13
EMERY
As soon as Adrik sees me sitting in the passenger seat of his Aston Martin the next day, he frowns.
Which is a pity, because I was admiring him as he’d come down from the house. He’d walked down the steps and glanced up at the sky, breathing in the morning air, face more relaxed than it’s ever been when it’s aimed at me.
For a second, he looked remarkably… human.
Now, he's back to standard form. Scowling and stalking towards the vehicle like a Viking ready to pillage and plunder.
Before he can reach for the door handle, I press the lock down.
Without even breaking stride, he presses the unlock on the key fob and wrenches the door open. "Get out."
"I'm coming with you."
"No, you aren't. Get out."
I cross my arms. "Make me.”
He leans in close, his minty breath in my face, and snarls, “There is no limit to what I will make you do if I choose, Emery.” Then he straightens and sighs. “But I’m not in the mood to do this with you today. Get out of the car.”
I consider holding my position. But I know what will happen if I do: Adrik will yank me out of the car as if I'm a sack of potatoes, dump me on the ground like a sack of potatoes, and then drive away without looking back or giving a shit about what happens to me next—as if I’m nothing more than a sack of potatoes.
Reluctantly, I swing one leg out and step out of the car.
"Good girl."
He turns to walk around to the driver’s seat, but before he can go, I snatch his hand and hold it with both of mine.
"I want to come with you," I plead. "Please let me come."
His mouth lifts in a smirk at my word choice.
I roll my eyes and try to hide my blush. "Spare me the joke about how I'm going to be screaming those words in your bed one day and just let me come pick up the damn dog with you."
"It's not a joke. It's a fact that you'll say those exact words to me," he says, his voice a delicious rumble. He pulls his hand out of mine. "But I imagine we'll be some place more exciting than a bed. Because when you finally break, it will be spontaneous. Irresistible. There won't be time to find a mattress.”
I swallow hard past an obnoxiously large knot in my throat. "I just want to help choose Isabella's dog. This is a big deal, and I want to make sure we choose the right pet for her. Plus, we’ll look more like a real couple if I come with you. I’m sure the breeder will like that.”
“I don’t give a flying fuck what the breeder will or won’t like,” Adrik snarls. “And after last night, I’m less than convinced that you know how to act the part.”
'What does that mean?" I ask, frowning.
I thought dinner went okay. Until Vadim said my daughter was a burden, that is. Then I'd wanted to crack one of the blue vases on the table over his head.
I don't care if he's a sick old man or not. Say that kind of shit about my daughter, you're asking for a smackdown.
Thankfully, Adrik put his father in his place before I had to.
"He thinks you're a prostitute I hired to pose as my fiancée."
I blanche. Okay, now I definitely wish I'd smashed a vase over his head.
"What the hell does he think this is, Pretty Woman?"
"Am I supposed to know what that means?”
"Forget it,” I grumble. “It was the dress. Who wears a dress with a mesh midsection to meet their father-in-law?"
Adrik shakes his head. "The dress was perfect."
"To you, maybe. But not to your dad. Which is why I know I need to come with you to pick out this dog—because you don't actually know everything, Adrik."
"Wrong, as usual.”
I shake my head. "No, you—"
“For fuck’s sake, woman, just do as you’re told for once.”
“That’s rich, coming from you,” I scoff. “You haven’t ‘done as you’re told’ for a single day in your entire spoiled life.”
That does the trick. Pushes the right button.
He’s on me in an instant, even faster than I expected. One hand at my hip, the other at my throat. I can feel the car key digging into the soft skin beneath my jaw.
But that’s the least of my concerns.
Because Adrik’s erection is digging into the soft skin below my belly, and I find that far more concerning.
“You push and prod because you think you are safe from me,” he breathes in my face in the lowest, most venomous growl I’ve ever heard from him. “You think I won’t do the things I’ve told you I will. But I promise you this, kiska—I’ve done things you can’t ever even dream of. And I’ll think of special new ones, just for you. Just to hear you moan. Just to hear you beg. Just to hear you scream.”
He stares into my eyes for another long few breaths. His hands are hot, heavy pressure on my bare skin. I’m not sure whether I’m burning up or shivering—all my senses have gone haywire.
“So is that a yes or a no?” I rasp in his face.
Even I’m surprised by how defiant it is. It’s a whisper, but a harsh one. Full of as much fire as I can muster.
And to my ever-lasting surprise…
It works.
He releases me and steps back, leaving me rubbing gingerly at my throat and aching between my thighs.
“I expect you to do as I ask,” he says. “To be what you’ve promised to be. Smile and giggle and flounce around like you don’t have two brain cells to rub together. But don’t you dare fucking get in my way.”
“That’s what you think a wife is?”
“That’s what I know my wife is.”
“How charmingly progressive.”
He just sighs. “Get in the car, Emery. And don’t say a single goddamn word.”
* * *