Page 55 of Coal Hearts

His.

Not mine.

I hated this man with every cell, yet...everything about him seduced me. He lured me in like a venomous creature, baiting me, coaxing me, and like the stupid prey I was, my body answered.

I felt it deep within. A heaviness. A pounding. A horrible kind of heat.

His eyes dropped to my mouth again. “I can’t. I’m not strong enough. I shouldn’t...fuck.” A savage groan tumbled from him as his elbow buckled, and he kissed me again.

The moment our mouths met, the world burned.

Ruthless and devouring, he claimed all my righteous loathing and all my toxic desire.

I jerked beneath him as his tongue licked mine, harsh and firm. He scrambled my mind, and tears sprang to my eyes as he somehow bribed my body to liquify with pleasure.

I didn’t want it. I squirmed to get away from it. But the more I wriggled beneath him, the deeper the kiss got.

Our lips slid and wounded each other. Our teeth clacked. Our tongues knotted.

Everything about him stoked my rage with a demented thread of greed.

I pushed his chest. I kicked my legs. I did whatever it took to keep him from stealing everything.

With a feral moan, he—

“I appreciate your eagerness to start fucking your way through all your fantasies, Ward, but perhaps you could wait until we get inside the building?” Victor’s amused voice cut through the utter destruction of Henri’s kiss.

His mouth tore from mine as he looked up. Two pairs of legs stood over us.

I cringed as Roland clapped and winked. “You can keep going, Henri, I don’t mind. A show’s a show.”

“He’s to wait,” Victor snapped. “He might be willing to play with his sexual health, but I’m not. This is my establishment, and I pride myself on clean partners. No condom. No fucking. Not until they’re both tested.”

Henri shifted to his elbows, still trapping me against the grass. He tried to get his harsh breathing under control. “I figured she deserved a quick lesson.”

“Oh?” Victor raised an eyebrow. “And how’s that going?”

“You tell me.” Henri pushed off me, his legs bunching beneath his trousers as he stood and grabbed his open waistband. “She knows running is pointless. She knows it only makes me hard.”

“Yeah, we can see that.” Roland snickered.

I flinched as all eyes zeroed in on Henri’s angry erection sticking out the top of his tight navy boxers.

“My, my.” Victor chuckled. “Someone is definitely in the mood.”

“Fuck.” Twisting his hips, Henri shoved his cock back inside, then yanked up his zipper. His hands shook a little as he lashed his belt into place. “You promised she was mine for the weekend,” he muttered. “I can do whatever I want to her in that time-frame.”

“She is and you can.” Victor held out a black box. “But you can wait a few hours to get everything sorted. She’s not going anywhere. For now...here.”

I scrambled to my feet, pushing my flimsy rose-gold skirt back into position and making sure my top covered my traitorous hard nipples. Goosebumps covered my arms. I didn’t know if it was from Henri’s barbaric kiss or the dampness of the dew.

“What is it?” Henri asked, accepting the box.

Victor swayed toward me, brushing a couple of wildflowers from my grass-smudged hair.

I fought my shudder at having him touch me.

“Open it. It’s for Ily. I usually reserve the right to do this part myself but...I’m finding you both rather entertaining. The unwilling Master slowly breaking and the unbroken slave slowly wanting.”