Chapter 12 #3
“Me to trust no one because I couldn’t trust her either, Mia.
” He swallowed and sucked on his teeth before saying quietly, “We knew she abandoned us before her accident.” He didn’t say why.
“It was hard enough to explain to my daughter that Lex didn’t care to come home.
We don’t see a need to tell Fran she died a year later, or have her mourn a mother I couldn’t trust enough to stay.
” His words were harsh, but as I digested all that information, I found myself hurting for him.
For his loss. And for the resilience he had to have.
Yet, I tried my best not to feel bad for him now. He didn’t want the pity. “I understand. But you can trust me. I’ll prove that with Franny. I want what’s best for her only, and I won’t tell you how to parent, but …”
“But you want to?”
“I think at some point, you should consider telling her the news about her mother as she gets older.”
“Of course you think that.” He scoffed. I knew I was overstepping, but I couldn’t help myself.
“Kids are tougher than you think.”
He hummed. “That why you want to go on adventures with her off the estate?”
“Well, honestly …” I couldn’t stop myself from throwing my hands into the air. “What’s the endgame if we can’t even go outside, which is what’s best for her. When will the Diamonds be protected enough for that, or can’t you guarantee our safety?”
“Watch yourself,” he warned, eyes darkening and turning cold. The pride that man had was a weapon I’d use against him and all of the Diamonds if it meant I got outside.
“No. You’re concerned that your daughter’s life is at risk, but quite frankly, this is putting her mental health at risk when she can’t even go outside these walls!” Didn’t he get that locking her up like Rapunzel wouldn’t work?
“You think I don’t know that?” he bellowed back, his control slipping too.
Good. I probably should have cowered at the volume, knowing now who he was, but I didn’t care.
“You think I’m unaware that this isn’t the ideal life for a child?
I saw her at the country club yesterday.
I know she needs to get out and be a kid. I’m working on it.”
“Yeah, well, work faster,” I threw back. I couldn’t believe myself. He was going to throw me out on my ass and let whatever rival mob or secret society have me.
His eyes widened before he let out a low chuckle, rubbing one large hand behind his neck before it snapped out and gripped mine, hard enough for me to get nervous, not so hard that he took my breath away. “No one talks to me like that.”
“Well, I do,” I murmured, holding his gaze, ready to fight if he wanted to.
“I can’t believe I haven’t strangled you yet.”
The ringing in my ears got louder, and along with it, my blood pumped faster.
But also my nipples tightened, and my core clenched.
It was embarrassing that I found myself wanting to see if I could make him completely lose it, to see how far this man would go, and to see how much I already desired it.
I was supposed to be the responsible one here.
“You’ll have to if you expect me to just roll over, Mr. Knight,” I retorted, holding his gaze.
“Careful, Mia.”
“Or what?” I asked, leaning into his grip. I knew what he was a part of now, and maybe I was this unhinged because I was in some sort of shock. Maybe I always had it in me to fight back when I needed to, and maybe I wasn’t going to stop now.
That high-pitched sound in my ears became a roar, drowning out every other worry of mine as his jaw flexed like he was trying to hold back.
“Or. What?” I asked again.
“Or you’ll find I’ll lose control … and you might just like it.”
“Like it?” He didn’t know what I was feeling. He couldn’t. I didn’t even know fully what was going on with my own body around him. “There’s nothing about you that I like.”
That was the truth too. Sure, his hands burned into my neck and lit my soul afire, but he was still a member of a secret society, still a danger to my life, still the boss I’d grown to hate.
“You say that with such confidence, and yet I distract you. Your eyes wander. Much like my mind has wandered to you in my house these past few days.”
“You’re mistaken.” I hurried to correct him as my heart beat faster, like I was guilty, like I could lose control, like I wasn’t as morally sound as I was making myself out to be.
“In any case, if you have such a problem with me, I promise not to distract you in this operating room. I’ll make sure to stay out of your way. ”
“You in my house is distracting enough,” he grumbled, his thumb rubbing over my pulse. Then he pulled his hand back.
“Seriously?” I blurted out, almost as irritated with myself for missing his touch immediately as I was with him for complaining about my presence.
Why did I always have to be the bigger person?
The one who made sure everyone stayed in line.
My next words flew out like an angry bird aiming to knock down some of his confidence.
“You were the one who wanted to force me to stay here. Don’t forget.
And please tell me you’re capable of avoiding me in this massive house of yours if I annoy you so much. ”
His hand twitched like he was reconsidering choking me out.
“Every woman is annoying. God knows you’re the worst of them.
But when you watch me with those big eyes filled with fiery attraction that completely contradicts your contempt, I’m distracted.
Not annoyed. When you look at my lips and lick yours, I’m definitely distracted, Mia. And that’s a problem.”
“Excuse m-me?” I stuttered. “I don’t look at you like that.”
“So, this is still just the job, us arguing?”
He moved closer, and I tried to control my rapid breathing. “Of course.”
“Really? Because I’d hate to think you’re distracted when taking care of my daughter.
Quite frankly, your comfort here is of the utmost importance too.
It’s the only thing that matters for your job.
” He tilted his head as if gauging my reaction to him.
“Can you be comfortable in the presence of a Diamond who disgusts you but who’s paying your bills? ”
I lifted my chin.
Fucker.
“Yes. I’ll be fine with it.” I’d just curse him every time I walked out of the room.
“If you’re distracted while teaching and caring for my daughter, you’re not giving her your best. I expect it.”
“Oh, well, then. Good. Because I’m fine.”
He pushed his chest into me, and his hand came to my neck to feel me taking a gulp at our proximity. “The blush on your cheeks, the biting of that lip, and your rapid breathing say you’re not.”
“You’re fucking delusional.”
“A filthy mouth too. I guess you got a little devil in the darling then, huh? I’d say I like the Devilish Darling, but I don’t like you lying and it’s what you’re doing now.
You know I’m not delusional.” He dragged a finger across my jaw and then down my neck to my collarbone.
He watched how I swallowed and shivered against his touch, so soft and yet so in control that it couldn’t be ignored.
“Your ego is huge if you think you’re affecting me, Mr. Knight. This is unprofessional.”
“Actually, it’s the most professional thing I can think to do. That way, you don’t keep thinking about what it’d feel like to have my lips on you, and I’m not thinking of you spreading your legs for me twenty-four seven.”
“I don’t think about that.”
“Darling Mia.” He said my name as a chastisement. “I saw the way you looked at my mouth.”
“How?” I whispered.
His eyes dropped to my lips, where his gaze practically burned my flesh, searing into my body and straight to my core. Suddenly, his cold stare melted away and he held nothing back. I felt his hunger and unrelenting need in the air.
I fell into it and couldn’t climb out. Down, down, down I went. I wondered what it would be like for him to take me after looking at me like that, what his lips would feel like, if his touch would be rough or soft.
When he leaned in a centimeter, I grabbed his shirt and murmured, “Jameson.”
He didn’t come closer, even as I pulled him toward me and slid to the side of the sink so I could lean against the steel counter behind me.
His jaw flexed as he let out a low growl.
“I might enjoy my name on your lips like that a bit too much, Mia,” he said, his gaze snapping back up to mine.
The hunger was gone, almost like I’d imagined it. “Anyway, now you understand.”
“Understand?”
“How it feels when you look at me.”
“You’re kidding?” I practically seethed, but then his hand was at my hip, fingers sliding into the waistband of my skirt.
“You want me like I want you.” He wasn’t asking. Just stating a fact. “If not, tell me to stop before I touch you.”
My skin lit up, ignited from his calloused hands digging into that sensitive spot at my inner hip, at his thumb swiping down lower toward my core.
He did it slowly. I could have grabbed him, I could have shifted away, but instead I held the edge of the counter behind me, my body practically begging for him to go further.
“You don’t want this. I’m your daughter’s teacher. ”
It was all I could get out. I didn’t say stop, and he knew it.
He leaned in, breathed in my scent at the base of my neck.
“I’ve wanted this since the first day I saw you.
Pretty dark hair blowing in the wind, your voice as sweet as a melody when my daughter ran up to you.
Now, you’re in my house and it’s all I think about …
how you’ll sound when you moan for me. I don’t practice resistance because it breeds longing and weakness.
I’d rather find out how you taste and indulge in the fantasy so I don’t have it again. Wouldn’t you?”
That brought me back to what he truly was. Meticulous. Calculated. Cold Jameson Knight. He wanted resolution to his feelings—he wanted to get rid of them.
“If that helps you draw a professional line, Mr. Knight.” I lifted my chin, because if he was drawing a line, so was I. He wanted to get me out of his system, well, I wasn’t going to even let him in mine.
“‘Mr. Knight’ again, huh?” His smile was slow and vicious. “I guess it’s imperative that I prove it to you.”
“Prove it?”
“Prove how you’re going to be soaked for me and dripping from this counter, begging for me to fuck you.”
I was so worked up I just blurted out the truth. “That’s nearly impossible. No man has ever made me want to beg. Quite frankly, I don’t even get that wet for myself.”
“Yourself?” He searched my eyes for more information, and I immediately regretted what I’d said.
“Probably forget I said that.”
“Share with the class, Ms. Darling.” He smirked, and I hated how much I loved it. “How wet do you get when you touch yourself?”
“That’s not what I meant.” I shoveled lies onto my truth, hoping to hide it.
“I’m going to enjoy making you tell me. You’ll tell me everything I want, and you know why?”
“Why?” I asked, because I was a weak woman giving in to a freaking gorgeous man that probably would never stand in front of me like this again.
He yanked my skirt down in one swift movement, then grabbed the backs of my thighs to shove me onto the counter, spreading my legs wide so I sat there exposed in front of him with just my panties on.
“Because we Diamonds might disgust you, but we also get everything we want. Now take your shirt off.”
I lifted my chin even though I was so turned on I knew I was giving myself away—my panties couldn’t hide my arousal. They were wet already. “You get what you want because you take it rather than anyone giving you it willingly.”
His voice rumbled out deep, threaded in irritation. “What if I told you that from now on, you can take Franny anywhere in Paradise Grove that you want, Mia?”
“What?” Was he bribing me? Negotiating?
“Untie your blouse and you can.”
Jesus, that was hotter than I wanted it to be. I bit my lip before bringing my hands to the tie at my side. His blue eyes were there, watching with piercing intensity. “And you show me the rest of the house?”
“Fine. Take. It. Off.”
I undid the material. I gave in. I handed him my naked body on a platter, and as I dropped the fabric over my shoulders, I wondered if I ever really stood a chance at all.