Page 58 of Carnal Wagers

“I know you like me pushing your limits.”

His empty hand cupped my waist. “Why stalk me?”

My chest clenched at his easy dismissal of my words, but I tossed my hair to mask any flash of disappointment on my face.

“Don’t you like the excitement that comes with doing something you shouldn’t do?” My hands crept up his firm chest, and his pecs tensed. “I do.”

“I don’t doubt that.” His voice pitched low.

Those blue eyes of his, dark in the night, tightened. There was a sadness in them that had no place on a man as hard as him, and it made me yearn to replace it with passion and eagerness instead.

If either one of us made the effort to lean in further, our lips would touch. He didn’t push me away, so my hand glided up his neck to the back of his head. My nails scratched along his skull, and he grunted, a molten fire growing in his gaze.

“It makes me feel in control and powerful. Just like this does.” I yanked him forward, and our mouths crashed together.

Except his lips were stiff and unmovable, not a single response to the way mine moved over his, nothing like the force of nature that possessed him days ago. For five whole seconds, I held out like that. Then mortification hit hard. I froze, our lips still touching. After that kiss dripping with passion we shared, this should have been a cakewalk in seduction.

My eyes opened to find him glaring at me with a ferocity that sent tremors down my spine. Instead of shying away, I returned his stare. I couldn’t back down now. This had gone too far. It would have been less embarrassing if he’d shoved me away, instead of clearly demonstrating how unaffected he was. How much he didn’t want me.

Another ten seconds, and my stubbornness melted into discomfort. Five more, and I was ready for this farce to end. I caught sight of Erel’s black outline leaving the vehicle. He disappeared into the woods to wait for me as planned.

Enough of this. I bit his lip. The taste of copper filled my mouth. Satisfied I wasn’t losing our standoff, I pulled back.

Or tried to. He grasped the back of my neck, and his mouth fell on mine. This time, he wasn’t a statue. He ravished my lips and bruised them with the vigor of his kiss. He drove his tongue forward, forcing my mouth to part. He nipped and tugged at my lips. He bit my tongue, and his fingers dug into my nape. With each second, he demanded more, pressing harder, and I gave as good as I got. This was the heat I remembered between us, and it scorched.

Every bit of anger I’d felt over his abandonment and dismissiveness rushed into that kiss. All my repressed feelings of being overlooked—by him, by my family—I poured into it. All the frustration and exhaustion at needing to be perfect came out with an aggression I didn’t know I possessed. My nails swept up and down his back in deep arcs. My teeth took every opportunity to grasp onto him. And my body, it forced him back against the hood of his car, the press of him between my legs giving me power beyond my wildest dreams, because he was hard as a rock, for me. Just me, and that was a heady thing.

His hand squeezed my waist, drawing me closer, before dropping down to my ass. He groped it, just as hard as he kissed, making the seam of my pants press against my clit. I moaned into his mouth, and he swallowed it.

Loud cheering and whistling erupted around us. I pried myself free from him and took a breath of fresh air, patting my flushed cheeks with the backs of my hands. We both heaved against each other. His lips glistened dark red, blood staining the corner of his mouth. His eyes gleamed with an emotion I couldn’t quite place, something that both excited me and had me shivering.

“You’re going to get yourself killed,” he said darkly.

“That’s…a weird thing to say after kissing someone.”

He dragged me forward and buried his head in the crook of my neck. His hot breath puffed against my throat. His head settled against my shoulder, and his arms squeezed me tighter to him with each inhale. Suddenly, I felt like I was the prey, not the hunter, and I’d been caught in my own trap. I shoved at his shoulders and scratched at his arms to be free.

“This is what you wanted,” he taunted, holding me tighter.

“On my terms.”

“No, mo síbhean, always on mine.” His teeth met the muscle above my clavicle, and he bit down hard enough I thought he’d tear the skin if I moved. I ground my teeth together, strangling a cry in my throat, until he finally released me. “To remember tonight by.”

The moment he let go of me, my fist flew at him. It connected with his jaw, and his head swung to the side.

“Go ahead and remember that, connard de première.” First class prick.

I expected violence to shine through his eyes when he turned back to face me, and I went on guard, fists up. Instead, he smirked, massaging his jaw.

“Not too shabby a hit. You’re full of surprises. Good stance too. Wrong shoes though.”

“What are you—”

He locked his foot behind my ankles and swept my feet out from under me. Gasping, I wrapped an arm around his neck to stop the fall, but he also cinched me tighter to him, his body angled over mine like a man dipping his lover.

“Now I have you at a disadvantage.”

My cheeks warmed. “Maybe this is what I wanted.”