Cruel Temptation (Underground Kings 1)

“I always loved how you smelled,” he growled, lashing his tongue across my neck as if he were a vampire about to sink his teeth in my vein and suck my dry.

“And how is that?” My voice quaked with anger, lust, and fear. My nostrils flared, and my thighs pressed together to relieve the familiar ache between my legs. So many conflicting emotions ran rampant inside me, and the only direction I wanted to go was the path I had convinced myself to stay on for so many years. A road that didn’t lead to Jaxon, but away.

I felt his lips spread, and when he lifted his head from my neck, his straight white teeth gleamed in the darkness. “Like mine,” he said.

Before I could think, I reared my hand back and let it fly, slapping him across the face. His head jerked to the side and stayed frozen in that position. My palm burned, and even in the onyx of the night, I saw the red welt across his face. I must have had a death wish to touch him in such a way, but there was one thing he needed to know. “I will never be yours again,” I seethed.

He stood, the bed rising from the loss of weight. He vanished into the darkness, and for a second, I wondered if I had imagined him there, if he were nothing more than an apparition.

And then, in the void of the deepest part of the room, his maleficent voice spooked me, “We’ll see about that, won’t we?” The door opened, revealing a hallway light for a brief second, and then the door shut again with a soft click.

The presence in the room that woke me disappeared, and I couldn’t help but think that I really did imagine him here.

Maybe this was a dream; I’d wake up tomorrow and laugh at myself.

I knew better.

Jaxon wasn’t a dream.

He was a nightmare.

Chapter Eight

Jaxon

The woman had me harder than a sledgehammer pounding iron nails and angrier than a bull ready to charge. I took a deep breath and sagged against the door. She was exhausting, thrilling, maddening, and invigorating, all at once. She was just

like I remembered, but a bit jaded. I’d take credit for that.

I thought it would be more difficult to convince her of Brian, but I didn’t think it would take as much time as I originally planned. She tried to say he loved her, but couldn’t, something she apparently knew. Right now, she was in denial, but I would be able to convince her of the truth. The small glimmer of uncertainty in her eyes told me that.

I pushed off her door and headed to the right toward the guest room. The image of her sleeping in my bed, her small body wrapped in the same sheets that I slept in, she looked like she belonged there. I couldn’t be a fool to think this wasn’t about her just as much as it was about me. I wanted her.

I had always wanted her from the moment I met her until the years wasted in prison without a word from her. If anyone should hate anyone, I should hate her, but that was impossible. Nothing in this world could ever make me hate Quinn.

She undoubtedly held a bit of hate toward me. I lifted my hand and touched my cheek, smirking when I still felt the low simmer of heat she left behind. No one would dare to ever hit me, or I’d kill them, a quick snap of the neck, but with her, it was different. She could smack me, hit me, spit at me, kick me, and downright disgrace me.

But it would only be to cover up what she really wanted.

Me.

Hate that passionate was derived from love.

She had feelings for me still, buried deep in that brainwashed heart of hers, but it was there, just waiting for me to bring it to the surface.

I had a ten-year plan, and it involved her at my side. I hoped it wouldn’t take her ten years to realize she loved me, but I had to uphold the end of the bargain. At the end of ten years, if she wanted to be free, I’d let her go.

I’d never be far from her, though. I’d always keep an eye on her. I’d always keep her safe since she had no regard for her own safety.

With a heavy sigh as I unbuttoned my shirt, I held the handle of the door down with my elbow then pushed it open with my foot. The slate grey walls had a low cast of lights shining on them, and the bed in the middle of the room wasn’t as big as the bed in my master suite. I stood at the two-way mirror, and my eyes fell on her as she walked down the staircase from the bathroom.

My eyes ate her up. From the tips of her bare feet to the messy blonde bedhead, she was gorgeous. She moved like a lynx, graceful, sly, and ready to pounce. She was feisty, a survivor; she just had no idea what she survived because if I had waited any longer to swoop in, she would have been dead.

And I’d be standing over her grave.

Just the thought had me wanting to go down there and kill Brian for even thinking about laying a hand on her. Her safety was more important than me, but without his confession, I wouldn’t be a free man, and I wouldn’t be the man she needed me to be.

I placed my palms against the cold glass, never taking my eyes off her. Her legs were white and smooth, and that oversized t-shirt stopped below her ass. If she bent over, I’d be able to see what color panties she wore, and just the thought had my hand stroking the hard length under my pants.