Chapter 25
brIELLE
I swear I’ve gone through every emotion one fucking person can experience in the span of twenty-four hours. What the hell is wrong with me? The way Emris keeps trying to get any kind of reaction out of me is starting to get on my last nerve.
I’m exhausted. Especially with my feelings. I find myself softening, wanting to laugh when he makes a joke, wanting to ask him more about his family.
But right now, I want to curl up in a ball and sleep for a week.
Between crashing the car, Emris tying me to the bed, and the drive here, my body and mind are done, ready to shut down and reset.
I don’t want to think or deal with anything, and I still have no clue how long I’ve been here.
Time has lost all meaning since Emris took me, every day blurring in with the next.
“What’s the date?” I turn to look at Emris on the other side of the elevator. He glances down at his phone, then back at me, one brow lifting.
“It’s the twenty-fourth,” he says, confusion swimming in his eyes. “Why do you ask?” He slips his phone back in his pocket before giving me his attention.
“Oh, just wondering how long I’ve been held captive for.” I give him a beaming smile before rolling my eyes and going back to ignoring him when he lets a smirk cover his face. Thankfully, there’s no more time for any awkwardness since we reach the floor we are staying on.
I follow behind Emris as he unlocks the door, and my jaw drops. Wow. This place is unbelievable.
“There are two rooms here. That one is Carson’s,”—he points to the room on the left side of the penthouse—“that’ll be ours.”
“Ours? What do you mean ours?”
“Well, it’s that or you sleep with Carson, and we both know that’s not going to happen.” He walks over toward the room in question, my bag in hand.
“And what if I prefer that to sleeping anywhere near you?” As soon as those words leave my mouth, I regret saying them out loud. Emris pauses on his way to the room and turns, the smirk he was wearing before, gone, replaced with anger.
He drops the bag and storms over to where I’m still standing, his hand instantly finding my throat. The more pressure he applies, the more steps I take until my back hits the wall and my hands reach up to grip his arm.
“You better watch what the fuck comes out of that mouth of yours, Brielle, because I won’t hesitate to kill him so he’s no longer someone you even think of.” His grip tightens, but not enough to hurt me, but only to warn me.
“Emris.” I manage to get out, and the sound of my voice snaps him back. He loosens his grip, his thumb moving back and forth on my skin, but he doesn’t let go.
“Carson might be like a brother to me, but if you even so much as go near him, I’ll blister your ass raw until there’s blood leaking down those perfect globes.
Do you understand me, Brielle?” His chest rises and falls hard, each breath more sharp and uneven than the next.
I know I shouldn’t push him right now. Everything in me is screaming that this is the edge, and I can’t stop myself, not when his threats sound less like warnings and more like promises.
The fear is gone and burned away by something reckless as I meet his gaze. His eyes lock onto mine like he’s trying to peel me apart and see what’s buried underneath. Like he wants inside my head, and wants me to say every thought I don’t dare say out loud. But I won’t.
Then, just as suddenly as it began, his hand is gone.
The loss of pressure on my throat leaves me unsteady, my back still pressed against the wall as he closes any space left between us. Emris’s mouth crashes to mine, stealing what little breath I have left, and I reach out, my fingers gripping his jacket, his arms, anything I can get my hands on.
When he’s like this, I can’t help but want so much more from him.
He bends down, strong hands gripping under my knees as he lifts me with no effort. I react without thinking, locking my legs around his waist as he pulls me closer, pressing me to his chest. One hand tangles into my hair, holding me in place.
There’s no softness and no hesitation from him.
“Goddamn it, Brielle. Tell me you understand everything I said. I need to hear it.” He pulls back only enough to look into my eyes for confirmation.
I don’t give it to him.
Instead, I slam my lips to his and cut off whatever reassurance he’s looking for. Our tongues dance together, more like a challenge between us than anything else.
Emris moves without setting me down, carrying us until we’re standing in the living room. Full windows line the wall, and lights glow beneath the city below. We are way too high for anyone to see us, but that does nothing to calm the chaos growing inside my head.
What the fuck am I doing? How is it even possible to feel this pulled toward someone who terrifies me?
My hands slide lower, my fingers brushing the solid weight tucked in the back of his jeans. The feeling scares me, cold reality slicing through the hazed state he’s put me in.
This isn’t about what I want. It never was.
We kiss like we’re running out of air, and fuck, it really feels like it. Like at any moment, I’m going to pass out from lack of oxygen. We’re both breathing hard, getting lost in the moment together, like the room is closing in and one wrong move will tip everything past the point of return.
And that’s exactly why I stop.
I pull back enough to meet his eyes, my pulse hammering inside of me, but my grip steady where it matters most. I wrap my hand around the grip of his gun and pull it free before he can stop me.
Dropping from his hold, I stumble a few steps back in hopes of creating enough distance before I raise the gun.
Instinct guiding me more than I thought as I point it straight at Emris.
My hand doesn’t shake, and that surprises me almost as much as it does him.
“What are you going to do with that, Brielle?” he asks. A dark smile curves at his mouth, like he’s daring me to prove him wrong.
I don’t answer because I have no clue how to explain the storm in my head right now.
This might be my chance to walk out of this hotel, or at the very least get some answers about why they want Susie.
If I can get the information I need, I can leave and find her.
Warn her of the danger she’s in. I just need to get Emris talking, and this is the way to do it.
“Are you going to shoot me? Kill me? Come on, baby.” He takes a single step forward. “You get one shot, so you better not miss.” He gets closer until the barrel of the gun is pressed to his chest. I can’t take my eyes off him as his smile grows wider.
“Do it.” He’s playing with me, thinking I don’t have the balls to pull the trigger. I might not want to kill him, but right now I want to hurt him as much as I want to devour him.
The sound of the door unlocking snaps us out of whatever trance we were in. His eyes snap to where the door’s being pushed open before coming back to me.
“Better do it now. Because the second Carson walks through that door and sees you pointing a gun at me, I’m not sure how he’s going to react.” He reaches forward and tucks a loose strand of hair behind my ear, and that’s when I take a step back, I press my finger to the trigger and pull.