Chapter 29

Chapter 29

Rhea.
I counted down the minutes that were left before we went back home like my life depended on it. Hell, I thought I was infuriating, but apparently, spending a couple of hours all alone in the lobby had me rethinking my decision.

It was one thing that Alaric had left me to go check up on business, and it was something entirely different that my mind just couldn't shake off the fact that the Saudi business might have something, or everything to do with the one person who had managed to climb to the top of the list of the people I didn't like, and faster than anyone else had too.

Like that wasn't enough, Alaric left me a couple of vampires to watch over me. These vile creatures didn't scare me, but there was something unnerving about them ever since I witnessed them about to tear that woman into pieces just because of my cut.

If Alaric had given them the go ahead,....

I trailed off, not wanting to think about it and apparently, I made the right choice, because Alaric walked back into the lobby at that moment.

The sun had gone down now, relatively so, so I guess he didn't have to worry about being fired underneath it.

Alaric didn't say a thing as he walked back to me. His silence was worse than shouting, and I low key hated that Alaric didn’t snarl, didn’t unleash the fury I knew was crackling beneath his skin. He simply tightened his grip on the back of my neck and dragged me out of the room like I was nothing more than a disobedient pet.

He shoved me inside the waiting limo, and maybe I was drugged or hypnotized, because I had no memory of the ride home, till he was dragging me through the halls of the expensive fortress he called his home.

Every step echoed in the empty house, alongside his unhurried pace, and my boots scraping against the polished floor. We were the only ones in here, but I didn't miss the feeling of being watched. Maybe it was the portraits of the dozen vampires burning their gazes into me, but I didn't like it. Not one bit.

I should’ve been terrified. Instead, adrenaline and heat flooded me, twisting in my stomach until it was impossible to tell where fear ended and hunger began.

Alaric led us into a dimly lit room, and the doors slammed shut behind us, the echo ricocheting through the long hall. The door locked with a heavy click, sealing us in together.

“Do you have any idea what you almost cost me today?” His voice was calm, deadly calm, and that was worse than if he’d roared.

“No.” I lifted my chin, even though my pulse thundered. “And I don’t care.”

In the next breath, my back hit the wall. His body caged mine, his hand holding firm at my throat, not enough to choke,but just enough to remind me who held the leash here.

“You wanted to provoke me,” he murmured as his eyes burned into mine, black and merciless. It wasn’t a question, anyone could see that.

“Maybe.” I swallowed, refusing to look away.

“Then say it.” His mouth brushed my ear, his breath hot, sending a shiver straight down my spine. “Admit you wanted me angry.”

“No.” I hissed. “What the fuck are you saying?”

“You wanted a reaction from me.” His voice coiled around me, like a snake did whilst circling its prey. “That's why you're doing this. I've heard attraction makes you do a ton of things you wouldn't do on a normal day.”

“You're delusional.” I wanted to yell, but doing that would only give him the confidence that he'd caught me off guard with his advances, and I would rather die than give in to that. “Besides being an egotistic prick, do you happen to have any mental illnesses?”

If my words rattled Alaric, he didn't show it. Instead his fingers slid lower, down the line of my throat to the hollow of my collarbone, as he traced fire into my skin.

“Say it.” His voice was pure command now. My knees weakened, traitorous, and I hated myself for it.

“I wanted you angry.” I clenched my fists.

“Good girl.” His lips curved, dangerous and satisfied, which apparently was a combo that sent shivers down my spine.

Heat surged through me at the words, mortifying and undeniable all at once. My breath came faster as his hand skimmed lower, teasing the edge of my thigh, so close but yet maddeningly far. I arched against him without meaning to, desperate for friction, for something, anything.

“You feel that?” he murmured, grinding his hips just enough that I felt the iron hard press of him through the fabric. My breath caught, as my body betrayed me, heat pooling low, and begging for more.

Then, just when my knees threatened to buckle, he stilled, and pulled back.

“No,” I gasped, before I could stop myself.

“Oh, you want, little hunter.” His smirk was pure cruelty. “I can smell it on you, but wanting doesn’t mean having.”

He grabbed my wrist and shoved me down, not hard, but with enough force that I ended up on my knees before him. My chest heaved, as heat licked at my skin, humiliation warring with hunger deep in my bones.

He looked down at me like a king surveying his prize. His fingers tangled in my hair, tilting my face up to meet his, and for one dizzying heartbeat, I thought he’d let me take what I wanted.

My lips parted, aching, but then he released me, before stepping back.

“When I decide to take you,” he said, leaving me kneeling, shaking, and empty. His tone was velvet wrapped in steel as he spoke, but all it did was make my stomach churn. “it will be on my terms. Not because you pushed, not because you tried to punish me. But because I allow it.”

Like that wasn't enough, he leaned down, brushing his mouth over mine, not in a kiss, but just the cruelest ghost of one.

“Consider this a taste.” Then he was gone, striding to the door as if he hadn’t just unraveled me from the inside out.

The door slammed shut after that, but I stayed on the floor, burning, furious, and hungrier than ever.

Shit.

My mind reeled with what the hell had just gone down here, but I knew one thing was sure.

I was in so much deeper than I realized.