Page 74 of The Sweetest Revenge

He froze. His fingers retracted from my skirt, but his grip remained iron-tight around my throat. Seconds stretched into an eternity as I stood there, barely breathing, waiting for his next move. Then his chest shook—once, twice—with silent laughter, and my stomach dropped.

I was fucked.

"Just let me go,” I growled, but my voice trembled at the edges.

His lips brushed my cheek, breath hot against my skin as his grip tightened around my throat. "I told you I'd prove it."

That voice. My blood turned to ice as recognition hit, followed by a dizzying rush of emotions: anger blazing through my veins, fear clawing at my chest, and adrenaline making my hands shake. And underneath it all, a traitorous flicker of relief.

"Fuck you, Zaiden." I jerked my body against his, but his grip only tightened. "I thought you weren't here."

"You belong to me, Ariella Ledger." His breath fanned across my jawline and up to my ear. "If you thought I would ever let anyone else in this closet with you, you seriously underestimated me."

His hand slipped past my waistband, dipping into my panties. "You're soaking wet for me," he breathed against the shell of my ear. "Your pussy is begging for my cock to fill it." His fingers slid through my slick flesh, and I moaned. "You want to give me your virginity, Ariella?"

My body screamed yes, but the stubbornness inside me that was still so angry with him was screaming fuck no. "I don't want togiveyou anything, Zaiden."

He froze, his hand stopped slowly withdrawing from my waistband, and I immediately regretted my answer.

And then the heat of his body was gone.

I whipped around, wishing the lights would come back on. "Zaiden?"

"You don't want togiveme anything," he repeated, his tone a low rasp.

My face twisted with confusion, but I didn't dare say anything. The small closet was silent except for my rapid breathing.

"Zaiden?"

And then he was there.

His body crashed into mine, driving me back until the wall stole what little breath I had left. The wood bit into my shoulder blades, his weight an inescapable force pinning me in place.

"You don't want to give it to me." His lips ghosted across mine, each word a spark against my skin. The heat of his breath made me shiver despite the inferno burning between us. "Because… You want me to take it." I sucked in a harsh breath as his hands raked down the sides of my body. "Is that it, Ariella?"

His nails curled into the bare skin of my outer thighs, and I literally couldn't form a coherent thought. He pressed his hips into mine, the evidence of how turned on he was pressing into my lower stomach. "Do you want me to pin you down and take it?" His lips grazed over my jaw and down my throat. "Do you want it rough? Do you want me to fuck you hard and fast? Or slower? Do you want to fight me? Or will you give in?"

"Zaiden—" His name escaped as a desperate plea, hanging in the darkness between us.

"Does this turn you on, Ariella?" His words ghosted across my skin, making me shiver. My fingers twisted into his shirt, caught between pushing him away and pulling him closer. "Is it the fear that gets you? Or the adrenaline rushing through your veins right now?"

His hands slid around my thighs, rough palms against bare skin, and my breath hitched when his grip tightened, and he lifted me off the ground, wrapping my legs around his waist.

The closet door burst open. And we were quickly moving through the darkness.

There was a couple standing at the end of the bed.

"Get out," Zaiden roared, and they rushed out of the room.

With me still wrapped around him, he crawled onto the bed, and my heart began to race.

"What are you doing, Zaiden?"

The room was dark except for the moonlight seeping through the window, giving me enough light to see him.

"Taking what's mine." He pressed my body into the mattress with his. "Put your arms over your head." He pushed up, leaning back on his knees as his hands worked to unbuckle his belt.

"Why?"

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