Cruel Temptation (Underground Kings 1)

I wasn’t ready for the truth, and I wasn’t ready to see Brian. I needed to come to terms with the fact that the last ten years of my life was a lie. I tried to pull away from Jaxon, but he kept a tight hold around my hips. He was so much bigger than me, and fighting him with my body was pointless, but I could fight him with my mind.

“Let me go.”

“Like you let me go?”

The words had me looking away from his handsome face toward the bed. “Do you blame me?”

Without hesitation he said, “Yes.”

My breath left my lungs in a powerful gust as he stepped away from me, leaving me colder and feeling smaller than before he wrapped his arms around me.

“I do blame you,” he said. “You believed a man you didn’t know over the man you claimed to love. I blame you for not having more faith in me.” He slammed his fist over his chest, pressing his lips together until the area around his mouth turned white. “I understood your fear, but did you ever stop to think about mine? I was going out of my mind, Quinn!” he roared, punching his chest again and a hard thud sounded. “I had just lost my sister, my best fucking friend, and then you turned your back on me.”

“The evidence—”

“—Fuck the evidence!” The veins in his neck stood proud, standing with rage on the sides of his neck. “Fuck the goddamn evidence and think of me. Think of me for once second of your selfish, privileged life. You were so eager to throw me away, and yet you can’t muster up the courage to learn the truth.”

Tears brimmed my eyes, but I refused to let them fall for Jaxon. He’s never spoke so harshly to me. “The truth. We both know there are three sides to every story. I did love you—”

He closed the space he had put between us just seconds ago and tightened his hand around the upper part of my neck, and his thumb dug into the bottom of my chin. “You still love me.”

“I stopped loving you years ago,” I lied. I never stopped loving him, but I didn’t want him to know that so easily. I hated that he could read me still as if I were an open book spread before him.

He cocked his head, and his lips were just a breath away from mine. “Liar,” he said, the insult gliding across my lips as he spoke. “You might not want to love me, but you do.”

“Prove it,” I challenged, keeping my head held high as he stared those black daggers into mine.

“I’m trying, but you’re fighting me every step of the way. I’ll win in the end, Quinn. The sooner you realize that the better off we will be.”

“And if I don’t?”

“Then we are going to have a long ten years together.”

“You’d rather have me miserable than truly happy?” I asked, searching his face for any sort of compassion or empathy.

“You’d be lying to yourself if you thought for one minute, you’d ever be miserable with me.” He grazed his finger down my cheek, and I wanted to lean into his touch, but I kept frozen in place.

“You’re a dreamer, Jaxon. I’ve lived the last ten years without you, what makes you think I can‘t do it again?”

“Because once you know the truth, you’ll never want to spend another minute without me. Face it, Quinn. No one will love you like I do, want you like I do, and—” he pinched my hard nipple through the sheet, and I moaned. Damn him. He knew I loved nipple play, “no one will ever fuck you like I can; like I will.”

“Arrogant bastard.”

“When it comes to you, arrogance is essential. It’s the only way to handle a woman like you.” He took a step away from me again, and another piece of my soul went with him. “You’ll see, Quinn.”

“Fuck you.” I’d said that more in the past three days than I ever had in my entire life.

When he gets to the door, he doesn’t turn around. The wide expanse of his back, which was no hardship at all, but his face, while chiseled from evil, was the most sinning thing to look at in this room.

Sin was for the wicked, and Jaxon fit the bill perfectly.

“Just tell me when and where and I’ll fuck you like you haven’t been fucked in ten years.”

I grabbed the white coffee mug from the tray and threw it at him, but I was too late. He had already left, and the mug shattered against the door, sending pieces that could never be put back together to the ground.

Symbolic since my heart felt the same way right about now.

Chapter Ten