He paused, not answering for a prolonged second. “She gave him an ultimatum and he let her walk.”
“Oh.”
“Is that enough personal information for you?”
“Sorry.” My eyes shot up. The minute my eyes met his, I was sorry I didn’t have more control over my body. He held his stubborn jaw on an angle, and his faint smile parted his deceptively seductive mouth, exposing a hint of his white teeth. He was shockingly handsome, and the fact that I even noticed at a time when my life was dangling from a thread unsettled me more than I wanted to admit.
“Am I making you uncomfortable?”
“No,” I said glaring at him, battling every disconcerting emotion with every last bit of willpower I had buried in the depths of my soul.
“Now, that’s a lie if I’ve ever heard one.” Before I had the opportunity to move, two of his surprisingly gentle fingertips brushed across my mouth, and I tensed, refusing to allow my body to respond. Despite my intentions, the heat of his touch spread like an inferno through my body, and I wanted to move away. I really did, but I didn’t do a thing.
He bent his head toward mine until less than an inch remained between our foreheads. For some reason, the lingering distance was more lethal than if our skin actually made contact. Maybe it was the anticipation of his touch, or that his steely gray eyes were mesmerizing. I couldn’t explain it, but his mere presence paralyzed me.
He slid the handmade headband from my hair, dropping it on the bed. “Better,” he whispered, his eyes searching mine. “I like the way your hair frames your face.”
I swallowed hard, trapped in the prison of his too watchful eyes.
“What are you afraid of? What do you think is going to happen right now?” His forehead finally brushed mine, and I held my breath.
Do not breathe.
Do not breathe.
Ignore him.
Ignore his tantalizing scent.
Ignore his hypnotic eyes.
Ignore the sound of his voice.
“Do you think I’m going to take advantage of you?”
His dark velvet voice meandered down my spine, and I tensed my muscles, hoping to fend off my reaction. “I wouldn’t be surprised. You have a track record of doing exactly that.” I tried to sound indifferent. I even accompanied my words with an exaggerated eye roll, but the words had a mind of their own. They came out wobbly and unconvincing.
“Are you sure about that?”
“Yes, and you know it. You take advantage of me whenever you sense even the faintest hint of vulnerability.”
“Are you telling me you’re vulnerable right now?”
I pressed the palm of my hand against his chest, trying to maintain even a small fragment of space. He was too close. Too overwhelming. Too imposing. Too heart-stopping. Too everything.
“Why are you doing this? You don’t want me. This is about finishing the job…getting that precious pardon for your brother. You’re just trying to…” I fisted the fabric of his shirt in hand, twisting it, madly searching for the magic words to combat him. “I don’t know,” I whispered.
“Trying to what? Kiss you? Kill you? Seduce you? Make you forget?” he said in his signature low, rugged voice that never failed to melt me from the inside out.
“All of the above. I don’t know anymore. I’m confused. You confuse me. Whatever this is between us confuses me,” I admitted. The minute the words fell out of my mouth, I groaned. But that didn’t stop my body from drifting toward him like a magnet, unable to resist his lure. What was wrong with me?
A spine-tingling smile burst across his face, and I practically tasted my capitulation, both bitter and sweet as it coated my tongue. From the smirk on his face, he realized it too. Evidently, when it came to Ryker, I was Pavlov’s dog responding every time he rang that fucking bell. No matter his tactics, no matter how much he annoyed me, no matter if he planned to kill me, I surrendered every time he summoned me.
“Stop fighting me. You know you don’t want to.”
He was a snake charmer. Didn’t he realize I couldn’t fight him? I shook my head, rejecting him, but he realized it was symbolic in nature, not an actual rejection. My eyes fluttered closed, embracing my defeat. He’d spun the web, and I was his willing victim, tangled in his silky prison.
The minute his lips grazed mine, my body came alive, and I fought back with the only weapon I had—my body. I became the aggressor. My mouth opened, searching, demanding, raiding, and he let me in. In an instant, his tongue slid against mine, and I sucked, bit, and took everything he offered and more, because he’d already stolen everything from me.
He gave just as good as he got, battling me with his mouth and hands, taking what he wanted and giving only what he wanted. He fought dirty, and within seconds, a hunger unlike anything I’d ever felt blazed through every cell in my body.
“I hate you,” I said against his mouth, even as my hands pulled him closer. It was the truth. I hated that I failed to say no to him. I hated that he’d hijacked my life. But most of all, I hated that he made me feel more alive than Evan ever had. Even when our relationship was shiny and new, I’d never experienced the raw, white-knuckling desperation I felt with Ryker. For Ryker.
“I know,” he responded, his eyes stormy and urgent like thunderstorms gathering on the edge of the horizon. He shoved me onto my back, and his body followed, hovering over me, watching me, challenging me, and I fought.
Wrapping my legs around his waist, I arched into him. “I wish I never met you.” My hands slipped under the hem of his shirt, gliding over the chiseled peaks and valleys of his sculpted chest. As much as I wanted to touch him, I wanted to hurt him. I raked my nails down his chest, but he didn’t flinch. He didn’t even blink. Fucker.
“I know.” His mouth moved to my neck and goose bumps scattered down my arms. Why did my body betray me time and time again with Ryker?
I rocked against him, one hand fisted in his hair, and the other yanked on the front of his shirt. I would rather spontaneously combust than ask him for anything, but my body literally ached for more contact, more of him. Mercifully, he understood me, moving against me with punishing force.
I didn’t know how long we continued our twisted game…battling each other, manipulating each other. As hard as I pushed, he’d push back, not taking it any further than he wanted. Instead, we were like two hamsters going round and round…kissing, licking, touching, and grinding against each other, over and over, replay after replay, but nothing more.
Control.
Dominance.
Superiority.
You name it; we battled for it. Instead of using weapons, we used our mouths, our hands, our bodies, and our minds…until fire licked my hyper-sensitized flesh and every nerve ending prickled with both pleasure and pain.