Steel Princess (Royal Elite 2)

“Then maybe he shouldn’t have been there, huh?”

My lips part. “You did it, didn’t you?”

“Who cares who did it? He had it coming.”

“Aiden!” Harsh breaths heave out of me. It takes all my cool head to speak in a level tone. “Please don’t make me hate you.”

“Don’t you hate me already?” He raises an eyebrow. “You said it the other day.”

I wish I meant it.

True, I hate his character sometimes.

I hate that I can never win with him.

I hate how he m

akes me gravitate towards him.

I hate that I can’t kill my interest in him.

But the truth is? That hate is growing and intensifying into something I can’t recognise anymore.

Something potent and scary.

“If you beat people up just because you’re a possessive freak, I’ll end up hating you.”

He’s silent for a while. “I’m not violent. You know that.”

“Your busted knuckles say otherwise.”

“I’m not violent,” he repeats slowly this time as if he’s making me understand the meaning behind his words. “Smarter, not stronger, remember?”

Does that mean he didn’t hit Knox? He didn’t completely deny it, but he’s not owning up to it either and Aiden always owns up to his actions.

“I might not look like it, but I’m still pissed off about yesterday.” His voice turns chilling. “And yet, you stand here talking non-stop about the reason why I’m pissed off. What are you trying to do, sweetheart, hmm? Provoke me? Push me? Congrats. It worked.”

That strange awareness from the first day I saw him slashes at the bottom of my stomach and straight to my chest.

Maybe it’s not awareness after all. Maybe like the hate, it’s morphing into something entirely different. Something like excitement and thrill and belonging.

He wraps a hand around my throat and glides the pad of his thumb over my bottom lip. “This is mine.” He cups my core harshly through my skirt. “This is also mine. Everything about you is fucking mine so don’t push me into marking my territory in front of everyone.”

“Aiden!” I search the car park in a frenzy.

It’s empty — thankfully, but anyone could come through the door. Anyone could walk in and see Aiden gripping me by my throat and my pussy.

“We’re in public,” I murmur.

“Hmm. A good place to mark my territory.”

He starts to lift my skirt.

Oh, God.

I want to think he’s only threatening, but there’s no doubt he’d do it.

He’d take me right here right now, and it’d get us into huge trouble with the school.