Page 80 of Fallen Empire
Please say yes. Please say yes.
The air between us was thick. It was cool outside, but I could feel the sweat starting to form at my hairline. My chest was burning. My skin flushed.
He leaned in—so close that if I tilted my head just an inch, we’d be cheek to cheek.
And God, I wanted that.
I wanted him.
“You can order us whatever you want,” he said, voice low and gravelly, “but you better not mind eating it cold.” He pulled back just enough to lock eyes with me, heat blazing from his stare. “I’m not playing games with you, Mills.”
A pause.
Then a growl that rippled down my spine.
“You’re fucking mine.”
And that was it. There was nothing left to say. Nothing left to argue. Only the raw, primal need that pulsed between us.
So I got in the car—
And let him drive me somewhere I’d never been.
Somewhere I might never come back from.
Not because I’d be lost…
But because I might finally befound.
Chapter 18
Millie
The ride to my place didn’t ease the tension.
Not even close.
I could smell my arousal the entire way, and I had no doubt Ben could too. The car felthot, stifling, no matter how much I cranked the AC. Every breath felt thick with anticipation.
The moment he shifted the car into park, I bolted.
Out the door. To the elevator. I jabbed the button like it might make the damn thing move faster.
Come on. Come on.
The numbers blinked down—Seven. Six. Five. Four—
“Where are you running off to, Mills?” His voice was close. A whisper against my neck.
“Can’t finish what you started?”
My eyes fluttered shut, goosebumps breaking out all over my body. God, his breath wasfire. His presence? A storm I’d dared to summon.
I hadn’t realized what I was doing when I teased him. Hadn’t realized letting the leash slip would come back to strangle me with need. I’d kept him at arm’s length for years. Told myself it was safer that way.
But with just a few words... I’d given him a green light.
And there wasnotaking it back now. Because I saw it in his eyes.
