Page 14 of Lion's Prize

Braxton didn’t answer me, but his eyes darkened, becoming a deep honey color.

“I’m trying to keep you safe.”

“You just want me for yourself.”

“I did pay for you.”

“And now you get to decide my fate.” My anger rose as I talked, my skin getting hotter.

Braxton’s anger rose to match mine, our power facing off in the room.

I wasn’t usually this outspoken. I tried to keep my head low, to not attract too much attention to myself. That had been before, when they hadn’t known who and what I was. Now that I was bang in the middle of a world that was apparently just like me—sort of—I didn’t have to hide anything anymore.

I’d been attacked, pushed around, caged, and sold. I wasn’t in the mood to play nice anymore. My patience had worn thin, and now I was just angry.

“Watch your tone when you talk to me,” Braxton snapped.

“Or what?” I challenged before I swallowed hard.

He could do anything he wanted to me. Out here, I doubted I had rights, or the law on my side, or anything else that would protect me.

Braxton took one big step so that he was right in front of me, so close I could feel his heat roll off him in waves. His jaw was set, and his eyes were angry, but I wasn’t scared of him. My rabbit didn’t want to run away, the way I usually acted.

Something about Braxton drew me to him, and instead of cowering, my rabbit leaned into the magic that rolled off Braxton, rubbing herself against it like a cat.

What the hell was going on?

“I’m the alpha,” Braxton said in a deep voice. “Your life is in my hands. I demand respect.”

“Respect or fear?” Where was all this coming from?

Somewhere deep inside, from a place I hadn’t known existed. I wasn’t a scared freak anymore. I was an equal.

My rabbit was small, but the magic that poured out of me was more powerful than it had ever been, and I went with it. I couldn’t run, so I would fight if that was what I had to do.

“You’re feisty,” Braxton said in a low voice, and his eyes changed again, going from honey to the color of molasses.

I was suddenly very aware of how close he stood to me, his muscles flexed and his large form towering over me. I glared up at him, but he wasn’t terrifying anymore.

I wanted him. I ached for him.

I’d never been with someone, and my experience with anything sexual was minimal, but I needed Braxton inside of me. I didn’t know how that was possible, how I could crave something I didn’t know, but it was so powerful that I struggled to think clearly.

The atmosphere shifted, becoming thick and hot, and Braxton’s eyes slid to my lips. My breath hitched, and he closed the short distance between us. He paused fractions away from me, and my lips tingled in anticipation.

He didn’t move. He waited there, inviting me to close the distance.

I could back away. I could still end this.

I leaned forward, and our lips pressed together.

When he touched me, electricity ran through my body, charging me like a live wire.

Braxton pushed me backward until my back was against the wall next to the vanity and his tongue was in my mouth, his hands in my hair and on my neck, and he ground himself against me. His cock was hard, and I shivered and moaned softly at the back of my throat.

Braxton let out a low growling sound, a reminder that he was a beast, not a man, but I wasn’t scared of him. I wanted this.

I flashed on an image of us, naked on the bed just a few feet away from me. My body pinned underneath his, his glorious torso rearing up as he penetrated me, hips bucking while he fucked me.

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