How can he be happy about this? How can he enjoy this?
Aiden leans in. My palms flatten against the wall behind me. I can’t stop thinking about his chest pressed against me, his breath hot on my skin. This is stupid. I’m stupid.
Something heats low in my belly, the memory of his lips on mine overwhelming me. I must be fucked up to even be thinking about that right now.
But somehow, I am. Somehow, I can’t stop my brain and body from running away with images of us. I can remember what it felt like for him to push me onto his bed. I remember his mouth on mine, remember him parting my legs and sinking deep inside me.
And even now, even in the middle of this mess, my entire body sparks with electricity as Aiden leans in close. My bones burn, an image of me hitching my leg around his waist blazing in my mind. I imagine him yanking his pants down and fucking me right here, taking me against the wall without any care for the people that might find us.
Fuck. No, Rose.
I can’t let myself feel this, especially not now. I clench my teeth and try to breathe shallowly as Aiden’s body crowds mine.
His large hand comes up to grip my chin, forcing me to hold his gaze. His voice is even harder than his expression when he speaks again.
“We can do this the easy way, or the hard way.”
Marriage or death.
I want there to be a third option. I desperately want anything to save me from this, to save my father from whatever it is he’s gotten into. I want to run away and not look back.
There is no other option. I know there isn’t.
Aiden doesn’t love me. He wants to kill my father. He doesn’t care that we have a past. He will do what he wants, what he needs to.
But there’s no way.
“Fine. I’ll do it.”
The words sound like defeat as they fall heavily from my mouth. But even as I speak them, I make a silent vow.
I’m going to find a way to make Aiden pay.
CHAPTER6
Aiden
I stare down at Rose’s face as she agrees to be my wife. She’s full of defiance, staring right back at me like I’m not holding her in place. Like she’s the one choosing to be here now.
She probably thinks she’s hiding this part of her. That her steel is hidden behind her pretty face and soft hair, the little bow of her lips and the wide pools of her green eyes.
She always used to meet my gaze, and it turns me on now just as much as it did then.
What kind of fucked up am I?
Her family destroyed mine. Her family is the reason both of my parents are gone to me and my brothers, taken from us too soon. Rose is the child of my greatest enemy, but she was the girl I loved before the storm began.
Even now, I remember how she felt. She still feels so small, so much slighter than me. A little dove that sings prettily and looks even prettier. But she still has that inner strength, that steel that allows her to look me in the eye even as I threaten her father’s life.
It sends all my blood rushing straight to my cock. I was never able to deny her, even when we were teenagers, even when I was a boy pretending to be an intimidating man. I would glare at everyone that passed, but she would meet my eyes and look right into me.
And I loved it.
I could take her here. I could flip her around and drive deep inside her, feel how wet and hot she is. I could let my cock take over and fuck her into submission, shoving her panties into her mouth to keep her quiet. I know how soft her skin is and I know it tastes good on my tongue.
As Rose’s green gaze sears into mine, I imagine the color disappearing as her eyes roll back, her legs shaking as she takes me. I’d fuck her fast and hard, slamming into her with all the force of the pent-up frustration I’ve carried for years. I’d hook her legs around my waist and dig my fingers into her thighs.
She’d have bruises for days. I wouldn’t want her to walk right. I’d have her panting and soft, rip that dress right off and take her breasts in my hands as I drove into her from behind.
