Page 93 of How to Get Even

The muscle at his jaw flexed.

‘If you don’t stop looking at me like that,’ he whispered harshly, without looking her way, ‘I’m going to have to do something about it.’

Air stuck in her lungs, her heart leaped in her chest, turning beneath the clear warning in his tone.

‘What?’ she stammered. ‘What would you do?’ she whispered back.

After an interminable minute, he turned his gaze on her and every single part of her body was engulfed in heat and flames that drenched her in desire from head to toe. She felt sick she wanted him so badly.

But no matter how much she tried, she couldn’t drag her gaze away from him.

The muscle at his jaw flexed again and his gaze flickered between her mouth and her eyes.

He stood, pushing the chair back, the noise near shocking in the quiet of the room listening for the MC.

‘Come with me,’ he said, taking her by the hand, pulling her from the chair and near dragging her out of the room.

And this time Bella didn’t care that they drew attention from the other guests. She didn’t care that they had left the dinner before what was socially appropriate. She didn’t care that people whispered or stared or looked after them as they left the room. All she cared about was whether finally she could rid herself of this thing, this living breathing thing in her chest that wanted him and only him.

19

If he is secure at all points, be prepared for him. If he is in superior strength, evade him.

THE ART OF WAR, SUN TZU

Chase led Bella out into the foyer of the Pulham Hotel, his mind so full of her, he didn’t even know where they were going. Her scent, her gaze, her breath, her hand in his and the feel of her skin.

Mindless. He was mindless with want.

He saw the elevators and remembered.

‘Give me your purse,’ he asked.

She handed it over to him without question. He opened it and found the key and gave her back the purse, before leading her over to the elevators.

He held her hand in his, but couldn’t look at her. Couldn’t, because if he did, he wouldn’t be able to stop himself from kissing her. From consuming her.

The doors opened and he gestured for her to get in. He turned to face the young couple who had come up behind them and glared at them until they walked to another lift and he didn’t care. He pressed the button for the third floor and waited until the lift began to move before pressing the stop button.

The lights dimmed to emergency lighting and somewhere in the background was the faint sound of an alarm.

Finally he turned to her, pulling her towards him, taking her face in both hands, seeing the open desire staring back at him, and did what he’d been wanting to do pretty much since he’d first set eyes on her.

There was no gentle way into what was going on between them. It wasn’t pretty kisses and gentle sups, this was everything, all at once and still it wasn’t enough. They met, open-mouthed and desperate, her moans clashing with his groans, tongues, seeking, filling, wanting, fingers desperate for skin, slipping behind clothes and grasping at whatever they could find. He was going to burst out of his body. That was how she made him feel. But no matter what kind of madness this was, he forced himself back.

‘Fuck,’ he cursed, ‘that was better than I’d ever imagined.’

He bit his lip, to stop himself from kissing her again, and tried not to feel a crowning glory at the way Bella looked. Ravished. Her lips puffed and pink, her glorious hair tangled from his hands, her breath coming in pants that matched his own – but it was her eyes. Theyglowedsilver.

He held up the key between them. ‘You can take this,’ he said. ‘You can take this, and go to the room, and I’ll take the elevator back down to the foyer and we’ll never have to speak of this again. Not if you don’t want to,’ he promised her. ‘Or I can keep it. And we’ll both go to the room. And you won’t be going home until the morning.’

Bella’s gaze flickered between him and the key he held up. He needed her to know that this was her choice. He needed her to make that choice. And whatever choice she made, he would honour it and accept it. But for the love of God, he hoped she chose him.

He watched the tension fill her. Saw it in the line of her jaw and the stiffening of her shoulders. She closed the distance between them and her arm reached forward and he closed his eyes, regretful but understanding. Only for them to spring open when the lift jerked back into action. She’d released the stop button on the elevator and come to stand by his side.

Leaving him with the key.

He let out the breath he’d been holding and gripped the key so that Bella couldn’t see the way his hands trembled. He was like an addict already, unable to control his body or his desire.

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