Page 42 of Fallen Prince
He went utterly still, his chin lifted in a challenging sneer. But he didn’t pull his hand free from my desperate grip.
“This was a mistake.” He bit out each word. “I won’t bother you again.”
“No!” I refused, my fingers tightening around his wrist.
His brow drew low over his left eye, the scarred side of his face completely obscured in the shadow of his dark curls. “You want me to keep stalking you?” He delivered a derisive challenge, his lips still twisted in that cruel sneer.
I’d hit a nerve, and he was pushing me away to protect himself. I wondered if he’d let anyone this close to him since his accident. His sister had taunted that I’d been the first person to date him. How long had he been bereft of touch? Of affection?
I am a monster out of your worst nightmares.He hadn’t behaved monstrously since that night. I suspected his desperate actions went against his true nature. And the reminder of the awful thing he’d done to me made him slip behind that frightening mask, another barrier between us.
I wouldn’t let him do it. He’d protected me, even when I protested. When I was with him, I didn’t have to pretend to be strong all the time. I didn’t have to fight through my anxiety to prove to people that I was capable and independent. Max had seen me at my most vulnerable after Gavin’s attack, and he hadn’t judged me for being weak and shaken.
I wanted for him to be vulnerable with me, too. I was safe with Max, but he was safe with me. He had to know that.
“No, I don’t want you to stalk me,” I replied, keeping my tone low and calm. “I want you to come inside.”
CHAPTER 16
Allie
Iunlocked and opened my door, but he didn’t step inside. He was utterly still, coiled tight with the effort of restraining himself.
My heart squeezed. He didn’t realize that I wasn’t scared anymore. I wanted to erase this lingering pain between us.
I took a breath and extended my hand, waiting for him to accept it.
His jaw ticked, and the shadows darkened beneath his brow and cheekbones.
I stared up at him, cool and resolute. “That scowl won’t work on me,” I informed him. “Come in.”
His entire body hardened to granite, locking him in place. “I can’t take back what I did to you,” he rasped. “I told myself I didn’t have a choice, but thatwas a lie. Part of me knew it too. But I took you and terrorized you anyway.”
My wrists tingled with the memory of the soft binding that’d secured me to the chair in his basement. I suppressed the urge to rub away the phantom feel of the restraints that had bound me as he’d questioned me.
“I haven’t forgotten,” I said quietly. “I won’t ever be able to forget. But I do forgive you, Max.” I reached out and wrapped my fingers around one of his clenched fists. It flexed beneath my touch, his muscles rippling as though resisting an inexorable pull. “I want you to come inside.”
Max couldn’t resist me any more than I could resist him. If this relationship were at all rational, I’d be screaming for help and locking the door as a barrier between us.
Instead, I gently tugged on his hand, urging him to step over the threshold.
Something snapped inside him, and he surged toward me. His arms wrapped around me, and he captured my shocked gasp with his lips. His strong body pressed forward, entering my personal space as though he had every right. He filled all my senses, his powerful body overwhelming me as the fiery chemistry between us ignited.
I registered the slam of my door as his booted foot kicked it closed behind him. The harsh sound jolted through my body, and I jerked in his arms.
He didn’t release me from his savage kiss. Instead, he pushed me back up against the wall, his weight pinning me in place. One of his big hands cupped my nape, his long fingers tangling in my hair and tugging my head back to deepen our kiss.
I quivered in his harsh hold, a thrill of fear dancing through my lust. This wasn’t the first time he’d pinned me against this wall and covered my mouth.
But it wasn’t his hand smothering my screams this time; his mouth consumed my small whimper, his tongue claiming me in hot, demanding strokes. The kiss was a challenge, a dare.
He craved me as fiercely as I craved him, but some part of him was still trying to push me away, to give me one last chance to escape him.
When my head was spinning and I was trembling in his harsh hold, he finally pulled away to allow me to draw in much-needed oxygen. My knees sagged at the rush, and his strong arms tightened around me, caging me even as he supported me.
“Why aren’t you afraid of me?” he growled, his eyes burning with desperate hunger.
His scar was on full display, and for a moment, his twisted snarl made me flash back to the night he’d kidnapped me. My stomach turned when I realized he’d pinned me in the exact place where he’d drugged me.
