“Use it.”
“Excuseme?” We’re locked in this ridiculous standoff as I take a long breath to compose myself, catching his scent of smoke and amber. His eyes are the only part of him that moves, drifting over my face as though he’s searching for signs of my discomfort.
He inches even closer, his chest pressed against mine as he continues to stare me down. “If you want my attention, you will use my name.”
“And if I neither want nor care about your attention?”
“You’re the one who chased me, Micah. If you have nothing to say, then walk away.” Another smirk pulls onto his lips, and I realize he’s called my bluff.
Again.
Seconds pass as we stare at each other, and he seems content to stand there all day and test my patience. A few more calming breaths fight their way into my lungs before I grit my teeth. “Xalreth—”
“There it is.” His head tilts to one side as that smirk pulls deeper. “Youdoknow how to listen, don’t you? Say it again, with less attitude this time.”
Another breath pushes from my nose, and I force as much calm into my tone as I can muster. “Xalreth—”
“Look at you, being such a good boy,” he murmurs, and something in my brain goes fuzzy, tingling at the words. Mytongue darts out between my lips as I suck in a sharp inhale. His brows lift by a nearly indiscernible amount as he searches my face, and it’s as though I’m stripped naked for his inspection. “Oh, well now… thisisfascinating, isn’t it?” I force a swallow, my tongue suddenly too thick for my mouth.
“Were you serious about your offer?” The words stumble a little as they work their way out, but I maintain most of my composure. I need to regain control of this conversation and steer it back to the matter at hand. This is strictly business.
“Well, I was,” he drawls, as composed as ever. “But now I’m thinking that if we are ever going to work together, you owe me an apology.”
“An apology?!”
“Yes, and a good one, at that. I expect an apology for the way you spoke to me. Just because you’re a big, important Archangel doesn’t mean you’re allowed to talk down to others.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. I’ll speak to you, and anyone else for that matter, any way I want.” Some of my sense returns as I pull away, and faster than I can even track, his hand grips my throat and holds me in place. Those black eyes peruse my face as I hold completely still, my heart thudding in my neck underneath his palm.
“Apologize.”
My tongue flicks out again, and he tracks the motion with open curiosity. “And if I don’t?”
A huffing laugh rolls from his mouth as he tightens his grip, just enough to make my breath wheeze as I draw it into my lungs. “I think you want to.”
“I assure you, I don’t,” I breathe. We both know I could get away from him with the blink of an eye.
So why am I allowing him to manhandle me like this?
He leans closer, his lips ghosting my skin as he puts them against my ear. “Good boys know when to apologize. You are agood boy, aren’t you Micah?” A sound leaves my throat that I’ve never made before, a low, soft whimper that makes him chuckle. “Maybe you should be on your knees for it.”
Another shiver rolls through my limbs, goosebumps lifting on my skin as his breath blows across the shell of my ear. He waits for a few seconds before he laughs again. “Go on, angel. Kneel for me. We both know you want to.”
“No, I don’t.”
“Come on,” he teases, playfully nipping at the hinge of my jaw. “You’d be so pretty at my feet, wouldn’t you?”
Tingling pleasure pulses through my limbs, a sparking heat building in my core as my cock hardens, pressing against my pants. Logic fights with pure, primal need as I imagine the way he could pin me down and cover me with his weight. I remember the way his cock flexed when we were inside, and the heat of his gaze as it slid over my body.
He sent those filthy thoughts my direction without even knowing I could feel them. They told me he wouldn’t be poised and proper like my usual partners. No, he’d be messy and passionate. He’d leave me raw and filthy.
Xalreth pulls me closer, slotting his leg between mine, and another of those pitiful sounds leaves me at the friction. A warm rush of pre-cum leaks inside my boxer briefs, and it’s like he knows how he’s affecting me as he smirks. “Go on,” he taunts, eyes never leaving mine. “Dirty those knees for me.”
I shouldn’t want this.
Shouldn’t be desperate for him to defile me.
Shouldn’t…
