Dirty Sexy Alphas (Twenty Book Box Set) - Hannah Ford Page 0,125

trust me to do even the simplest thing. Then he squeezed a bit of Neosporin onto the band-aid and put the bandage over my cut.

“Thank you,” I said, taking my hand back. It burned from where he touched me.

He didn’t say you’re welcome. Instead, he just stared. His eyes were deep and calm, and they surveyed me like he was in charge, like he could do whatever he wanted with me. The silence stretched between us for a moment, and I raised my chin at him, daring him to tell me to get out. If he did, I wouldn’t care. I wasn’t afraid to go back to the shelter.

But he didn’t kick me out.

Instead, he licked his top lip and moved toward me.

He was so tall that he leaned down over me so he could whisper in my ear.

“You want to forget everything?” he breathed. “You want to let yourself feel a release?” He was so close I could feel the heat radiating between us. His skin was smooth, gorgeous, and he reached down and took my chin between his forefinger and thumb, tilted it up so that I was forced to look at him.

There was an amused glint in his eyes. “I can make you forget everything, Princess,” he said. The pad of his thumb slid gently over my bottom lip, sending waves of heat through my body.

He moved closer, so close his lips were almost touching mine, but not quite. “Do you want to forget?” he asked me again.

His arm wrapped around my back, and his hand trailed down over my spine. I shivered. My nipples hardened under the thin t-shirt I was wearing, and that same out-of-control feeling rushed over me, the one I had back at the club when I was dancing for him.

“Yes,” I whispered. “I want to forget.”

It was true. I wanted to forget everything. I wanted to forget the fact that I was homeless, that my parents wanted nothing to do with me, that none of my other relatives were willing to take me in. But most of all, right now, I wanted to forget about the promise I had made to Declan. And I hated myself for it.

“No.” I took a step back and shook my head. “I can’t.”

If he was offended, he didn’t show it. Instead, that same amused glint came back into his eyes. But there was something else there, too, burning beneath the surface. If I didn’t know better, I’d say it was lust. But that was impossible. A guy like him – rich, sexy as all hell, with beautiful women throwing themselves at him every night – didn’t lust after girls like me.

“You can,” he said, his eyes still on mine.

“No.” I shook my head. “I really can’t.”

“You want to.” It’s a statement, not a question.

I raised my chin. “Oh, really?” I shot at him. “You sure about that?”

“Yes.” He was still staring into my eyes, the connection between us burning hot. “So then, Princess,” he said. “Why don’t you tell me why you can’t?”

The way it said it infuriated me, like he thought whatever reason I had would be something completely ridiculous.

“You wouldn’t understand,” I said, trying to step around him.

But he stayed put, blocking my path. “Try me.”

I shook my head. “There’s no reason,” I lied. “You’re just not as irresistible as you’d like to think.”

“Oh, I’m plenty irresistible.”

It sounded like a dare.

“Not to me.”

“We’ll see.”

He turned and walked out of the bathroom.

I watched him go, then turned back to the sink, my heart pounding. I gripped the edge of the counter so hard I left marks on my fingers. I wanted to cut again so badly, but the fact that Colt had caught me had completely ruined any relief I might get from it.

I splashed cold water on my face and on my wrists.

When I got back to the bedroom, Colt was standing by the bed.

“If you’re going to try and give me some big lecture on why I shouldn’t be cutting, you can save your breath,” I said. “My foster mom tried doing that every month since I was fourteen, and it obviously didn’t work.” I didn’t mention the countless social workers, the psychotherapists, the inpatient clinic they put me in for two weeks. None of it worked, or if it did, it wasn’t for long.

“I don’t lecture people,” Colt said. He reached out and took my wrist, pulled me close to him so that our chests were touching. “I don’t believe in big