Page 36 of The Arrogant's Redemption

I slide one hand to her neck, and when I feel her pulse, my body reacts with wild urgency. Testing myself, I reach for my own neck—and I’m not surprised to find my heart racing too.

I take her hand and kiss her palm. Then I place it over mine, against my neck. “This never happens.”

“The beating of your heart?” she jokes.

“Therapidbeating of my heart.”

Her cheeks flush even deeper.

“Run from me, sweet Alexis.”

Her fingers, still resting on my neck, press more firmly against my skin. “I’d like to. But I can’t,” she says, the last word sounding like a moan of surrender.

And just like the temptation she is, Alexis gives herself over to my hands.

I cradle her face, both aroused and dazed by the way my pulse spins out of control. And to put an end to the agony—to prove to myself she’s just another mouth—I crash my lips into hers, finally appeasing the desire I’ve felt since the moment we met.

The Evil

CHAPTER TWENTY

At the same moment

I walk slowlypast the prison gates, unable to control the erection that swells at the thought of her there.

The sense of power from having manipulated her life to bend to my will is nearly intoxicating.

What does she think about in that tiny cell?

If she knew I was the one who put her there, would she regret not choosing me? Would she wish she'd done it all differently?

Of course, I don’t intend to leave her here forever. What fun is there for the cat if the mouse is already trapped?

No, the time she'll spend locked up is just a lesson—for my own pleasure and for Marla to learn that you don’t saynoto someone like me. She could have been a queen, not a poor wretch that smells like fish and raises the daughter of that bastard.

Thinking of Alexis makes my hatred boil. I despise her almost as much as I despised her father. She will pay for being born.

I'm in no hurry. I'm a chess player. Patient and precise.

Marla will be mine. I’ll turn her into a slave. Into nothing. I’ll make her pay for rejecting me.

Lazarus

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

Her inexperience,which would usually turn me off, only intensifies my desire.

Alexis’s moans against my mouth aren’t carefully orchestrated to seduce me—they’re pure, unfiltered lust.

The hunger I had kept in check until now explodes—furious, demanding, pushing her to surrender further.

My tongue parts her soft, wet lips, teasing a reaction, tasting her, and in that instant, I know there’s no going back. Alexis will be mine.

The innocent yet sensual way she gives herself—one hand on my face, the other tangled in the short strands of my hair as if to keep me close—only fuels the insane heat of lust.

The kiss isn’t sweet, as she might deserve. It’s possessive and shameless, leaving no doubt that when I have her naked in my bed, I’ll demand everything.

I don’t let her pull away. One hand grips the back of her neck, the other roams her curvy body—grabbing her waist, then sliding to that perky ass. I pull her close, and her moans grow louder when she feels the evidence of my arousal. She doesn’tflinch. She presses that small body against mine, offering herself completely.

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