Page 11 of Conceal

Once I’m pulled through the heavy fire exit door, she slams me against the wall before releasing my sweatshirt and slapping me across the face. Hard.

Fuck, that turns me on.

“Do it again,” I taunt, eager to find out if I have a pain kink I never knew about.

So she does, and the burn on my cheek makes me rock hard. Lust and frustration and anger flood my system, and I’m seconds from losing control.

I spin us so that she’s the one against the wall as I wrap my hand around her throat and bring my face inches from hers. There’s just a hint of fear in her eyes, but mainly curiosity. I hope she knows that I would never hurt her.

She’s tall for a woman, but I’m still half a foot taller, so I’m towering over her like this.

I pin her hips to the wall with my thigh between her legs. Images of the things I want to do to her flood my brain before I can stop them. So we end up sitting in this position, both of us breathing heavily, searching each other's eyes for meaning.

She tilts her chin up in challenge. Challenging me to take her beautiful lips with my own.

That’s what breaks the moment, and I step back, adjusting myself in my jeans. She catches the movement, of course.

“Are you hard?” she whispers, stepping closer as I’m trying to retreat.

“I am.” I have no shame. “Wanna slap me again?”

She looks equally appalled and intrigued. Then she remembers why she’s mad at me.

“I told you not to touch him, Lev! What the fuck did you do?”

Last night, after she’d finally gone to bed, I decided that if she couldn’t sleep, Leo wouldn’t get to either. I rode my bike to his apartment and banged on the door, telling him I was from the local police department.

When he answered without looking through the peephole like an idiot, I’d beaten the socks off him.

She may not have wanted revenge, but I sure did. Nobody gets to fuck with my Tatiana. He’d had what I could never have for a month - her time, her attention, her interest. He had the possibility of being with her. Where I never will. And not only did he fuck up any chance at a relationship, he did it to hurt her, and then spread rumors about her.

Abso-fucking-lutely not.

Not on my watch.

No one will ever disrespect the sweetest girl I’ve ever met and get to sleep at night. She deserves to be worshiped. If I had a sliver of a chance with her, she would never doubt how truly loved and cared for she was.

And the fact that that will never be me, that she’ll never be mine, is why I’m angry all the time. It’s not at her. It’s at me. It’s my short, stupid life expectancy, my stupid best friend, my life.

If I took what I wanted and made her mine, her father and brother would surely kill me. Hey, maybe that’s how I’m going to go! It’d be worth it for a chance with her. But then she’d be sad. But she’d have Mik there to comfort her after I go. Now if only he and Roman would admit they’re in love with her too.

I squeeze my aching cock through my jeans, and her cheeks flush as her eyes drop to my dick. I’m tempted to say something crude to make her hate me even more, but I’m not that cruel. I don’t actually want to get fired from her protection. It’s the only way I can even be in the same room with her.

While I’m loving her attention on my cock, I realize she’s still waiting for an answer.

I back her into the wall again, her chest heaving under her beautiful blue sweater. “I did what your father would have me do. I did what your brother would have wanted. No one gets to disrespect you, hurt you like that and not pay for it.”

She tosses her hands in the air. “I’m not hurt! Just disappointed,” she says in frustration.

“So, tell me how excited you are for your date this weekend,” I challenge. I can’t help but push her buttons. She flinches. “Exactly.”

The lightest blue eyes I’ve ever seen stare back at me.

“It’s fine,” she lies. I smile. Because she’s a terrible liar.

I don’t call her out on it because I know deep down she’s hurting. She’s caught between a rock and a hard place. Between her desire to fall in love, her mom’s matchmaking, and trying to live like a normal student, she doesn’t have many options.

I nod toward the doorway. “Go eat your lunch, knyazhna.” Princess.