Cruel Temptation (Underground Kings 1)

He exhaled, clearly getting impatient with me.

“Is that the game you want to play? I’m better at this than you, Quinn.”

That I knew. He was better at a long of things that made a person lesser.

A warm hand squeezed the back of my neck, like he did at the church, and forced me to turn over and look at him. I didn’t even hear him move, didn’t hear his feet on the floor as he walked toward the bed. He was silent, stealthy, a true killer waiting in the shadows. I could only see half of his face in the dark. One half-covered by darkness, the other illuminated by the moon shining through the windows.

His brown eyes were large, with a hint of a golden ring around the irises. He was too close since I could see the different flecks of amber in his eyes. The dark tendril of his hair fell against his cheek, and his jawline flexed as he held me down against the bed, the warmth of his palm sinking into my throat. My pulse jumped wildly, not from the threat of Jaxon but from the want that sparked inside me with him so close.

I thought I had forgotten what it was like to feel his strength against me, but Jaxon had embedded himself in my muscle memory, and stopping my body’s reaction to him was impossible. He was a bad habit, an instinct, a vice I’d never be able to break.

He saw it too, the moment he knew he had me where he wanted me. I stared directly into the devil’s eyes and saw nothing but the flames that wanted to burn me, yet all the flickering flames did was make me hot.

I had yet to speak a word to him. I had no idea what to say but keeping my tongue-tied was in a way a victory for me. My hands were by my head, surrendering in a sense, not to him, but whatever threat he was looming over me.

He gripped the blanket that covered my chest and tugged it down until the air wrapped around my legs, causing my hairs to stand. The shirt fell just above my knee, and his free hand skimmed down my body, his fingers carrying scorching heat, searing my skin as he touched my thigh.

I swallowed a whimper.

No, a plea to have him let go of me because I didn’t want to want his touch. Brian had never touched me like this. We messed around a bit, but I never carried a torch for him the way I did for Jaxon.

I was yearning for a man that murdered his sibling. Just what would he do to me?

His hand caressed my inner thigh, and my legs trembled to fall apart, but I refused to give him the privilege.

“I bet if I felt your pussy, you’d be wet,” he murmured, pressing his nose against mine.

I know he was taunting me. I couldn’t give in. He’d be right, but I wouldn’t be wet because I wanted to be. I couldn’t control how my body reacted to him any more than I could control my need for breath every second. I kept my mouth shut, not giving him an inch to work with because if I did, he’d run a mile with it.

He circled his fingers along my inner thigh, and I closed my eyes and swallowed. I shouldn’t have done that because now he had proof of how he affected me. I snapped my eyes open and lifted my neck against his hand, daring him to tighten it, to get him to get on with killing me.

“Brian is alive if you’re wondering, but you shouldn’t care. He was using you, Quinn.” He brought his lips to my ear, and the depth of his voice had my eyes fluttering. I was glad he couldn’t see me. “He knew about your trust fund, he told me himself, told me he was going to kill you.”

“He would never. You’re a liar!” I spat, finally twisting my tongue enough to speak to him.

“So she talks,” he grins, rubbing his lips across my cheek. “A part of me wished you hadn’t. I liked our game.”

“You’re the killer, not Brian. Brian would never do that to me. He—” I tried to say that Brian loved me, but the words lodged in the back of my throat. I knew deep down Brian and I had more of a mutual love and understanding for one another than being in love; there was a difference, but he had been nothing but kind to me over the years.

Sure, I wanted sex as much as the next woman, but I respected Brian enough to understand why he wanted to wait till marriage. It was hard. So many nights I laid awake with my clit throbbing and an ache between my legs, and I’d always go to the bathroom to take care of myself. Sex with Jaxon was my go-to for quick orgasms, and often, the high never lasted long because even after so many years, I missed the rough hands of a murderer against my skin.

“He what? You can’t even say it. He was going to kill you for your money and flee the country, but you’re blinded.”

“I wasn’t the one who kidnapped a woman and shot her husband at the altar!”

“He isn’t your husband,” Jaxon bit, his lips so close to mine that his beard tickled my chin.

“You made sure of that, didn’t you?” I made sure to say it with all the hate I could muster. “You couldn’t just leave me alone. You always had to get your way—”

“And make no mistake, Quinn,” he cut me off and brushed his lips against mine. He didn’t kiss me, just dangerously teased. “I always get my way. You’ll see the truth. It will just take time.”

“I know the truth,” I whispered, turning my head away from him, so I didn’t have the urge to kiss him. I refused to break. Jaxon was good at tearing down everything in his path to get what he wanted, and I knew the only thing left truly standing in his way to victory was me. I wasn’t sure what truth he had that I’d ever believe, but I didn’t want to know. I wanted to put the past behind me and be free of him once and for all. “Nothing you say will make a difference.”

“Everything I say makes a difference,” he said with so much arrogance that I wanted to spit in his face again. “Because I am the difference, Quinn. You’re blind now, but just wait, and I’ll make you see again.” Jaxon buried his fingers in my hair and gripped the roots so tight I gasped with pain igniting throughout my scalp.

I loved it.

He lifted me up until my torso was up and off the bed, and he yanked my head back, burying his nose in my neck. My hands gripped the sheets, fisting them so hard I wanted to tear the expensive silk.