his.
Taking a calming breath, I briefly close my eyes before opening them again. He’s staring at my scar with that poker face.
If only I could read his mind and see what’s behind that facade.
Having him fixate on me that way brings a strange sense of vulnerability. The itch under my skin blooms to the surface.
I don’t know why he has an obsession with my scar.
Or with me, basically.
If what I heard from Jonathan and Silver’s conversation is true, then Aiden is supposed to hate me, not be this obsessed with me.
But then again, isn’t obsession just another form of extreme hate?
“Does the story you just told me have to do with what I overheard from Jonathan and Silver’s conversation?”
His gaze reluctantly leaves my scar to meet mine. “Maybe.”
“Ugh. Aiden! Give me something.”
“I will.” His lips tilt in a smirk. “If you’re a good girl.”
“Let me guess, that includes fucking you?”
His grin widens. “I’ll be the one doing the fucking, but yes, sweetheart. That comes with the package.”
I narrow my eyes on him.
It’s all a ploy. A mindfuck. Something he uses in his push and pull. If I want to know the truth and somehow still come out intact, then I need to negotiate my way out of his rules.
He doesn’t get everything.
Not anymore.
“No.”
He raises an eyebrow, but his hands tighten in my hair. “No?”
“If I follow your conditions, you’ll get whatever you want and you might never tell me anything anymore.” I place a palm on his wet chest and trail my hand down his hard abs. “I have a condition.”
“A condition,” he repeats as if he needs to hear the words to believe them.
“Yes. Every time you tell me a tidbit, you get to touch me. That includes oral sex, by the way.”
His left eye twitches. “What makes you think I’ll agree to that? I can get you to spread your legs for me any time I want, sweetheart.”
The arrogance of this fucking bastard.
Still, I keep my smile plastered in place as I run my fingertips on the hard ridges of his abs. “Sure you can, but do you remember what I said about being a shell? If you force your way with me more than this, then you’ll get that shell to spread her legs for you.”
He yanks my hand from his stomach and his left eye twitches.
I most definitely hit a nerve.
We stare at each other for long seconds. This time, I don’t cower away.
This time, I’m not a mere soldier. I’m a general in the battle he’s trying to win.
Tension crackles in the air and goosebumps cover the earlier goosebumps. All I can breathe is his intoxicating scent. All I can feel is the pulse of my wrist in his grip.
“So?” I break the lethal silence. “What will it be?”
His lips pull into a cruel smirk. “Well played, sweetheart. Well played, indeed.”
A wave of pride hits me and it takes everything in me not to grin like an idiot.
I just got Aiden King at his own game.
Before I can gloat, he stands up, yanking me up with him by the wrist. Water splashes all around us.
The blackness in his eyes is the last thing I see.
He releases my wrist, grabs me by the hips and throws me over his shoulder like earlier.
I gasp as the world tilts upside down. “A-Aiden? What are you doing?”
He slaps my arse, the sting reverberating in the air.
I squeal.
It fucking hurts when my bottom is all wet.
“You said sex time after story time.”
“We already had sex earlier.”
“That was before the new arrangement. It doesn’t count.”
Oh. Dear God.
This bloody psycho will be the death of me.
He stops at the shelf to retrieves towels. I use the chance to try and wiggle free and push at his back.
He spanks me again. My thighs clench together.
“Ow. That hurts.”
“Then stay fucking still.”
He puts me to my feet in the middle of a bedroom with black wooden frames and a king-sized bed.
I’m still taking in my surroundings when he wraps the towel around my hair.
Aiden stands in front of me in all his naked glory, water dripping down his muscled chest and the defined V leading to —
Nope.
I snap my attention back to his face. His lips are curved into a smirk as if he can hear my thoughts.
Dickhead.
He dries my hair with masterful, gentle strokes. Then he does the same with my body; slowly and gently.
He takes his sweet time in rubbing the towel over my hardened nipples and around my breasts. He bends and