Page 18 of Burned

Her lashes lift. Heat sparks. Anger too.

Good. I step closer again, slower this time.

Her breath catches.

I lower my mouth to her ear. “And now you’re going to be punished for it.”

Her body shivers.

Not from the cold.

The knowledge satisfies something primitive in me.

But beneath it, the fear remains.

The insane second when I thought she might run into the trees and disappear.

I slide my hand around her throat, light, careful, claiming without pressure.

Her eyes flutter. “Don’t use sex to avoid my questions,” she whispers.

“I’ll use sex however and whenever I please.” My thumb strokes the side of her neck. “And you will never run from my protection.”

She can barely speak; her words are breath. “That sounds suspiciously like another one of your endless rules.”

“It is,” I confirm.

Her mouth curves despite herself into a small, dangerous smile.

I look at her for one long moment.

My impossible, disobedient, brave little warrior.

“And,” I say, lifting her into my arms as she gasps and grips my shoulders. “I’m going to show you what happens to little girls who break my rules.”

CHAPTER THREE

ERIN

Lucian carriesme upstairs like I weigh nothing.

I would object on principle, but my principles are having a hard time being heard over the roar of my pulse.

And I freaking love it when a strong man makes me feel as delicate and as light as a feather.

His arms are locked around me. Hard. Secure. Possessive in a way that makes my body melt and my mind sharpen at once. That is the problem with Lucian Bachman.

I should still be angry. Why won’t he tell me everything? It’s not like I’m keeping secrets from him…

Oh right. I am. Always have been.

There’s always a little sliver of a ghost from my past hiding over my shoulder.

So, I don’t have the right to be angry at him. Unfortunately, that’s never stopped me before.

Am I…jealous?

I don’t know if it’s jealousy so much as not wanting another woman to have been loved by him. Does that make me jealous?