I kicked it away.
Her chest heaved, fury vibrating off her in waves.
“I’ll find another way to kill you.” Her voice was venomous. “I’m a trained fighter.”
A dark chuckle rumbled in my throat.
“Good.”
I pressed forward, backing her against the bookshelf.
With a sharp movement, I seized both her wrists, pinning them above her head against the wood.
“I’d like to see you try.”
I leaned in, my nose brushing against hers?—
Mimicking that stranger’s touch from earlier.
For a breath, she yielded?—
Then she tensed, struggling against me.
“Stop. Please.”
Her voice shook—not with fear, but with something far more dangerous.
Desire.
I gripped both wrists with one hand, freeing the other to brush my knuckles along her cheek.
“Why should I?” I murmured, voice low, teasing. “I saw you downstairs, letting another man touch you like this.” My fingers traced her jawline. “It was... arousing.”
I felt the tremor in her breath.
“It stirred something in me. A fire I couldn’t ignore. So, I followed you up here.”
Her lashes fluttered, her lips parting.
“That man meant nothing to me,” she whispered. “He’s a friend. That’s all.”
I tilted my head. Was she telling the truth?
“A friend, you say.” I leaned closer, lips brushing against her ear. “If that’s how you behave with friends...”
I exhaled, nuzzling the shell of her ear.
“Then I’d like to be your friend, too.”
A soft, involuntary shudder rippled through her.
Her eyes fluttered closed.
Her head tipped back against the bookshelf.
Her lips parted in a breathless whisper?—
“My God…”
