I watch his reaction to my next question. “What do you want? Why me?”
This time, he moves closer, swallowing the inches that keep us apart, wedging me between his muscled thighs and the furniture. “I want a queen, little red,” he speaks softly, his voice merely a taunting whisper as his breath wafts warmly over me. “I want a woman I can proudly walk beside in public. To watch every man’s eyes on her while they slobber for a chance to take her, but knowing she is mine. In her elegant beauty, she’ll shine amongst the fake, plastic smiles while I introduce her to my world.”
He stays silent for a moment, probably waiting for what he just said to sink in. When he doesn’t continue, I prompt, “What else?”
“I also want that same woman to come home with me every evening and allow me to fuck her until she can’t think straight. I want to wear her out, make her cry and scream, make her come, and then I want her to take my seed. I want her porcelain flesh to be marred by my mark. The bruises I’ll bestow on her skin will be my ownership of her, and when my cock isn’t inside her, she’ll feel the emptiness. The craving to have me will be her addiction, and her heart will be my ultimate prize.”
My heart catapults into my throat at the elicit promise of what he wants and needs from me. And deep down, I wonder if I can give that to him. I’m not some sweet, submissive doll he can dress and play with. Folding my arms in front of me, I meet those deep, jade depths. “You want arm candy and a fuck toy.” I shake my head as realization takes hold of me, and the picture becomes clear.
“If you want to put it so callously.” He shrugs before a small, wolfish grin tilts his perfectly pink mouth. “But…” Lycan reaches for my hair, tangling a lock of my long, red strands around his finger before tugging. The smaller smile from seconds ago turns dangerous as the corners of his mouth tilt upward, and he continues, “I want someone with intelligence who can stand beside me while running my business. A woman with strength and fire.”
My mouth falls open, gaping at his admission. I never expected him to give me so much honesty. “And that’s why you chose me?”
“Oh, little red, no.” He shakes his head. A somewhat hungry stare burns through me as he offers me a slight chuckle. His tongue teases his lower lip before his perfectly pearly whites bite down on the flesh, forcing my eyes to lock on the full, pinkish mouth I’m tempted to taste. “I was given you as a payment. I didn’t know I would want you until the night we met.”
“That makes no sense.”
He tugs my hair once more before gripping my chin between his thumb and forefinger. “When you spoke back to me, when that fire burned in your eyes, that’s when I decided I’ll take you, and your father agreed.” A flash of satisfaction dances in his darkening gaze before he leans in, his mouth teasing its way over my cheek to my ear. “And that makes you mine.”
The heat of his breath and the promise in his tone has my skin bursting with goose bumps, the tightening in my gut twisting with a need for more pain as he tugs at my hair. My thighs instinctively squeeze together even though I try to fight the desire that’s burning through every inch of me. My stomach somersaults with a flurry of nerves when Lycan’s teeth graze the supple flesh of my ear lobe.
I don’t know what I’m supposed to do here.
I want to hate Lycan, and I think I do, but also, anger at my parents takes precedence.
But even under all that, there’s the need for him that’s coursing through my veins like a drug. It’s as if I’ve been shot up with something strong and volatile, something I’m not sure I can fight. Even though I know, I should.
Pulling away, I lock my glare on him before I voice, “I won’t marry you.” But the hoarsely whispered words aren’t as strong as they were earlier.
“We’ll see,” Lycan responds before stepping back, leaving me cold and shivering at his absence. “Eat. Enjoy your coffee. I’ll see you later.” He heads to the door and stops on the threshold, glancing at me from over his shoulder