Cruel Temptation (Underground Kings 1)

“You need to be more careful. The guys haven’t seen a woman like you in a long time,” he said, finally turning around so I could see him.

Oh, yeah, like that was supposed to make me feel better.

“I’d just be a means to an end for them,” I said off-handedly.

“No, that’s not what I mean.”

“Are you going to tell me what you meant?”

He stared at the ceiling for a minute before ungluing himself from the spot he was in. The closer he got, the more the warm feeling returned, throbbing my clit. His hair wasn’t slicked back today, so he looked rough around the edges. His shirt was black, short-sleeve, and stretched across his chest. The shirt brought my attention to his tattoos running up from his fingertips to his neck. He was covered. Was his back? His ass? Where else did he have tattoos?

I was more interested than I wanted to be, but when a man looked like Jaxon Steel, hate wasn’t even enough to make me look away.

I was angry, not dead.

“So you aren’t going to tell me what you meant?” I asked again.

He sat on the edge of the bed, his cologne infiltrating my senses, and my mind fogged. Nothing was better than a man that smelt good. Brian never wore cologne.

His hand landed on my knee, and even through the sheet, his touch was too much for me to handle right now. I jerked away from him, leaving his hand mid-air. He arched a perfect, black brow at me and then set his hands on his lap.

“No,” he finally said, standing up by pressing his palms to his thighs. He walked over to the modern oak dresser and opened the drawer, throwing me another shirt. “You can wear the joggers from yesterday. It’s all we have for you. Get dressed. Eat. We will go shopping for clothes.”

“You. Go shopping?” I snorted and swung my legs over the bed, wrapping the sheet around my body. “I’ve heard it all now.”

“You’re going to be here a long time, Quinn. You better get used to surprises.”

“You’re funny if you think I’m staying here for ten years, Jaxon.” I stood up and walked over to the silver tray of food, and right as I took off the lid of a plate, Jaxon’s arms were around me, but not in an embrace.

He wanted to be in control.

Jaxon twisted my hair around his wrist and turned my head to the side to expose the column of my neck. “You will stay if you want your precious Brian to stay alive. Each day you make me wait for an answer, I’ll take one of his toes.”

“You wouldn’t,” I gasped, but not from his words like I should have, but like a crazy person, I felt the long length of his erection pressing against my ass. All there was between us were his jeans and these sheets wrapped around me.

“I would, and I’d like it.” His beard rubs against my cheek until the skin became raw. “I’d like nothing more than to see him suffer for what he planned on doing to you, what he did to me,” he recited again as if he thought the more he said Brian was a liar, I’d believe him.

I had no idea what to believe.

I wanted to believe Jaxon, my heart screamed at me to listen, but the part of me that has lived the last ten years thinking Jaxon killed Tracy, that side of me wasn’t letting go as easily as Jaxon wanted. Change was an evil mistress, and in this situation, she

was dangerous and trying her best to shift my emotions.

“Maybe you need to hear for yourself,” he said, keeping me trapped against his chest. “I won’t allow you to talk to him, but you can see him.”

“When?” I asked quickly, wanting to call his bluff.

“Now, get dressed, and I’ll take you down to him, and then we will go get you more clothes.”

“How do I know it isn’t a ploy to take me to a deep dark dungeon?” I spun around in his arms, wanting to be daring, but it was the wrong move to make. His mouth was too close to mine now, and his scent took over every single one of my senses. My nipples scraped against his chest, and I knew he felt them by how his pupils dilated into two fine points as he stared at me.

Jaxon couldn’t be the future for me. He was the past, a memory, a murderer, and a complete asshole. I couldn’t want him.

Liar.

I’ve always wanted him, and as I stared into his eyes, our bodies pressed together, something deep down told me he wasn’t the monster I’ve made him to be. How did I get over that? He kept preaching about the truth, and if he was right, then I made the biggest mistake of my life believing Brian when I could have fought for Jaxon.

If Jaxon was right, then why would he want anything to do with me now?