Page 104 of The Carnage We Keep

“And?”

He shrugs. “You always need to be in control. So do I.”

Warmth curls low inside me. I swallow before my tongue wets my lips.

His gaze drops briefly to my lips before returning to my eyes.

“Sexually speaking, we would never work.”

I frown. “Why not?”

Heat pools in my core as I feel his big hands tighten on my skin as he leans in a little closer, enveloping me with his heat and his scent.

“Because when I fuck, I’m not negotiating for control.”

My pulse stutters.

Every smart-ass response lined up on my tongue abruptly dies as my insides liquify and my blood turns to fire in my veins.

Damiano mistakes my silence for confirmation, thinking he’s just proven his point.

He has no idea how fucking wrong he is.

“Maybe you don’t know me as well as you think you do,” I finally manage to say quietly.

His eyes sharpen.

“How?”

I could tell him.

I could lean the last few inches into his ear and whisper to this arrogant, controlling motherfucker exactly what the thought of surrendering in bed does to me.

The ways I fantasize about having my own control taken from me and being utterly submissive.

A toy.

A plaything.

A needy hole to be filled.

His mouth pulls to a thin, knowing line, like he’s completely oblivious to this fire that’s been crackling between us since day fucking one.

It makes me feel like a fucking psycho for even thinking it. And I hate when someone has that word sitting on the tip of their tongue, worst of all myself.

So, of course, I pull a “me” and go for the jugular.

“Well, if you don’t want to fuck me,” I say coolly, shrugging my shoulders as I lean back. “I’ll find someone who does.”

There's an almost imperceptible change in the air. It’s like the wind stills and dies. Like the room itself chills a degree or two.

Damiano’s hands stop moving as they tighten on my knees. His eyes go very dark. Then his fingers suddenly clamp down hard on my thighs. My breath punches out of me.

“No.”

The word that slips from his lips is quiet, flat, and absolute.

I blink at him. “Excuse me?”