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She searched his eyes, looking desperate and uncomfortable at the demand, but just as he thought she would not answer, she did.

“I abhor your arrogance at times,” she whispered.

His brows rose up in surprise.

“Admittedly not what I thought you were going to say,” he replied.

“But I cannot deny what you do to me,” she whispered, giving him a look of desperation.

It fueled his arousal, and Hugo smirked.

“Go on,” he urged.

“I have spent nights lying awake, sleepless, unable to focus on anything but what you spark in me,” Seraphina continued, her voice growing stronger. “My body writhes in my bed, my hands try to repeat what you have done. But it is no use.”

She sat up straighter, suddenly looking infuriated.

“I cannot do it. I cannot create the feeling you do, no matter how hard I try, and the effort only leaves me frustrated and trembling. Aching. It consumes me, what you do to me. How you make me feel. Like I am about to burst into stars. But it is you.Justyou that makes my body act like this.”

She leaned forward, her hands clenching in his hair as she brought her lips close to his.

“So I am asking you, Hugo.Please.Make this agony go away. Make itallgo away. Because I do not know what I will do if you do not.”

Satisfaction radiated through Hugo as he heard her words, and with a quick hand he captured her throat and captured her lips in a rough, possessive kiss. He felt her go lax under his touch, and he forced his tongue between her lips, claiming every surface of her mouth.

“Please,” Seraphina whispered between his kisses,“Please.”

With a push he had her back against the bed again, and he delved between her legs with a renewed vigor. Within seconds he had her writhing and whispering his name once more, and this time, as he felt her approach her precipice of pleasure, he let her fall into it.

CHAPTER TWELVE

“That was the last time, Seraphina.”

Seraphina looked up as she was getting dressed, a mixture of surprise and pain taking over the brief euphoria had filled her body. She tried to catch Hugo’s gaze, but he refused.

“I…why?” She ventured, feeling selfish for even asking. “I thought we just discussed how I felt about you?”

Hugo let out a cruel laugh, one that chilled her as he kept his eyes on his hands that he rubbed together.

“You made it clear how you felt, but not what you want,” he replied.

Finally he looked at her, and his gaze was just as cold as his laugh had been.

“Tell me, have you even entertained the idea of accepting my proposal?” He asked. “If Repington had not come forward? Would you be insisting to your parents that I am the one you want?”

Seraphina pressed her lips together, unsure how to answer. She had brought him up as an option twice, but had she insisted? Or had just let them tell her no? She wanted him, yes, she could not deny that. But had she truly, seriously, ever considered him an option?

“I cannot deny that I enjoy giving you what you want,” he went on, his eyes flicking over her in a way that made her body heat all over again, “But this game we’ve begun to play is growing tedious, and I am not a man to allow such a thing.”

“And what kind of a man are you, Hugo?” She asked, feeling her own temper rise.

He snatched her waist and dragged her to him so quickly that she gasped; his fury sparking arousal within her once more in an instant.

“A man who does not give up what is his,” he growled.

She pushed at him, but he did not let her go.

“I am not yours!” She seethed back.