Page 34 of Betrayal (Corrupt Empire 1)

“What’s what?”

He leant down, his lips brushing against my ear.

“This thing between us.”

I swallowed as his fingers ran down my throat and brushed across my collarbone.

He just acknowledged it. So it wasn’t just me.

“I don’t know.”

His teeth grazed over my earlobe causing me to jerk in his hold.

“I suggest you work that out fast before you do something you later regret.”

What? Like letting him fuck me? That was almost inevitable at this point. He knew it. I knew it. It wasn’t a question of if. It was a question of when. When would we be stupid enough to fall into bed together and ruin everything. That’s if he even fucked me in his bed. I had images of him pressing me up against the kitchen counter, bending me over the kitchen table.

His mouth was so fucking close to mine I could hardly breathe. If Aiden kissed me, I would be done. Nothing would save me. He’d successfully strip me of everything and really fucking own every part of me. And I was so fucked up for wanting that. Wanting that when I had a boy waiting for me. A boy who cared about me. A boy who wasn’t a part of this sick fucked up game between Aiden and me.

This was a game to him. He wanted to use me for something. It’s why he wanted to break down all my walls and have me at his mercy. I wasn’t stupid enough to think that he didn’t have an ulterior motive for any of it. The small part of me that still cared enough about myself knew those things. She was very quickly being drowned out by my insatiable need to know Aiden. Know him and understand him. Understand why he hated my family. Why he felt the need to murder my parents.

He straightened abruptly, letting go of me. My face was on fire and my pulse raced out of control.

“Are you done? I have things to get on with.”

“Yes,” I whispered.

He pulled me up from the chair and forced me out of the room without letting me clean up my breakfast things.

What was the rush?

Was he as affected by me as I was him?

When we got to his bedroom, he let go of me.

“When I go out, this door is going to be locked. I suggest you use the bathroom before I leave.”

“Aiden…”

“What?”

“Would you be willing to give me some paper and a pen? Pencils would be better, but I’ll take what I can get.”

He frowned.

“Why would you want that?”

“I draw. It’s my thing. It’s why I am… was doing architecture at Uni.”

I’d already missed three weeks of classes. It was unlikely Aiden would ever let me go back and even if he did, I’d have issues catching up. I wasn’t sure how I’d ever reintegrate back into my real life if this ever ended. It was a big if.

He didn’t answer me. He just left the room. I went over to his bed and sat down on the end. I was sick of being left to my own thoughts all the time. I needed something. Something to help me hold onto my rapidly disintegrating sanity.

A few minutes later, he returned with a stack of paper, pens and pencils for me. He dumped them next to me along with a book for me to lean the pages on.

“Is that enough to keep you going?” he asked.

“Yes, thank you.”

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