29
JADE
Iwake up gasping.
My skin is flushed, my heart pounding, and there's an ache between my thighs that makes me want to scream. The dream is still clinging to me—his hands, his mouth, his voice in my ear telling me I belong to him.
I squeeze my eyes shut and try to will it away. Try to remember that I'm supposed to hate him. That he lied to me, manipulated me, brought me here against my will.
But my body doesn't care about any of that. My body just wants.
"You were saying my name."
His voice comes from the darkness beside me, low and rough, and my eyes fly open.
Phoenix is awake. Of course he's awake. He's lying on his side, watching me with those dark eyes that see too much, and there's something in his expression that makes my stomach flip.
"I wasn't," I lie.
"You were." He shifts closer, and I feel the heat of him even through the space between us. "Moaning it, actually. Sounded like you were enjoying yourself."
My face burns. "You're imagining things."
"I don't think I am."
"Go back to sleep, Phoenix."
"I wasn't asleep." His voice drops even lower. "I've been watching you for the last hour. Watching you toss and turn and make those little sounds in your throat."
Oh god.
I turn my back to him, curling toward the edge of the mattress, trying to put as much distance between us as possible. But the bed is too small and he's too close and I can still feel him behind me like a furnace.
"Jade."
"Don't."
"Don't what?"
"Don't do whatever you're about to do."
"I'm not doing anything." But I feel the mattress dip as he moves closer. Feel the warmth of his body pressing against my back. "I'm just lying here. In my bed. Next to the woman who was just dreaming about me."
"I wasn't?—"
"Stop lying." His breath is hot against my ear. "Tell me what you were dreaming about."
"No."
"Tell me."
"I said no."
His hand settles on my hip, and I suck in a breath. He doesn't move it, doesn't push, just rests it there like a brand burning through the thin fabric of my clothes.
"Then show me."
The words hang in the darkness between us. My pulse is racing so fast I can hear it in my ears. Every nerve in my body is screaming at me to move away, to shut this down, to remember all the reasons this is a terrible idea.
