Page 43 of Vicious Seduction

“Just my mother and her stupid games, that’s all.” Her voice was weary and resigned.

“Not tonight. I want to know what happened between you and your parents and what that man has to do with it,” I demanded.

Lina squared her shoulders. “Nothing relevant. It’s in the past.” Her voice held an eerie detachment, and I fucking hated it.

“Wrong. You’re going to tell me.”

“No, I’mnot. It’s none of your goddamn business.” Her spark of anger was a relief, so much more reassuring than the eerie detachment from minutes earlier.

I yanked her up off the couch and spun us around until her back was to the wall. “Iwillfind out, I can promise you that. But I’d rather it come from you.”

“They won’t tell you, and neither will I, so you better get used to disappointment.”

I growled like a fucking dog. Like I had no more control over myself than a stray mutt. “You make me crazier than anyone I’ve ever met.”

She brought her face closer to mine, straining against my hold, and bared her teeth. “Ditto.”

My lips came down on hers with punishing intensity. She stirred up so many damn emotions, I didn’t know how I felt, only that I felt everything to extremes. As with any cacophony of sounds, drawing out a single one to identify was impossible, yet they were so damn loud all together.

And even more astounding was the way the entire chaotic orchestra faded to a distant hum the second she began to kiss me back. The whole damn world could have collapsed around us, and I would have felt nothing but contentment at the press of her hungry lips on mine.

While the world wasn’t collapsing, we stood on a battlefield with enemies surrounding us. This wasn’t the time or place for anything but extreme caution.

I forced myself to pull my lips away from hers. “It’s time to leave.”

“But we haven’t had dinner.” Her response was surprisingly sharp.

My eyes narrowed. “Fuck if I’m staying after that. We can grab food on the way home.”

“No, Oran. I have to stay.” Her voice raised with a hint of mania. “I’m not letting them chase me away.”

Goddamn, this beautiful warrior of a woman.

I leaned in close again, resting my forehead against hers. “I’ve learned that the only way to win with people like that is to walk away.” I brought my lips to her jaw and kissed a path down her delicate neck. “Walk away, Lina, because if you don’t care, they don’t matter. And if they don’t matter, they have no power over you. And you—” My hand caressed up her thigh beneath her dress.

She brought her hands to my shoulder on a shaky breath, sliding her legs a few inches apart. That was all the encouragement I needed.

“You are a fuckingqueen.” My hand cupped her sex over silk panties before I slipped one finger beneath the elastic edge and into her warm folds. “You bow to no one but your king.”

A ragged moan sighed from deep in her throat past parted red lips as I slid a finger deep inside her.

She was the most glorious, seductive sight I’d ever seen. And when her hooded blue eyes met mine, I vowed to myself that I would never let anyone hurt her again.

Lina clung to my jacket lapel. She used it as leverage to rock herself against my hand, and when she spoke, her raw voice was heavy with desire. “And what about my king? Who does he bow to?”

I lifted my fingers to my nose, savoring her musky scent, then lowered myself to my knees and trailed my nose along her slit. “A king is never afraid to get on his knees for his queen.” I slid her black panties aside and began to devour her.

CHAPTER 22

LINA

I didn’t knowwhat had come over me. One minute, I was facing my worst nightmare, and the next, I’d propped my leg over Oran’s shoulder and surrendered to the pleasure of his tongue lapping at my clit.

“Right there! God,yesss.” My fingers curled into his thick hair, and my eyes rolled back.

The man knew his way around a woman’s pussy. He didn’t just attack the clit. He teased and coaxed pleasure from every angle. He let the orgasm build, then recede as he moved to another area, but unlike most men I’d been with, Oran drew out the pleasure on purpose. I even felt the rumbling vibration of his laughter after I groaned withfrustration.

“Impatient, are you?”