EMERY
The click of the door closing is like the cocking of a gun. I hold my breath, waiting for what I know comes next.
“Open your eyes.” Adrik whispers the words against my skin.
I didn’t even realize I closed them, but now, I’m afraid.
I stabbed him a few days ago. He locked me in a room. He made me strip naked in front of a stranger to try on wedding dresses that are glorified underwear.
So why can’t I say no?
I open my eyes and I’m once again struck by our reflection in the mirror. Adrik is a shadow over my shoulder. His blue eyes are the only light, the only thing that hints he isn’t the monster he appears to be.
“No hiding,” he says.
“I got that message loud and clear.” I point to the bed where the discarded dresses are lying. “They don’t leave much to the imagination.”
“Imagination is overrated,” he says, dragging his fingertips over my skin. “I’d rather have the real thing.”
He presses his palm against me. My entire body jolts.
“You’re already wet,” he murmurs. “You’re dripping on my hand. You must like the dresses as much as I do.”
“I hate the damn dresses,” I snap.
Adrik smirks. “The same way you hate me?”
Do you hate that no one fucks you like I do?
I narrow my eyes, refusing to answer his question. I may not be able to control my body’s response to him, but I can control my mind. And Adrik doesn’t get to know anything about the thorny knot behind my eyes.
“You can fool everyone else,” he says, swirling his finger over my clit, drawing a moan out of me. “But you can’t fool me, Emery.”
“Doesn’t mean I won’t try.”
“I’ve told you again and again, this fake marriage doesn’t have to be miserable. It can be… amicable.” He circles a finger over me again before sliding down and slipping it inside. “It can even be… pleasurable. So long as you listen.”
I reach back and grip his thigh, trying to stabilize myself. My legs are feeling weak, and with every curl of Adrik’s finger, they’re only getting weaker.
His muscles bend and flex as he works me higher and higher, and I hate that I’m so naked and vulnerable while he’s fully clothed. I hate that I’m the only one losing my mind.
Through my lust-filled haze, I reach both arms back and fumble with the button of his pants. I open them, and his dick pops out of his jeans. He’s hard and hot, and I wrap my hand around him, stroking from base to tip.
He hisses in my ear, and I hate him a little less for it.
“Ask for what you want.” He curls his finger inside of me and a shiver works down my entire body. “Beg me for it, kiska. I’ll give it to you.”
I bite my lip and stretch onto my toes, trying to give him more even as my hands work his length behind me. Our bodies are a confusing tangle of pleasure. I’ve never experienced anything hotter.
“No, you won’t. You lie,” I gasp. “If I tell you what I want, you’ll refuse. It’s a trick.”
“Not a trick. A treat, remember?” He pumps his hips into my hand, and I can feel his breathing growing ragged against my back. This is affecting him, too, even if he’s trying to conceal that from me. “Go on then. Use your words.”
I remember the night in the dining room.
I was naked in front of him just like I am now, and I laid myself bare. Beggars can’t be choosers, he said.
But right now, I want to be both.
“I want to turn around,” I whisper. “I want to face you while you’re inside of me. I want to look in your eyes while you make me come.”
I twist my hand at his base, and he growls and presses his forehead on my shoulder.
Then, all at once, he pulls his finger out of me and snatches me up off my feet. I yelp in surprise, but before I can get my bearings, Adrik drops me on the bed, right on top of the pile of wedding dresses.
“Julia will kill us,” I laugh, wading through a sea of lace and mesh.
But Adrik doesn’t answer. He just pushes me back on the bed and crawls over me. I shove his pants down around his thighs while he peels his shirt over his head.
“Holy hell,” I breathe as I drag my fingers down his muscled chest and abdomen.
He smirks and grabs both of my hands in one of his. He stretches my arms over my head, pinning them to the mattress.
“I want to touch you,” I complain.
He shakes his head. “No. I do the touching. You watch.”
I struggle against his hold, but it's useless. He's so much stronger than I am. “I should have known there would be a catch.”
He bends low and drags his tongue over one nipple and then the other. I gasp and arch into him until he sucks me into his mouth.
His dark head bobs over me, and I try to pull my hands free again. “I want to run my hands through your hair.”
He tightens his hold on my wrist. “No.”
I grunt in frustration, and he laughs. It’s the first time I’ve heard this low, sexy chuckle, and of course it’s at my expense.
But that doesn’t mean it doesn’t light my skin on fire.
Finally, he crawls over me. I lift my legs to wrap them around his waist. But Adrik shifts down suddenly and somehow manages to angle both of my legs over his shoulders instead. He leans against me, folding me under his weight, and I feel him teasing at my opening.
“Please,” I whisper, wriggling my hips. “I want you inside—”
Before I even get through the sentence, Adrik presses himself inside of me to the hilt.
I cry out. My body stretches around him, accommodating his size, and I don’t want it to end. He’s everywhere, pressing me inside and out—and I still want more.
He pumps into me a few times, our bodies slapping together with each thrust. I’m not in a position to do anything but take it.
“Fuck,” I moan. “Adrik, let me… oh God. Let me touch you.”
He slams into me harder. It feels like a punishment.
“Kiss me,” I gasp. “Please.”
He slides out completely before driving into me again. “I love when you beg. ‘Please’ sounds beautiful on your lips.”
“Kiss me, please,” I repeat. I’ve never wanted anything more.
Adrik looks down into my eyes. His forehead is creased in concentration, but his lips are pulled into a smirk. “I’m giving you what you want, Emery.”
“But I want—”
“You want to look in my eyes while you come,” he says. “I remember.” He shifts his weight slightly, freeing up one hand, and he slides it between us.
I’m on the brink already. He’s over me and in me, and my body is so tightly wound I’m not sure it will be possible for me to come undone. God knows it wasn’t possible for years before this.
But then Adrik brushes his finger over my clit, and I’m like a dam bursting.
Heat floods through me. I clench tightly around him. The sensation is too much, too overwhelming. My eyes flutter closed. But instantly—
"Open your eyes," Adrik snarls.
Oh, right. That's what I wanted. To look at him while I came, to know it was Adrik inside of me.
But suddenly, I'm scared.
"Open them," he barks, still thrusting into me. "Now."
I obey.
He's right above me, looking down into my face. His brow lifts. Only Adrik Tasarov could find a way to look haughty in the middle of sex.
"You can't lie to yourself now. You want me inside of you and no one else. Don't you?"
I press my lips together, trying to suppress the rest of my orgasm like a sneeze I don’t want. But it keeps rolling through me, relentless. My legs are trembling over his shoulders.
He turns his head and presses an open-mouthed kiss to my calf. "Tell me the truth, and I'll make you come again."
Come again? That might kill me. I'm not sure I can stand it.
But I'm willing to find out.
"Yes," I sigh, finally regaining some control of my breathing.
"Yes what?"