Chapter 8 #2
“You think you’re the only one who has gone through a lot in their life?
I was ashamed for a long time, a shell .
. . Some days, I wished to die. But that was long ago.
I realized I had to pick myself up or I’d drown under it, giving them all the control.
Those monsters in Věrh?za aren’t worth my tears, nor is my ex-husband.
I am proud of who I am and where I’m at now.
So I appreciate your self-absorbed struggle with yourself over how you think I should be handled. ”
She marched up to me until I was pressed back into the table. The woman was like a lion.
“I am the one who gets to decide that. Me. And if I don’t like something, you better believe you will know it.
” She tapped her finger on my chest. “And tugging my hair?” A derisive smile twisted her lips.
“That’s beginners’ foreplay. You’d have to do a lot more than that to even set the minimum bar for me.
And you are far too uptight for that, Majesty. ”
Blood roared in my ears, clamping around my cock.
The compulsion to grab her and throw her on the table, ripping off her clothes and kissing that mouth until she moaned for more, consumed me.
I’d bend her over, thrusting deep into her until she was hoarse from screaming my name as I fucked her over the maps on the table, showing her what the man beneath the title could do.
Desire whipped me like a lash, making me dizzy. Rage and confusion roared through me, needing an outlet. But decades of training myself, restraining my old impulses to take what I wanted when I wanted, kicked in, locking me up.
A nerve in my jaw twitched, my lungs ignoring the need to take in more oxygen than normal, keeping them steady.
Controlled. Unaffected.
All a lie.
Rosie scoffed, stepping back from me as if I proved her right. I was too noble to ever show emotion or let go. To her, I was a run-of-the-mill, entitled asshole she had met countless times before, with a larger ego and grander words than what I delivered.
She had no idea that barely under the surface, I was illicit, wicked, and depraved. I had robbed, killed, betrayed, and lied to get to where I was now.
“Skipping all the bullshite so we don’t have to be in each other’s company longer than necessary.” She licked her lips, crossing her arms, preparing for a fight. “I will be going undercover into HDF. It’s already planned.”
“No,” I barked, my mood snapping quickly to anger.
“I talked it through with Mykel. Caden will walk me through every step.”
“You think I give a shit what Mykel says?” My voice rose. “He is not in charge here. I am! And I say no.”
“Well, I say no to your no.”
“What?” I wagged my head. “That’s not a thing.”
“Yes, it is. See, I just did it. I’m ignoring your no. And still going.”
“No, you are not. I am the leader here, and I say no.”
“Well, you’re not the leader of me, so I say yes.”
“Oh my gods!” Frustration caused me to rake my fingers through my hair, a strangled cry vibrating from my throat. “You are the most irksome woman I’ve ever met.”
“Thank you.”
My boots pushed past her, pacing a small area.
“It is far too dangerous. I need someone who can react to anything at any time.”
“You mean like an actress? My life has been one long improv.”
“I’ve seen you act.” I scoffed.
Her eyes lowered, her jaw locking down, my insult reddening her cheeks. Then something shifted in her, a coy smile hinting at her lips.
“You saw Nina act. Young, innocent, and unaware of the world . . . Nina.” She shifted closer to me, her nearness forcing my lungs to hitch as her body pressed into mine.
For some reason I didn’t move away. “No life experience.” She tilted her head up to me, her blue eyes unflinching as her fingers trailed down my chest. “So naive to men . . . to sex.” She licked her lips, drawing my attention to them.
That single word went straight to my dick, which rose with a heavy pulse like she had enchanted it.
“She had no clue.” Rosie’s voice went low and husky, grazing my ear.
My chest was no longer in control as it heaved in shallow pulls.
Her hand slipped down, running over the erection in my pants, causing me to suck in.
Damn, I was hard. My body vibrated with the need to fuck.
It had been a while, my country and my title coming first over everything else. Brexley had been the first in a long time I had been attracted to. That’s not to say women hadn’t been through my bed, but they weren’t anything more than sex.
I was so tense that Rosie had me so taut with one touch, and I felt drops of pre-cum dampen my trousers.
Anyone could get this response from touching me, right? It wasn’t her—not a human.
Her knuckles rubbed over my pants again, turning my dick to steel. My hips curved into her hand, my need for her to touch me more shaking my muscles.
A smirk fluttered her mouth as she leaned in, her mouth close to mine. “How simple it is to fool and distract a man.” She dropped her hands, stepping away, her brow tipping up. “How’s that for acting, my liege?” she taunted.
A mix of anger, embarrassment, and even more arousal battled inside me as I realized what she had been doing. Heat scorched my face at how easily she had me in the palm of her hand. And how badly I still wanted her and hated myself more for that.
“You think that’s all it would take? Batting your lashes at some soldier?
This is a serious mission.” I cleared my throat, moving away from her again, trying to gather myself and my ego off the ground.
I hated being played with. Normally someone would lose a hand or head for that, but this woman seemed to only rile me up more. “You are not going. And that is final.”
“I am going, and that is my final. I make my own choices. Not you.” Indignation brightened her eyes. “I won’t have another man telling me what I can and cannot do. I understand the risks. I will not sit back any longer. This is my war, my fight, too.”
“What if you’re caught? You can’t fight.” I threw my arms out.
“I know how to shoot a gun. Don’t treat me like I’m some helpless girl.”
“It’s not because you’re a girl. I wouldn’t second guess sending in someone like Brexley or Hanna. They have been trained. They know what to do if things go wrong.”
“Hanna has been helping me. Training me in moves and how to act like a soldier.” Rosie put her hands on her hips.
“And guess what? Brexley is gone and Hanna can’t go in.
Neither can most of you. I’m human, and none of them there know my face.
And Wesley is going with me. It’s not like I’m going in alone. ”
“Wesley?” My frame jolted to a stop, unable to fight the instantaneous reaction exploding in my chest, my head already shaking back and forth. “Fuck, no.”
“Why not? He’s a good fighter. He would blend in with the other soldiers.” Her shoulder lifted, a tiny smile on her lips. “As much as he can.”
I noticed him flirting with her before, hanging around the healing room when she was working like a pathetic puppy. His intentions were obvious.
Did she like him back? Whatever came over me roared with resentment, tinting my vision green.
“No way in hell he is going in there with you.” My tone crawled from the depths of my gut, my control breaking apart.
“Why?”
“Because I don’t trust him to protect you.
” I had seen him fight. He was well trained, but it didn’t fucking matter.
I couldn’t sit here knowing they were on this mission together, their bond intensifying from the situation they’d be in.
What if something went wrong? I shuddered to think what could happen to her if he wasn’t on the top of his game.
And I wouldn’t be able to do anything.
“That’s not up to you. I do trust him,” she spat. “The mission is tonight. We can’t change it now, no matter how much you stomp your feet like a child. I’m going, and so is Wesley.”
“Wesley is not going.”
“Then who is?”
“Me.”
“I can’t believe this,” I muttered, my eyes shutting as I pressed against a stone wall.
The foggy night wormed through my clothes, chilling my skin.
I gave myself a moment to revel in my own gullible stupidity.
I was played. And what made it worse, I might not have stopped it even if I had realized it.
Nina was innocent and beautiful to watch on stage, but Rosie was a master of her craft, twisting you up and spitting you out in whatever way she wanted . . . and you’d only ask for more.