Chapter 10 #2
Ember shakes her head. “No way. I think we need to keep up the facade. Keep them guessing. I think we’re both in danger if we start hinting that we’re actually in a relationship with each other because obviously—” She holds up a finger. “We’re still not. Right? Do you get that?”
Oh, I got that. I also saw the way her cheeks flushed when she backtracked, making damn sure I know we’re not a thing.
Ha.
“Whatever.”
We sit back on her couch. More accurately, she sits on her couch, and I teeter on the edge, trying not to break it. I feel like a dad at a parent-teacher conference trying to squeeze his legs under an elementary school desk. It’s ridiculous.
Ember leans back on the couch. “Do you cook, Bratva boy?”
I narrow my eyes at her. “Call me Bratva boy one more time and see where that lands you.”
The way her eyes light up and her cheeks flush—my dick is totally in favor of this next move.
“I just asked a simple question,” she says in a low, seductive voice. “Bratva boy.”
I grab her wrists easily with my left hand, engulfing them, and bend her over my lap with no effort.
She squeals, but I’m here for it, and she’s so easy to overpower.
I grab my phone with no problem whatsoever, flip the video camera on, hit record, and prop it up on one of her little bookshelves.
I’m careful to make sure you can’t tell we’re in her place.
“Oh my god!” she says, trying to squirm out of my grip. “Are you recording? What the hell?”
She protests right before I crack my palm across her ass. My palm covers her entire ass. It’s satisfying as fuck.
When she squirms and scissors her legs, my dick approves.
“This is what happens to bad girls who don’t do what they’re told,” I whisper before I lift my palm and crack it across her ass again. “You say you want to be overpowered, and then at the first opportunity, you talk back to me. This is where it’s going to get you. But I think you knew that.”
I spank her again and again until the wriggling slows and her breathing grows heavy. She’s draped over my knee, utterly pliant.
“Didn’t you, little queen?”
“Didn’t I—didn’t I what?” she says in a breathy whisper.
“Know this is where you’d end up?”
“I—” A knock sounds at the door, so loud and sharp the door rattles.
“Ember. I know you’re in there. Open up!”
I wanted to kill Shawn before. Now, I want to make the death slow and painful for his shitty timing, since I still don’t even know what the fucker did to her.
“What perfect timing,” I mutter, sliding her off my lap. I tilt her chin with my finger. “We’re not done here. I’m gonna go get that door.”
“With your mask on?”
I blow out a breath.
The knock sounds again. I reach for the edge of my mask and tug it off in one swoop. I watch as her eyes go wide. She likes when I take it off.
Reaching her hand out to me, she traces my cheek with her index finger. I close my eyes and brace against a well of emotions I wasn’t ready for. “Don’t ever get rid of that mask.”
Fuccck.
I reach for her hand and kiss her palm. “I’m going to get that door.”
I do a mental check of the weapons I have on me but know if this guy is the douchebag I suspect he is, I won’t need anything more than my hands. I’m already a dead man walking with my brother, and I don’t need to push this envelope.
I stride to the door with deliberate slowness, cracking my neck as I reach for the handle. When I swing it open, there’s no mistaking the guy standing there. Shawn looks just as smug and self-satisfied as his texts suggested, tall but shorter than me, blond, clean-shaven, arrogant as fuck.
His confidence falters the second he sees me filling the doorway though. I watch as his brow furrows, and he glances past me, trying to look into the apartment. “Uh, who the hell are you?”
I lean casually against the doorframe, letting him see exactly how much bigger I am. “The better question is, do you typically bang down the door of someone when you’re uninvited?” I cross my arms and shake my head before I cluck my tongue. “Those are terrible manners.”
“Excuse me?” He laughs nervously, attempting to step closer. “I’m here to talk to Ember. This is her place, isn’t it?” Placing his hands on his hips, he tries to stand taller and fails. “What are you, her security or something?”
“Or something.”
I don’t move, keeping my stance loose but unmistakably commanding. Douchebags like him are easily intimidated. “Let me make this simple. She doesn’t want to see you. Turn around, and we can pretend that this never happened.”
Lies, but I know he won’t buy it.
“Hey.” Ember’s voice rings out behind me. I glance over my shoulder to find her standing there, arms crossed, a flush still high on her cheeks. She’s clearly trying to pull herself together, but there’s steel in her voice. “Shawn, leave. I don’t want to talk to you.”
Shawn’s face falls into a wounded mask, but I catch the glint of manipulation in his eyes. He edges closer, trying to peer around me. “Ember, come on. Don’t let this guy speak for you. We’ve got history. I just want to talk.”
“You heard her,” I growl, straightening to my full height. “She said to leave.”
I’m not sure decking this guy, whoever the fuck he is, is the best way to earn Ember’s favor, but he’s pushing the damn envelope.
Shawn’s mask cracks, and his voice turns sharp. “Who the hell do you think you are? This is between me and her—”
I step forward, forcing him to stumble back into the hallway. My voice drops into a dangerous calm. “I’m the man who will happily remind you what ‘no’ means. Try me.”
Don’t kill him. Do. Not. Kill. Him. I conjure up the faces of my brothers, ready to murder me if I misstep here.
For a moment, Shawn’s bravado wars with his self-preservation. His jaw tightens, but the size difference—and my unflinching stare—seals the deal. He throws his hands up in mock surrender, stepping back with a scowl.
“Fine. I’m going,” he mutters, shooting a pointed look at Ember over my shoulder. “But we’re not done, Ember.”
“Yes, we are,” she calls out, her voice steady despite the tension in her frame. “Don’t come back.”
He glares at me one last time before turning on his heel and stalking off. Footsteps sound on the stairs. The slamming of a door. I watch until he’s fully out of sight, then close the door, locking it firmly behind me.
When I turn, Ember’s watching me, her arms still crossed but her posture softer now. Her lips part, but no words come out. Instead, she steps closer to me.
“That was hot,” she whispers. “The uh… difference between reality and fantasy? That one right there? Checks out on both fronts.”
I can’t help it. I need to kiss her. I have to.
We lean into each other. When her lips meet mine, I stifle a groan. Fuuuck.
I slide my hands to her waist, pulling her flush against me as she presses up onto her toes, her fingers tangling in my hair. There’s no hesitation, no doubt—only heat and want, and I’m matching that fucking energy.
Her nails scrape against my scalp as she tilts her head, deepening the kiss.
My hands tighten on her hips, and I steer her backward until her back hits the wall.
She gasps into my mouth, and I take the opportunity to nip at her bottom lip, drawing a soft moan that sends a jolt of electricity through me.
“You’re tempting the devil,” I warn her, my voice rough with restraint.
“Maybe I hope he bites,” she whispers back, her voice breathless. Heated. She’s living up to her fucking name.
I don’t give her a chance to second-guess. I capture her mouth again, my hands sliding up her sides to anchor her in place. She arches into me, and I’m seconds away from losing all fucking control.
But this time, she pulls back, her lips swollen and her breath coming in shallow gasps. Her green eyes blaze as she meets my gaze. “Let’s get this clear. Just because I let you intimidate Shawn doesn’t mean I’m letting you boss me around.”
I smirk, brushing a stray lock of hair from her face. “We’ll see about that, little queen.”
Glancing at her phone, she groans. “Shit! I have to get to a shoot. I promised.”
“And I’ve got to check in with my brothers.” I pull away from her with reluctance. I know I need to leave. I have to make sure she learns to trust me, and right now, I’ve pushed far. “Tonight, Ember.”