Chapter 20 CHAPTER 20
CHAPTER 20
KNOX
The sound of the shower running in the next room should’ve been enough to make me move, but I stayed sitting at the edge of my bed, elbows on my knees, staring at nothing.
Her face was all I saw.
The way her mouth fell open when she woke up this morning, panic flashing through her eyes, cursing like she’d committed a felony.
Fuck, fuck, fuck.
That mouth.
God.
I dragged my hand down my face, trying to shake it off. But the image replayed, stubborn. Her messy hair, that oversized shirt slipping off her shoulder, the sunlight cutting through the curtains and landing right on her cheekbone.
She looked too real. Too close.
I’d carried her last night because I didn’t know what else to do. She’d fallen asleep on the floor beside me like I was someone worth being near. I didn’t want to wake her up. I didn’t even think twice before scooping her into my arms and driving her here.
And now—now I couldn’t stop thinking about it.
Her scent was still on the pillow. That light, infuriatingly soft scent that stuck to my hands. I clenched my fists until my knuckles went white.
Get over it, Knox.
She’s Aaron’s sister. The same Aaron who practically idolizes her.
And she’s trouble. I can smell it. The type who’ll ruin every wall you’ve built just by existing.
I stood, grabbed my phone, and tried to distract myself with numbers. Eight million sitting comfortably in my account.
Eight million earned from being smart, from building and breaking things before others even knew how they worked.
I should’ve been thinking about the app I was coding.
But no.
My brain kept circling back to her.
Yael.
The girl who rolled her eyes every time I opened my mouth. The one who tried too hard not to look at me when she did.
And the worst part? I liked it.
I liked pissing her off. Watching that stubborn little crease form between her brows. Watching how she tried to keep her cool when I got too close.
I’d seen the way she looked at me this morning before she ran off. She thought I didn’t notice, but I did. The way her gaze trailed down my chest for half a second too long before she jerked away like she’d burned herself.
A smirk tugged at my lips.
I was a bastard for enjoying that.
“Christ,” I muttered, pushing to my feet. My skin felt too tight, my veins buzzing under it.
The app’s lines of code glared back at me from my laptop screen, but the numbers blurred into shapes that reminded me of the curve of her lips.
I snapped the laptop shut.
Maybe a shower would fix it.
The moment I stepped into the bathroom, steam hit my face, wrapping around me like a heavy fog. I twisted the handle until cold water poured down my back, sharp enough to sting. I let it.
“Get your head straight,” I murmured to myself.
But it didn’t work.
The more I tried not to think about her, the clearer she became.
Her voice. Her frown. Her small hands gripping my shirt when she fell asleep on the floor beside me.
I leaned against the cold tiles, eyes shut.
She wasn’t supposed to get under my skin this fast.
No one ever did.
I’ve had women before—more than I could count. Easy ones. Simple, forgettable, the kind who didn’t make me feel like I was losing control.
But Yael? She was chaos in a deceptively calm shell. She challenged me without saying a word. She wasn’t scared of me either.
That part got to me more than it should’ve.
Because everyone’s scared of me. Professors. Students. Even the damn dean treads carefully.
But not her.
She looks at me like she’s daring me to try harder. Like I’m a puzzle she refuses to let win.
And I—
I can’t stop taking the bait.
My jaw tightened as the water dripped down my face.
This wasn’t supposed to happen. Not with her.
But my body didn’t seem to care about logic. It remembered her warmth against me in the elevator. How close she’d been. How her breath had hitched when I touched her waist.
I tilted my head back, letting the water hit harder.
“Stop thinking about her,” I whispered, voice hoarse.
But she was already there—etched into every thought, every nerve ending.
My heartbeat thudded slow and heavy, and somewhere between wanting to forget and failing miserably, I realized I was done for.
Yael wasn’t just under my skin anymore.
She was in my blood.
And it scared the hell out of me.
I pressed my palms against the tiles, chest rising and falling faster now, the sound of the water drowning everything else.
The cold water wasn’t doing shit. It slid down my skin, sharp and biting, but it couldn’t touch the heat crawling through me. My pulse hammered, a slow, relentless thud that echoed in my chest, my head, my fucking cock.
I pressed my forehead against the tiles, the cool surface doing nothing to calm the storm raging inside me.
Yael.
Her name alone was enough to make my blood surge, my dick twitching against the cold air. I cursed under my breath, one hand gripping the edge of the shower wall like it could anchor me. Like it could stop me from spiraling into this mess of want that had her face, her voice, her everything burned into my skull.
“Fuck,” I muttered, dragging my hand through my wet hair. “Get it together, Knox.”
But I wasn’t getting it together. Not even close.
I could still feel her body against mine from last night—soft, warm, fitting too perfectly in my arms when I carried her. The way her breath had caught when my fingers brushed her waist in the elevator. That little hitch, barely audible, but it hit me like a goddamn freight train. I’d wanted to pin her against the wall right there, rip that flimsy shirt off her, and find out exactly how much louder I could make her gasp.
“Stop it,” I growled to myself, my voice echoing off the tiles. “She’s Aaron’s sister. She’s off-limits.”
But my cock didn’t give a shit about Aaron. Or rules. Or the fact that I was supposed to be the guy who didn’t lose control. My hand slid down my stomach, slow, deliberate, like I could pretend I wasn’t about to cross a line. My fingers curled around my dick, the metal of the piercing cold against my skin, a sharp contrast to the heat pulsing through me.
“Fuck it,” I whispered, giving in.
I closed my eyes, and there she was. Yael. Standing in front of me, that defiant spark in her eyes, her lips parted like she was daring me to do something about it. I could see her so clearly—her dark hair spilling over her shoulders, that oversized shirt barely covering her thighs, her skin flushed with the same heat I felt now.
I groaned, my grip tightening as I stroked myself, slow at first, letting the image build. In my mind, she wasn’t running from me. She was stepping closer, her fingers brushing my chest, her nails scraping just hard enough to make me hiss.
“You think you can keep looking at me like that?” she’d say, her voice low, taunting. “Like you’re gonna eat me alive?”
“Fuck, Yael,” I muttered out loud, my hand moving faster. The piercing dragged against my palm, sending a jolt through me, sharp and electric. I pictured her on her knees, those dark eyes locked on mine, her tongue flicking over the metal, teasing, testing, like she wanted to see how much I could take before I snapped.
“You’d like that, wouldn’t you?” I imagined her saying, her lips curling into that smirk that drove me insane. “You’d love to see me break.”
“Goddamn right,” I growled, my hips jerking into my hand. The water pounded against my back, but it was her I felt—her hands, her mouth, her tight little body pressed against me. I could almost hear her moan, soft and desperate, as I pushed her against the wall, my hands sliding under that shirt, finding her skin hot and smooth.
“Knox,” she’d gasp, her nails digging into my shoulders. “Don’t stop.”
I wouldn’t. Not in this fucked-up fantasy. I’d lift her up, her legs wrapping around my waist, her thighs squeezing me as I pressed my cock against her. I could feel it—her heat, her wetness, the way she’d clench around me when I finally slid inside her. The piercing would drag just right, making her arch, masking her scream my name.
“Say it again,” I muttered, my voice rough, my hand working faster, harder. “Say my fucking name, Yael.”
“Knox,” she’d moan in my head, her voice breaking, her body trembling as I fucked her deeper, relentless, claiming every inch of her. “Knox, please—”
My breath hitched, my muscles tightening as the pressure built, coiling low and tight. I could see her falling apart, her head thrown back, her lips swollen from kissing me, biting me, begging me. I’d fuck her until she couldn’t think straight, until she was nothing but mine, until every smart-ass comeback she ever had was replaced with my name on her tongue.
“Fuck, Yael,” I groaned, my voice raw, echoing in the steam-filled room. My hand moved faster, the piercing amplifying every stroke, pushing me closer to the edge. I imagined her tightening around me, her nails raking down my back, her voice breaking as she came, pulling me over with her.
“Knox!” she’d scream, and that was it.
I came hard, a low, guttural curse ripping from my throat as my vision blurred, my body shaking with the force of it. The water washed it all away, but the image of her lingered, sharp and vivid, like a brand I couldn’t shake.
I leaned against the tiles, chest heaving, my heart pounding so loud it drowned out the shower. “What the fuck is wrong with you?” I muttered to myself, dragging a hand over my face.
She wasn’t even here, and she was wrecking me.
I turned off the water, the sudden silence deafening. My dick was still half-hard, the piercing glinting in the dim light, mocking me. I grabbed a towel, wrapping it around my waist, and caught my reflection in the mirror. My eyes were dark, wild, like I’d just fought a war and lost.
“Yael,” I whispered, her name tasting
like a curse and a prayer.
She was Aaron’s sister. She was trouble. She was everything I shouldn’t want.
And I was so fucking screwed.