Page 88 of The Brave and the Reckless

“Princess.”

Of course he knew. I’d told everyone who asked that I was a ballerina, but Noah knew better. “Bingo.”

He pulled his hat off and bowed his head slightly. “Your highness.”

That… yeah, that worked on me. Damn. I shot up from the sofa before anyone caught a whiff of the waves of pheromones my body had to be shooting through the air. Adriana laughed and choked on her drink, but I didn’t turn around.

“No, Esra, stay. He wasn’t making fun of your costume. Noah, tell her,” Zuri pleaded, “play nice.”

“I know exactly what he’s doing,” I said, unable to look at Noah-as-Ace. “I’ll be right back.”

I booked it to the kitchen to get myself some ice water to cool down, but I could still see him through the archway. What a sight he was. The broad shoulders in that leather coat, the veins in his neck when he turned his head– nope, no. I had to stop. This was exactly what had gotten us into this mess. I had to resist his stupidity-inducing hotness.

I just had to get away from him and splash myself with some cold water.

I tried the guest bathroom in the hallway, but the door was locked, and someone yelled profanities at me from inside. Okay, then. The door to the bedroom was closed, but it was unlocked, so I quickly slipped through that, grateful that no drunken party guests had discovered this dark and quiet corner yet. All right. Master bathroom, cold water, and then a calm and collected conversation about the fact that we’d been filmed having sex and Renee knew about us and all the compartmentalizing in the world couldn’t get us out of this. No biggie.

I flicked the lights on in the bathroom, my eyes needinga moment to adjust to the brightness. It was a really nice bathroom. Large rain shower on one side and a double sink with a huge mirror above it on the other. Maybe I’d have to come here to take long, hot, muscle-soothing showers in the future.

I turned to close the door, only for it to bang against something hard. My eyes dropped. A boot?

Before I made sense of it, a gloved hand wrapped around the door, forcing it back open, pushing me backward. Noah stepped through, startlingly tall and dark in the bright bathroom, and shoved the door shut behind him. He twisted the lock.

“You can’t run from me, princess,” he said in his stupid sexy-villain voice.

Fuck.

I swallowed.

Some primal part of my brain told me to run. That this was a tall, heavy man behind a mask, who oozed viciousness. And another– very different– primal part responded by sending a hot shiver down to the base of my spine, way too excited by the fact he’d locked us in.

“Look, Noah—”

A gloved hand over my mouth cut me off. Noah shook his head slightly, icy blue eyes never leaving mine. I got the meaning. Not Noah.

Strange relief fluttered through me. If he wasn’t Noah right now, I had a little bit more time before I had to blow up our neat boxes, putting an end to whatever comfortable limbo this was. It was a slightly unhinged concept, but it was an easy out.

I twisted my chin out from under his hold. “Okay, twothings. First, I just need you to tell me whether you’re having some sort of mental-breakdown identity crisis.” If that was the case, I should probably run.

He shook his head again and his hand slid down my jaw and around my neck. His fingers barely rested against my skin, but the position alone was enough to make me squirm.

“All right. Second. I don’t need you to do this. You know that, right? I’m not going to deny that this whole Ace Ryder package works for me, but it’s only because,god, the Noah Young package works for me. I got naked for Noah way before I even knew about Ace.”

“Are you done talking now, your highness?”

I nodded.

“Good.” He squeezed his fingers together slightly, just to affect but not restrict my airflow. Enough to send a spike of adrenaline through my system, making my nerves come alive.

“You’re going to be very quiet now.” He used his hold on my neck and a hand flat against my stomach to walk me backward until my ass hit the bathroom counter. “You’re going to watch me fuck you in that tiny dress until your pussy is bright red and stretched wide for me.” He jerked me around to face the mirror. I jumped. Seeing Ace Ryder in front of you was one thing. Seeing yourself in a fluffy dress, blushing, with his chest pressed against your back and his hand wrapped around your neck, was surreal on another level. He chuckled at my reaction, pressed his nose against the side of my head and inhaled deeply. Noah had breathed in my scent plenty of times. This was different. Ace Ryder smelled fear. And I shivered against him.

“After you’ve come on my cock, princess, you’re going to get on all fours, open those plump lips for me and swallow every last drop I give you.” His hand slid up my neck until he could push his thumb in between my lips. I may have had goosebumps rising, from my ears to my ankles, but I was no pushover. I opened my mouth, lapped at his thumb once, then bit down.

The asshole laughed in my ear. His other, non-bitten hand slid up my stomach and down the front of my dress. One of the straps snapped as the neckline was shoved down. He roughly palmed one of my breasts before pinching down hard on the nipple. My sensitive nerve endings shot white-hot flames through me. I spluttered around his thumb, my knees going weak for a moment. He held me caged between his body and his hands though, keeping me upright.

“Get feisty with me. I dare you. It’ll be so much more fun.”

Oh god, I felt the heat blooming between my legs, and he’d barely even touched me yet. This mind game was really going to be my undoing.

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