Crowed (Team Zero #2) - Rina Kent Page 0,16

the most heated eyes I’ve ever seen in my life. And I’m straddling his lap, legs on each side of his hard thighs and both hands on his bare shoulders -- a little off the reddening wound. My robe is tangled and my nightie bunches up to the middle of my thighs.

My pulse spikes at the proximity and how tiny I feel compared to his size. I bite the inside of my cheek. I’ve never been this close to a man before.

Like a deer caught in the headlights, I just stare at the icy blue eyes that should’ve never appeared in my life. Or my house. Or anywhere near me.

Instead of the death they promised, something entirely different is shining in them. A sinister promise. A dark journey. Instead of the safe numbness I’m supposed to feel, my heartbeat thunders in my ears, causing a shiver to ghost up my spine.

For the first time in forever, numbness isn’t taking over everything. Something is scratching at its surface. Something wild and unknown and... exciting.

Exciting.

Oh la la. I can’t even remember the last time I’ve been excited. What does ‘excited’ even mean?

I’m guessing it has to do with the tingles crawling up my limbs.

“Breaking your own rule, aren’t you?” He drawls in that mesmerising British accent. His head tilts to the side until his nose gets impossibly close to the throbbing pulse in my neck. He breathes me in for a few seconds until I’m darn sure my heart will leap out of my throat.

“Huh?” I manage after a few seconds because apparently, I’m reduced to a mute.

“You said to never go to your floor, so what are you doing on mine?”

That’s a good question. What did I come here for, anyway?

There was something pressing, then he was having a seizure, then he touched me, and then... nothing. And everything. All at once.

His fingers glide over my collarbone, light, sensual, barely touching. I suppress a gasp as a full body shudder takes over me.

The combination of his leather scent, his hard chest against my achingly heavy breasts, and his thick arms surrounding me is already too much. Add his touch, and my skin resurrects under his fingertips.

The urge to surrender to this foreign sensation is so strong, I can’t access any thoughts past it.

It’s like I awaited this moment for a lifetime. Like I waited for him to ignite whatever lurked inside me.

What the hell is wrong with me?

Whatever is happening in my body isn’t supposed to happen. Especially with a fugitive I have zero idea about.

This is wrong. Absolutely wrong. I want that familiar numbness back.

“L-Let me go.” I push at his chest, but something tells me the gesture comes out weak like my voice.

“Say it again and mean it.” He lowers his voice to a shiver-inducing rumble.

His large hand grips my nape in a firm hold until my head tilts back. My stomach flips. The good kind. The strange kind.

The exciting kind.

Hot lips find the pulse point in my neck. At the contact, a tremor jolts my body. A deep moan fills the air. To my horror, I realise it’s my own.

My thighs tighten around his waist, wanting a friction or something.

Anything to extinguish the burn overtaking me.

He sucks on the sensitive spot in my neck, slightly nibbling. My stomach clenches into something that isn’t there.

My eyes roll to the back of my head, needing more of whatever the hell is happening. Despite my wobbly state, I make out pictures of me and Dad scattered by the side of the nightstand.

Dad.

The mere thought is like drenching me with ice.

I try to push away from the stranger. He tightens his hold around me. I bite his arm. Hard.

He ends up being the one pushing me away. The ice of his eyes falls on me in complete annoyance. “What the fuck is the deal with you and biting?”

I stumble onto unsteady feet. My breathing is ragged. The place in my neck where he sucked is still hot and tingly.

I give him my back and smooth my tangled robe. Then I crouch to pick up the pictures and albums. Shame and embarrassment heat my cheeks. If it weren’t for Dad’s pictures, I would’ve let this stranger have his way with me, wouldn’t I?

Worse, I wanted him to have his way with me.

Merde.

I need real counselling.

Lots of it.

I blame the hormones and being alone for a damn long time. That makes perfect sense.

Perhaps I need to go out more and stop being such a