“I don’t think you know how to live without me,” she challenges, her voice trembling. “Authorities would blame Lionel for my death, they’d lock him up again, and then you’d be all alone. If I’m not around to torture, you’d have nothing else to live for.”
I grind my molars together, swatting away her claim, only for it to come right back and needle beneath my skin.
My future is set in stone. I’ll qualify for the Olympics again in a few years, and I guarantee I’ll medal. Endorsements and sponsorships from huge brands already fill my manager’s inbox, offering sizable payments that will keep me more than comfortable for the rest of my life.
I have Rogue and Severen, plus plenty of women to choose from to keep my needs met.
I used to have nothing. No one who believed me. No one who supported me. No one who wanted anything to fucking do with me.
Now, I have everything.
But I won’t haveher.
And somehow, someway… she’s all I fucking want.
To torment, to hate, to offer me relief in a way nothing and no one else can. She’s an ice cube to a burn that will never extinguish.
So, she’s right—I don’t know how to live without her.
But that doesn’t mean I can’t learn.
I hum noncommittally. “Maybe once I’m free of you, I can finally start living for my mom, no?”
Her only response is a thick swallow. The gears beyond her eyes are churning at breakneck speed, and it’s quite amusing to watch her flounder for another way to get out of it.
I’m expecting her to take a jab at another angle to convince me otherwise, but she doesn’t.
Instead, her hands fly to my shoulders, and she’s launching herself up into my arms. Instinctively, I release her jaw to grab hold of her waist while she wraps her legs around my hips and arms around my neck. Her cheek rests heavily against mine, allowing me to feel the pulse thrumming in her throat.
Astonishment renders me speechless for a moment or two while I slowly process that every inch of her is molded tightly against me.
“If I go down in that water, you go down with me,” she rasps, her shaky breath warming my ear. “I can hold my breath for a really long time. Maybe even longer than you.”
A wicked smile curls up the corners of my mouth. My blood heats and instantly redirects straight to my dick. I’ve had her naked in my bed, subjected to the tip of my Sharpie and rage. I’ve explored the inside of her mouth and tasted gold, and I’m struggling to find a reason to resist again.
Even if I’ve always been attracted to her, I still would’ve never fuckedher. In fact, it would’ve disgusted me.
I can’t pinpoint exactly why that changed, just that it did the moment I stripped her down and brought her back from the edge of death.
Now, the thought of owning her in every way possible…Fuck, I don’t think I’ve ever been so hard in my life.
I’ve also never felt so much fucking shame. Wanting her means disrespecting my mother’s memory. How can I possibly want her killer’s daughter, who never even had the decency to say her fucking name outside of calling me a liar?
I’m a shit son for looking at her with anything other than contempt.
Whatever this attraction is… it needs to stop, and the only way to make it stop is to get her out of my system.
One time.
That’s all I need.
“You think I can’t drown you while you hold on, baby?” I purr, amusement coloring my tone. Then, I deliver a sharp slap to her supple ass.
She yelps, reflexively squeezing her legs tighter around my hips, despite my hard cock pressing into her pussy. I know she can feel me, but she seems more inclined to focus on her looming fate.
My grin widens as I turn my lips into her ear, and say, “I’ll do you a favor and give you another option. Drown, or I fuck you.”
“Fuck. Off,” she bites out through gritted teeth.
