Page 57 of Arianna

She is grown, yes, but it is painfully obvious that she has a childlike innocence to her that calls out to the darkest part of me.

Softening me, which I cannot allow.

However, here she is.

In my world and my life.

The girl is devastation wrapped in a pretty-black, seductive bow.

Fuck.

Throwing back what is left of the warm liquid, I slam the now-empty glass down on top of the desk. I don’t take my gaze away from the screen, not until the girl stops in front of her door, looking around as if she expects someone to come out of the dark and surprise her.

What an odd bird she is.

Letting out an exasperated sigh, I think back to an hour ago when I had her so close to my body I didn’t even know where her body ended, and mine began.

Her heat burned my skin, and I can feel it even now.

I left the little smart-mouthed vixen with the last word, and yet, I feel like somehow she bested me.

I feel both proud and annoyed by her little stunt.

Now I have her scent all over me.

On my clothes.

On my skin.

Ingrained in my goddam brain.

A mix of vanilla and berries.

Sweet and simple, a total contrast to the girl.

She isn’t sweet or simple in any way.

Just what I need.

I pushed her, testing her limits in hopes she would step down and learn her place, but the girl, as always, will never stop surprising me.

She didn’t step down, and she pushed back.

I wish I could say it pissed me off, but that would be a lie. It did the opposite. It made me hard as fuck.

I love that she is not going to roll over and take it.

That she won’t make this easy.

I can’t wait.

I roll my heavy steel ring round and round, hoping it would serve as a distraction to the anger I feel slowly growing in the pit of my gut as I think back to Banning’s words to me before I arrived at the mansion and met them both inside my daughter's room.

The girl flinched when he made a move she sensed as threatening. Motherfucker.

If her cunt of a father hadn’t fallen off the grid, I would’ve brought him back here and made his daughter watch as I cut both eyes out and made him choke on them before slitting his throat.

That is saying a lot because I abhor messes.

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