in my hair and his mouth is on mine, firm and unyielding, melting away any resistance I had. I grip the lapels of his suit and return his kiss with the same feverous hunger. It’s like a beast has awoken inside me and she’s been starved of affection for so long she’s ravenous.
His tongue slides against mine as his grip tightens, leaving me unable to move and entirely at his mercy. Where there should be panic, there is only white-hot need rushing through me, a hunger that wants to be sated and refuses to be denied.
It takes everything I have not to mewl in protest when he rips his lips away from mine, both of us breathing so heavy you’d think we had run a marathon.
“You come alive like that for everyone? Jesus fuck, babe, it’s like you caught fire underneath my fingertips.”
“I don’t have much to compare it to,” I answer without thought, biting my lip when he freezes.
“Are you...” His words trail off as he takes a step back and drags his eyes over my body up to my face.
“How the fuck you look like that and manage to remain pure will baffle me to the day I die,” he stutters out in shock.
I laugh then, loud with a hint of something darker threaded through it. Not anger but sorrow, and I know he picks up on it when his eyes flash with anger.
“I’m anything but pure, Will. Don’t try to put me on a pedestal, I’ll only dirty it up with bloody footprints.”
He cups my jaw, tilting my head back so I’m forced to look at him.
“Warriors always wear the blood of the people who tried to make them fall. Don’t be ashamed of what you did to survive or of who you had to become.”
“A killer?” I ask, my eyes staring into his, feeling myself getting lost in them once more.
“A queen.”
I blink at his words and the hint of pride behind them. Stepping back, he puts some space between us. The electricity that previously crackled, fizzles out as he steps back around his desk and puts more distance between us.
“Whoever ends up with you better appreciate the priceless gem he’s getting.” He rubs a hand down his face.
“And if they don’t?” I mean, it’s kind of a moot point because I’ll never be the kind of woman who puts up with shit. I’m not saying I need sunshine and roses; it sounds kind of boring if I’m completely honest. What I want is someone who makes me laugh more than he makes me cry, but that would mean letting someone close enough to scale my walls, and I don’t know if I’m emotionally equipped to deal with that shit, not right now at least.
“Then I’ll cut off their hands. If they can’t handle you with care, then they don’t get to touch you at all,” he answers in the same tone he might use to ask someone to pass the salt.
“I’m gonna go before I take my panties off and throw them at you,” I tease, well I think it’s a tease, but if he asked me, I don’t think I’d put up much resistance.
“Wise idea. I’m two seconds away from spreading you out over my desk and eating you for dinner. If I wasn’t caught up in all this shit my father left me to clean up, I’d say fuck it, but I fear I would end up making you an even bigger target, which is saying something when you walk around like a neon sign saying try me. And yes, I mean that in every conceivable way.”
I laugh, moving toward the door. “I never did have any patience, Will. If someone wants to come and take my crown, at least they know where to find me. They see the tits and ass and think I’ll be an easy target. It’s not my fault few tend to look close enough to see the monster inside. Let them come for me, I’ll be ready.”
“Everyone’s a monster these days, V, it’s the world we live in. It’s eat or be eaten.” He grins.
“Well, now I know what you can do with that tongue, Will, maybe I’ll be back sooner rather than later.” I pull the door open and see James waiting for me.
“Viddy?” Will calls from behind me, making me turn to look over my shoulder at him. “Be careful, and call me if you need me.”