Dangerous Temptation (Dark Dream 1)

And that freaking terrified me.

When I finally slept after staring at the ceiling for hours thinking of the man I’d been so sure was a monster, I had nightmares sandwiched between my dreams.

Chapter Five

Bianca

“Stop squirming,” Tiernan ordered as he drove through the dense morning traffic on the New York City streets, one hand casually resting on the wheel, his Patek Philippe watch gleaming in the pale spring light.

I stopped squirming in my seat, but the plaid uniform skirt still itched at my bare thighs beneath it. I tried to tug it down over my knees, but the gray and green fabric remained mid-thigh. When I wriggled again, Tiernan’s free hand lashed out to clamp around my leg.

“Enough,” he ordered, squeezing so tight I wondered if it would leave a bruise.

A dark part of me wished it would.

We’d already dropped Brando off at his all-boys school in his dapper little uniform. It was emotional to watch him join the other kids. He was all excitement, even though it was a totally new school in a new, huge, and strange city. I admired the adaptability of kids. Even though I was only seventeen, I was nervous about the newness of everything, whether or not they’d know immediately that I was an imposter in their wealthy midst.

“Listen,” Tiernan said on an annoyed sigh. “You’ll be fine. McTiernans don’t cower before anyone, least of all a hoard of immature teens.”

“I am a teen,” I reminded him. “And I’m not a McTiernan.”

“For all intents and purposes, you are now,” he corrected, looking over at me at a stoplight. He looked so dashing in the luxe interior of the Aston Martin that I felt the absurd urge to touch him to make sure he was real. “Chin up, Bianca. The elite can smell your fear.”

“You would know,” I muttered, looking out the window even though the view was so much better inside the car.

Yesterday had left a storm of conflict in my soul about the enigmatic man, but I’d resolved myself to remember his overwhelming bad qualities instead of the infinitesimal good ones. He’d barely mourned my mother, demanded absolute obedience from me while simultaneously treating me like dirt, and his intentions taking Brando and me in were more than slightly shady. I couldn’t trust him, shouldn’t let my guard down around him, and I couldn’t waver for a single second or I knew the jerk would take advantage.

He chuckled as we finally swung into the parking lot at Sacred Heart. I pressed my nose to the glass, craning to see the entire massive brick edifice.

“Wow,” I breathed, shocked at the beauty of the grounds and the perfectly appointed students milling around on the front steps with their Prada tie clips, preppy plaids, and expensive shoes. “This is like something straight off Gossip Girl.”

Tiernan ignored me, reaching into the back to grab my new designer bag and dump it into my lap. “Get going.”

“What, you aren’t going to wish me luck on my first day, Daddy?” I asked sweetly, batting my eyelashes.

His mouth flattened and that hand found my thigh again, squeezing hard enough to bruise. “No. I will remind you of the rules. You do not speak about me or the private matters of our home. You do not fuck around. Straight As or I’ll have you pulled out of SHA and put into a school in the fucking ghetto. Is that understood?”

“Crystal clear,” I muttered.

“And, Bianca?” he practically purred in a way that was both sexual and threatening. “No boys.”

“Jealous?” I baited with a mean smile.

“I’m not jealous. Legally you are mine, and I protect what is mine at all costs. You don’t want me to have to remind some teenage boy that your body isn’t theirs to do with as they please.”

A shiver rattled my bones before I could brace for it, alerting Tiernan to my ridiculous arousal over his possessiveness. I watched his eyes flare neon green, then darken.

He leaned close until all I could see were those eyes and all I could smell was his smoke and sin scent. “You don’t want me to have to remind you, either.”

“Threatening a minor?” I tried to counter, but my voice was all breath.

My gaze dropped to his scarred mouth. I wondered what those full lips might feel like capturing mine, how the texture of his scar would feel under my tongue. I swallowed thickly and wrenched myself away, breathing too rapidly.

Tiernan grinned that slow, cruel grin as he leaned back too, insolent with power. “Ezra will pick you up at three-thirty. Good luck, little thing, make Daddy proud.”

I flipped him the finger as I collected my bag and got out of the car, slamming the door on his chuckle.

When I turned around, someone was standing there staring at the Aston with a frown. He was absolutely gorgeous. The blond hair and blue eyes gave him an angelic look, but the broad shoulders and square jaw made him look like an all-American jock.