Page 96 of Filthy Royal

“Wrong thing to say.” He moved so fast that he had his hand wrapped around her throat, propelling her backward before she’d even raised her palms in defense.

“Don’t!” Her spine hit the wall, fear for him thundering through her. She was too keyed up, the darkness inside her primed to kill.

His chest slammed into her as he pinned her to the wall.

For a heartbeat, everything was suspended, sound and movement frozen.

Then the calm detonated.

Raw, vibrant power exploded through her.

The walls rumbled. Dirt crumbled from the ceiling. The cage that had held her flew backward. The other one tipped on its side.

However, none of the violence touched Damien. There was no dark surge or deathly charge. No horrific burning scent or dead, empty eyes.

Instead, the power that ricocheted between them was an altogether different type of seething storm. One fueled by white-hot, incandescent lust.

Pleasure radiated through every cell, a thousand points of erogenous pleasure, the bruises that had once bothered her entirely forgotten under a surging tide of ecstasy.

Damien groaned as his eyes flickered red.

Panting, overwhelmed by a need that burned hotter than a thousand suns, she dug her nails into the wall to keep from reaching for him.

No wonder they’d lost it in that corridor.

She should have known he’d be different from the rest. He’d always been her exception.

He pressed his cock into her belly. “Fuck, you were right. That hurts in thebestpossible way.”

“Alpha.” She couldn’t think past the need for him.

“Omega.” His hand, firm around her throat, secured her in place as his mouth descended.

Her lips tingling, eyes fluttering shut, she stilled. Breathless. Freed from her usual terror and guilt. Stripped of her defenses and pride. Ensnared by the hunger that glittered in his stare. Helpless to do anything but await the warmth of his lips.

Except one heartbeat turned into two, and his lips never touched hers.

Scarlett blinked, eyelids drifting open to find his mouth a hairsbreadth from hers.

She started, uncertain. “Damien?”

He growled low, and she thought she saw a flash of regret in his stare, even confusion and pain, but it was soon replaced by an arrogant smirk. “Bet you’re not thinking of Kadon Stormhart right now.”

Outrage slammed through her. Humiliation too. Because he was one hundred percent right: Kadon hadn’t crossed her mind at all. “You’re such an Alphahole.”

One who was proving he had far more control than she—and that only shamed her more.

She might be more like Brock than she’d realized. Dense, without options, and, since her gift didn’t work on her captor, in big trouble.

Damien’s grip tightened on her throat. “You got that right, Omega. I am an Alphahole. I hold grudges. And what’s more…” He shifted until his mouth hovered over her ear, the faint flutter of his breath against her earlobe sending tingles skating across her skin. “I fucking hate you, ScarlettStormhart.”

The wound inside her bled deeper.

“But,” his voice hard once again, Damien dragged a fang across her earlobe, “that doesn’t mean I don’t remember just how fuckable that little cunt of yours once was. Or how much it likes me. You can spout crap about returning to that pretty Golden Boy all you want. It’s my tongue, my hand, my toys that pussy craves.”

“Stop.” She panted, torn between indignation and the agony of the truth.

“No way Stormhart makes you feel the way I do.”

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