Page 24 of Legacy Of Ashes
"You think this is a fucking game?" His voice scrapes raw. "He wants to own you. Breed you like a prize mare for his bloodline. Put his hands all over you, his mouth on your skin, his cock inside?—"
"Conall." My breath catches at the raw hunger in his voice.
"You have no idea what you're doing to me." His gaze drops to my mouth, pupils blown wide. "Sitting there, letting him touch you, knowing I'm watching. Knowing I want to rip his fucking hands off."
My pulse hammers against my throat. This close, I smell leather and whiskey and twenty years of want he won't admit. "Then why don't you?"
"Because—" His breathing turns ragged. He leans closer, close enough that his lips brush my ear. "Because once I touch you, I won't stop. I'll take everything. Every sound, every breath, every inch of skin."
Liquid heat floods my core. "Maybe I want you to."
For one perfect moment, I think he'll kiss me. Think twenty years of careful distance will shatter against elevator steel. His mouth hovers inches from mine, close enough to taste his breath. His hand moves toward my face?—
Then the doors open.
He jerks away like I burned him, stalking toward his car. I follow on unsteady legs, my entire body throbbing with need.
At the car, he yanks open my door with barely controlled violence. As I slide past him, his scent wraps around me like adrug. I deliberately let my breast brush his chest, and his sharp intake of breath makes my nipples peak harder.
"Conall."
He looks down, jaw clenched tight enough to crack. His gaze drops to where my nipples press against silk, and I see his hands tremble.
"Next time he touches me, are you going to do something about it?" I step closer, close enough to feel his heat. "Because he will touch me. He'll kiss me. He'll put his hands all over what you think you can't have."
His eyes darken to storm clouds. "Saoirse?—"
"He'll slide his hands under my dress. Kiss my neck. Maybe more." I place my palm against his chest, feeling his heart race. "Unless you stop pretending you don't want to fuck me."
The crude word makes him flinch. His hand covers mine, pressing my palm harder against his chest. "You don't know what you're asking."
"I know exactly what I'm asking." I can feel him trembling under my touch. "I'm asking you to take what's yours before someone else does."
For a heartbeat, his control wavers. His thumb strokes across my knuckles, and I see him glance at my mouth.
Then he steps back, face shuttering. "Get in the car."
I slide into the passenger seat, skin burning with frustrated need. He walks around to the driver's side, and I don't miss how he adjusts himself through his pants. The bulge is unmistakable.
He wants me. The knowledge burns through my veins like whiskey.
As we drive away, I cross my legs, letting my dress ride up. In my peripheral vision, I see his gaze flick to my exposed thigh.
"Conall?"
"What." His voice sounds strangled.
"When you finally break, I'll be ready."
His hands tighten on the steering wheel until his knuckles go white.
Whatever games Valentin Petrov thinks he's playing, whatever alliances he hopes to forge through marriage, he's already lost.
Because the only man I want is about to shatter.
And when he does, I'll make sure he takes me with him.
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