flinch.

It isn’t a fight I win easily, but a victory, nonetheless.

Ark shifts his eyes between mine as if he can sense my struggle not to pull back as he says, “You have a… There’s…” He cusses before he tucks a wayward wisp of hair behind my ear.

I anticipate for his hand to immediately return to his side of the car, so you can imagine my surprise when he tracks the back of his index finger down my cheek. His touch is as basic as it comes but electrifying. It steals my thoughts as ruefully as it clears my stomach of nerves.

They don’t leave my body.

They flutter low—extremelylow.

I can’t think while returning his stare. Can’t move. I can barely breathe, and I’m not the only one noticing.

“Breathe, Mara.” Ark smirks when my lungs instantly obey his snapped command. “Good girl.”

Tingles race across my face when he lowers his hand to my mouth so he can drag his thumb over my top lip. The tension is potent enough to amplify every small movement, shift, and breath.

I should be pulling away. He is an owner on my cleaning ledger and, at a guess, a decade older than me, but for the life of me, I can’t. I’m frozen in place with desire and praying like hell I’m about to experience my first true kiss.

The heat turns so excruciating that I am seconds from making a fool of myself.

I’m about to initiate an embrace instead of running from one.

Ark saves me from the shame of rejection. “Who did this to you? Who hurt you so badly that you can’t speak without stuttering?”

“Wh-what?”

His fingers remain unfurled, even with the danger flaring through his eyes announcing he is far from composed.

“Who hurt you?” After locking his eyes with mine, he bounces them back and forth, his anger picking up. “He is the reason you stutter, isn’t he?”

“N-no,” I lie.

Another denial sits on the tip of my tongue when he expresses his dislike of my lie with a growl, but I can’t set it free. Nothing comes out but needy breaths. My shock is too high that a stranger cares about me more than my father did when I told him what was happening during my numerous speech therapy sessions.

“Tell me,” Ark urges, his composure modeling nurturing if you can look past the murderous undertone in his voice.

Hisname sits in the back of my throat, but before I can spit it out, the driver announces we’ve reached our destination, which snaps me out of the bubble Ark’s protectiveness placed me in.

If only his sorrowed watch could move my legs just as fast.

As Darius’s steely eyes bounce between Ark and me, his confusion growing, he asks, “Shall I circle the block?”

“No,” I shout a little too loudly, my mouth finally cooperating with the prompts of my brain. “Here is f-fine.” I unlatch my belt and sling it off, my hands as shaky as my vocal cords. “Thank you for the ride. I won’t take any m-more of your time.”

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