“Maybe because he wasn’t glaring at me the whole time, and he is fairly easy to talk to.”
His nostrils flared, but I stepped even closer. Close enough that I had to tilt my head to look directly into his eyes.
“Even if I was,” I whispered, “you don’t own me, Avgust.”
Something snapped inside him. Visibly. He moved before I could take my next breath as his hand came to my waist, firm and possessive. His other hand caught my jaw, tilting my face up to his own. He pressed me back against the wall, not roughly, but with absolute, unyielding control.
“I know I don’t own you,” he said, voice low, breath hot against my lips. “But don’t think for even one second that I didn’t want to. And that I can’t. If I wanted to own you, you would be mine. Fully and completely.”
My heartbeat stopped and started again, this time twice as fast. His thumb brushed my jaw slowly and purposefully, as if he meant every single touch.
“And don’t think,” he continued, eyes still burning into mine, “that I didn’t want to rip my brother’s throat out for making you laugh.”
My breath hitched. There it was.
The truth. The thing he couldn’t hide.
Jealousy. Possession. Desire.
“So you were jealous?” I breathed.Why is that turning me on?
His jaw clenched. “Ilana.”
“Yes?” I challenged, heart hammering.
“Stop talking.”
“Make me.”
That was it.
He lunged the last inch.
His mouth crashed into mine at once, and there was nothing gentle about it. He was clearly hungry for me as his tongue probed inside my mouth, deep and claiming, the kind of kiss that stole breath and sanity in the same instant. His hand tightened at my waist, pulling me flush against his body, heat rolling off of him like fire.
I gasped loudly, but he swallowed it. Every single sound.
One second, I was standing, and the very next, I was melting into him, fingers fisting in his shirt, pulling him closer because there was no universe where distance made sense anymore. I had stayed away from him long enough. He kissed me like he had been holding himself back for days. Weeks. Maybe his whole life.
The walls pressed cold against my back as his body pressed hot against my front. My mind went blank as my pulse rioted and everything inside me burned.
And Avgust only kissed me deeper.
Chapter 12 - Avgust
Her mouth was still warm against mine when the kiss finally broke. Ilana’s breath fanned across my cheek, uneven, shaky, and a little desperate. I stepped back just enough to look at her. Really look at her. Her green eyes were wide, lips slightly swollen from my kisses, and cheeks flushed. Her pulse was fluttering at the base of her throat like a trapped bird. I could see she wanted me.
Her gaze was filled with desire, and I wanted to do nothing but devour her.
But instead of pinning her to the wall again and kissing her senseless until she forgot her own name, I forced myself to speak. “Come with me.”
Her brows lifted, breath still trembling softly. “Where?”
“Somewhere private.”
Heat flashed through her eyes, quick and bright. She swallowed but followed silently, her hand soft in mine. I quickly led her out of the living room and down the hallway, past the open kitchen, directly into my office. She had been there before, but had never really explored the room like she had explored the rest of the house. It was nothing but dark wood and tall shelves, with a leather couch towards the back of the room. A low-burning lamp cast warm light over everything, especially the wooden oak table at the center.
The moment the door shut behind us, the silence changed.
