Page 37 of Pushed

Squeezing my fingers around her jaw, I lowered my face, letting my lips hover just above hers.

Staring into her eyes, my gaze drifted to the small details that made her beautiful and unique. She had tiny freckles that speckled the tops of her cheeks and a small dip at the end of her nose, forcing the tip to bump up slightly.

It was cute and enticing, making me want to nip it with my teeth. I wanted to trace her freckles with my fingertips and lick each one as I watched her body melt beneath me.

Her lips plumped up, parting as she inhaled, sucking in the air around us. I felt the heat off her breath as she exhaled across my face, watching her perfect tits rise up as she shifted her face in my hand.

“Just kill me already, because I can't do this, I can't.” Opening her eyes wide, her lashes tickled the skin above her lids, drawing me in closer, creating a vortex that threatened to suck me down.

Imperial was everything I didn't need. She was weakness and heaven, she was fire and water. She was forbidden temptation cutting me where I stood.

I wanted to kiss her, I wanted to taste her lips on mine and feel her tongue as it slipped inside my mouth. I wanted to suckle her tits and feel her wrapped around my cock.

I wanted everything she would never give me now that she knew what her purpose was.

Why? Why would I want to take any more from her when I had already stolen enough? I stole her life, I stole her freedom.

I stole her soul.

Every day I gambled with the devil, I lived counting down the seconds, knowing that my last breath was coming. That was the last thing I wanted her to feel.

“I'm not going to hurt you, I'm not going to kill you.” Our lips almost touched, but I pulled back, digging my fingers into the tender skin of her face. “You can't give up, I won't let you.” Releasing her cheeks, my fingertips left their mark on her skin with bright red impressions.

“You won't hurt me?” Cocking her head, she glared up at me. “What do you think you've already done? You think watching you kill a man didn't hurt me? You think bringing me here wasn't hurting me? Do you really think finding out I'm going to be sold doesn't hurt me? All you care about is what you want, and what you want is control.”

“It's not about control, it's about need. You need to be here,all of you.If you've checked out, then you're already dead. You can't check out, not if you want to survive.”

There was so much tension in my hands, in my face, in the muscles that stretched through my arms and around my chest. It was hard as hell to be right there and not kiss her.

We were so close, closer than I should have been, closer than what was allowed. But this wasn't just another girl. This was a woman who was here because of something I had done, she had stumbled into my path and drowned from my hand.

Her eyes searched mine as her back arched slightly. “Why? It doesn't matter. I'm not free, I'm not a girl or a woman. I'm a fucking possession, a fucking object.” With primed lips, she shook her head in disbelief. “What the hell do you want from me, Machi?” A single tear escaped, trickling down over her cheek. “I'm going to be auctioned off like a piece of meat. How the hell do you expect me to feel?”

Pressing my forehead to hers, I closed my eyes, wishing she could read my thoughts. Wishing she could see what I was going to do to keep her safe and to set her free.

I had already given up on living, accepting death as my end when this was all over, but now. . . I was willing to risk my life just to get her out.

She had no idea, she couldn't see it. She couldn't hear the strain in my words or the truth in my voice. If she did, she would listen, she would stop asking questions and just allow me to help her without needing an explanation.

All the words I couldn't say out loud were floating through my brain, begging her to read them. “You can't give up. Everything you felt before, everything you hated and feared. . .” Twisting my face against hers, I ran my hand down her throat and around her ribs. “You have to hold it, you have to feel it. That's the only way for you to still be whole, not numbing yourself or shutting down.”

Scooping my hand into the small of her back, Imperial rubbed her face against mine, letting me touch her, letting her nose brush mine, letting the warmth of our skin bleed together.

It was intoxicating, sending a rush through my body and shocking my system. My chest burned with need, my cock throbbed to be in her, to show her that there was more to me than what she saw, to show her that I was still human, that I could still feel.

If you only knew, Imperial. . . You wouldn't look at me that way.

“You're a liar, Machi.” She whispered into my ear, allowing her lips to touch my skin. “Whatever I feel, whatever you think you saw in me—” Her fingers found my shoulders, clawing in deep. “Is what I wanted you to see. What's really inside is mine and mine alone. You get nothing.” Her teeth found my lobe and bit down hard, piercing the flesh.

Growling in pain, I jerked my body free, letting her fall back to the mattress. Snatching her wrists, I forced them above her head and pinned her in place.

She didn't scream or yell, she didn't cry or try to break free. She laid there, never tensing up, never swallowing in fear.

“What the fuck is wrong with you? Do you like pain? Is that it?” Baring my teeth, I lowered my face to hers. “Do it again, go on, fucking try to bite me.” Holding her down, her hardened nipples brushed against my chest as she arched her back.

My dick thickened the longer I touched her, it pulsed and throbbed, begging to be deep inside. It took every last inch of strength to not tear her panties off and force my cock to break her open.

No! Not like this, not this way.

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