He shakes his head, leaning towards me so that his breath kisses my nose. “That’s not what I’m talking about,” he whispers. “I’m talking about the fact that, despite everything you know now, despite everything I’ve done… you still want me.”
13
ALEKS
Her eyes flare with admission, but I can already see her lips forming the lie. “That… that’s not true…”
“No?” I ask, stroking the back of my fingers against her cheek.
She trembles. Behind all the fear, her pupils are dilated. Her nipples are hard. I know beyond the shred of a doubt that, if I dip my hand into her panties, I’ll find she’s wet for me.
“Your body gives you away, Olivia.”
“I don’t want you.”
“Say it again,” I taunt her. “Say it like you mean it.”
Her eyes go wide, desperate. She tries to push me off her, but I’ve got my chest pressed tight against hers. I can feel the soft peaks of her breasts. My cock stiffens.
I imagine the way she looked pressed up against that bathroom sink, her nipples bare, her pussy exposed. That intense, ravenous expression in her eyes.
She was scared then, just like she is now, but this time, the stakes are higher. This time, there’s shame attached to every dirty thought she’s had about me since the moment I ruined her life.
I’m perfectly fine with that. Shame never bothered me much.
“Do you make a habit of seducing unsuspecting women?” she asks.
“Only when I have a reason to.”
“What reason did you have for seducing Isabella?”
“Now I’ve seduced her and kidnapped her?” I shake my head, exhaling impatiently. “For fuck’s sake, the Lawrence family does not know how to listen. Your brother has it all wrong.”
“He wouldn’t have started the investigation without a lead.”
“Facts can be manipulated, Olivia. Lies presented as truth. Not everything you hear is valid.”
“In this case, I think it’s pretty damn valid,” she hisses. “You took me, after all. You wouldn’t have done that without good reason. I want to know why you did it to her.”
“Why don’t you tell me?” I suggest. “Let’s hear your conspiracy theories.”
“Maybe she saw something she shouldn’t have,” she says, guessing wildly. “Maybe she was important to an enemy of yours and you wanted revenge. Maybe she was just beautiful and you decided you wanted her, even if she said no.”
I raise my eyebrows. “You think I’m a rapist?”
“You said you’d committed heinous crimes. Am I supposed to know that you have favorites?”
I tighten my grip on her and her breathing hitches. “If there’s only one thing you choose to believe about me, believe this: I am no fucking rapist. I don’t have to take what isn’t given to me. By the time I’m done with a woman, she comes willingly. God knows you did. Several times.”
Her expression twists into darkness. “You bastard.”
I press my nose to the nape of her neck and trace a line up to her cheek. She smells like cotton and butter. Homely, warm scents that bring to mind fireplaces in winter, blue oceans in summer. Nothing like the women I’m used to.
“You like that about me, don’t you?” I murmur in her ear.
I release her, but I make sure to keep my hands on either side of the wall, trapping her between them. I’m not touching her anymore and my cock is already irritated with me for that sad little fact.
“Like what?”
“You like that I’m a bastard,” I say. “You like that I’m dangerous. You like that you have so, so much to lose with me.”
“That’s—”
“The truth,” I say, cutting her off. “Women are all the same. They say they want dependable, they want safe. But it doesn’t hold their attention for long.”
“That’s not true.”
“No?” I ask, giving her a knowing smile. “Let’s see: your last relationship lasted scarcely nine months. He designed software for gaming companies. Enjoyed brewing craft beer in his free time. How deliciously exciting.”
She gapes at me in shock. “You’ve been digging around in my past?”
“I make it my business to know things. Especially things I own.”
She shakes her head, not taking that bait. “What did you do to him?”
“Do to him?” I scoff. “As if your boring fucking ex-boyfriend was worth a fraction of my time. He wasn’t worth yours, either.”
“I’d rather have him than you,” she spits.
I smile and push myself off the wall, then take a few steps back, putting some space between us. My cock is definitely not happy, but I ignore that and focus on the larger point.
“Would you, Olivia?”
Her eyes glide down my body. She tries to control the instinct, but she fails miserably. And by the time she’s averted her gaze, I’ve already noticed.
I tilt my head to the side. “How was he in bed?”
She looks instantly mortified. “I am not answering that question.”
“Let me take a wild guess: he probably didn’t fuck you until the fifth or sixth date, am I right?” I ask. “And even when he did, he probably didn’t fuck you at all. I bet he tried to make love to you. Tell me—was that satisfying? Did it make your toes curl? Did it make your eyes roll back in your head? Did you moan his name?”
She looks down, her cheeks flushing with color. “I don’t want to talk about this.”
I feel like a kid with a new toy. There’s something about this woman—I want to push all her buttons and watch her explode. She’s so reserved, so turned in on herself, that I want to see what happens when I rip her wide open.
“Because you’re embarrassed about what you settled for?”
“Lionel was a good guy,” she says defensively. “He… he treated me well.”
“Pity it ended so quickly, then.”
She narrows her eyes at me. She knows I see right through her bullshit. “So he was a little boring. Who cares? It doesn’t mean I want a man who treats me like crap.”
“What about a man who is your equal?”
“Are you implying that’s you?”
“Not at all. I have no interest in being anything to you. I’m simply curious.”
The fact that I’m curious at all is unprecedented, but that is lost on Olivia. It doesn’t matter. I can have my fun with her and deal with her brother at the same time.
Two birds. One stone.
“He was twice the man you are,” she snarls.
“He was half the man on his best day that I am on my worst. And besides—if he was so impressive, why aren’t you with him anymore?”
“I… decided to focus on my career,” she stammers in the most transparent lie that’s ever been told. “Anyway, what about you? What happened to your last relationship? Did she just decide she doesn’t like murderers?”
I laugh at that one. “What makes you think I want a relationship?” I saunter a little closer to her again. “I can have any woman I want, Olivia. What would I do with a commitment I don’t intend to keep?”