Page 31 of Seducing the Knave

His rough laugh vibrated through her chest, settling low in her belly. “Really? Let’s see... Yer da’s a lord of some sort and ye grew up with the kind of luxury few can imagine. Ye’ve probably never gone a day without getting everything ye wanted and I’d bet me arse ye’ve never had to face the kind of challenges most folks deal with on the regular.” His lips curled into a smirk. “In short, yer life’s been charmed but fucking boring.”

Elle could only glare furiously and clench her teeth. The loathsome man came annoyingly close to the truth. She’d certainly enjoyed all the privilege he seemed to scorn, but her indulgent and overprotective father had been gone for two years now, along with her loving mother. And though she’d certainly been shielded from a great deal of the world’s ugliness, recent events had definitely made up for lost time.

A hard lump filled her throat at the recollection of all the love and security and happiness that would never be hers again. She doubted the day would ever come that she’d be able to think of her parents without feeling the full debilitating depths of the grief she carried within her.

Even so, Max’s flippant tone almost made her feel guilty for all she’d once taken for granted.

But then she recalled Jasper’s hateful words and the look in his eyes as he declared her his to do with as he wished. It didn’t matter how she grew up—how loved and cherished and pampered she had been—she didn’t deserve the kind of future her cousin intended for her. And she sure as hell didn’t deserve such heavy derision from a scoundrel like Max Owen.

Narrowing her gaze defiantly, she glared up into his flinty stare. “As I said...you know nothing.”

There was a long pause as his expression shifted. His scowl slid into something less vicious and she swore for a second she saw a flicker of something almost soft in his gaze.

“Enlighten me, then.”

The roughly muttered words caused a subtle shiver through her body.

For a second, she wanted to. She wanted to tell him everything. About her parents’ tragic deaths. The many months of her consuming grief followed by the disturbing discoveries of Jasper’s destructive behaviors. And the fear and disbelief that had claimed her in that single moment after Jasper had struck her to the ground for daring to defy him when she’d suddenly, starkly realized how insignificant her own desires were in the face of his authority over her life.

Of course, she couldn’t say all that. Not to him—a stranger who cared nothing for her beyond the gems she could offer in payment.

But as he waited in vain for her reply, his mercurial mood shifted again. His eyes suddenly darkened to a dangerous hue. Releasing his hold on her wrist, he braced himself on his elbows to brush his thumb lightly across her cheekbone. Elle stiffened. The spot was tender where the back of Jasper’s hand had made violent contact. With the early morning sun angling through the room and as close as he was, there was no way he wouldn’t be able to see the shadowy bruise she’d tried to keep hidden.

“What’s this?” he asked in a weighty tone.

“Nothing.” She hated the vulnerability his sudden gentleness triggered inside her and her voice was defiant as she practically dared him to question her further.

His flinty gaze slid over her features and his jaw clenched as he seemed to struggle with something. Then his thumb brushed over the crest of her cheek once again, almost as though he were trying to soothe away any remaining hurt.

A delicate rain of sparks danced through her bloodstream and she parted her lips to draw in a much-needed breath.

His attention immediately lowered to her mouth. Two lines formed between his furrowed brows and he huffed a ragged breath, as though he were suddenly deeply disturbed by something. By her.

When he lifted his gaze to meet hers again, his eyes contained an odd light—a sort of awareness she didn’t fully understand though she suddenly desperately wanted to. His stare was sharp and piercing. Possessive. And just a bit cruel.

As she held her breath, he slid his thumb lightly from her cheek to her jaw, which he followed to the point of her chin.

His voice was a smoky whisper as he asked, “What would ye do if I kissed ye right now?”

Heat rolled fiercely through her core before expanding outward. The muscles in her thighs tensed against his hips and her hands curled into fists. An odd but insistent flickering ignited in her chest.

“Are you going to kiss me right now?”

Silver flashed in the pewter of his eyes. “Considering it.”

“Why?” she breathed.

In a split second his mood changed. From forbidding and darkly sensual to frustratingly amused.

With a husky laugh, he rolled off of her to rise from the bed.

She barely managed to gasp a breath and squeeze her eyes tightly closed as his very nude—very male—body flashed before her gaze.

Stunned, she could only lie there and listen to him moving about the room.

“Five minutes, princess. Be ready or I leave without ye.”

She heard more movement, then the creak of hinges followed by a firm click as the door closed again.

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