Page 72 of The Invite
I become bolder, running one hand down the slope of his throat. It’s exhilarating having my fingers on him. Elated at having free rein on his body. I’m burning up at the feel of his skin underneath my fingertips.
Is this how he feels whenever he has me at his mercy?
The longer I caress him, the faster the last of my haziness dissipates. I’m drawn back to the present as I keep inhaling his cologne with each gulp.
Maybe he knows it and that’s why he’s given me freedom to touch him.
What I don’t understand is why his flavor of violence evokes a different reaction than the one I’ve suffered before.Augustus is just a stranger; they weren’t. He draws me toward him like a moth to a flame even though I know I’ll get scorched.
No, he forcefully yanks me to him until I have no choice but to burn.
He proves it when he utters in revulsion, “Your past is getting in the way of my fun, Miss Nessa.”
I glance up from his mouth and swallow hard at the dark lust crossing his pupils. It causes my hands to drop to either side of his torso.
Twirling a tendril of my hair around his finger, he utters, “That makes it my business to know.”
“Sounds like you’re starting to care for your little prey, Mr. Grayson. I thought your intentions weren’t pure and you wanted to break me, not heal.”
I immediately regret implying I’m broken and damaged, but the cat’s already out of the bag. What’s the point in hiding?
“I do want to break you for every transgression you’ve committed against me since you stumbled into my life despite my warnings, Nessa,” he admits in a raw and guttural tone. “I want to bruise you, make your beautiful body my canvas of marks and colors. Not to ruin you but to mold you into my perfect toy.”
“I’ll never be your toy,” I seethe madly.
“Then explain this, what does it make you when I come here every night, finger fuck and eat your pussy, and then leave after I’m done making you see stars?” he mockingly asks with a cruel glint in his eye. “You’re nothing but my dirty little fuck toy when I play with your wet holes for my amusement.”
Shame colors my cheeks but I have no comeback.
He’s right.
I’m nothing but a toy for his sick games.
Curling his hand around my nape, he tangles his fist in the base of my head and tilts it back. “Tonight, I’m making an exception.”
“What?” His words throwing me for a loop.
“Stay here.”
My eyebrows draw together in confusion at his abrupt command.
He turns and disappears into my kitchen. When he returns a few seconds later, there’s another knife in his hand. Pulling me from where I’m pasted against the wall, he picks me up, making me wrap my legs around him.
Without any explanation, he carries me up the stairs with a single arm underneath my hips, like I weigh nothing at all, and into my bedroom. Dumping me on the bed, his body follows and he drapes himself over me.
This isn’t him.
Augustus and cuddling don’t sound right in the same sentence. But that’s exactly what he’s doing as he cocoons me with his body. His forearms rest on either side of my head while my thighs press against his hips.
“What’s happening?” I ask in a small voice.
“I need you to trust me.”
My brows hit my hairline, making his lips twitch.
“I can’t have you scared of a ghost from the past, little prey,” he explains, tracing my collarbone with a finger. Replacing the feathery touch, his hand wraps around my throat possessively. “OnlyIhave the right.”
“You’re scaring me now.”
