Page 47 of Pushed

“A little.”

“Did I scare you?”

Her eyes darted up, scanning my face. I could feel her pulse through her fingers as it intensified, beating faster and harder. Opening her mouth to speak, she closed it again.

“Did I scare you?”I asked again sternly, needing an answer.

I had to know if she feared me, I had to know if I had stepped over that line and pushed her from hate to fear. Because hate was fine, she could hate me all she wanted while she was in here, but I couldn't have her fearing me.

Once true fear set in, once her body decided that fear was what I deserved. . . She'd never look at me with anything but emotionless eyes. I couldn't have that, I couldn't handle a cold glare from the one woman who had finally breathed life back into my heart.

“No.”

Throwing my hands around her face, I curled my fingers into the base of her skull. I held her still for a moment, waiting for some sign that she was telling the truth. That this wasn't some game she was playing, hoping it was the key to her existence.

Her fingers gently wrapped my wrists, lashes fanning her lids like canopies, slowly blinking and opening again. Imperial didn't move, she didn't lean in, but. . . She didn't lean away.

My hands were clammy, thumbs stroking her throat as she swallowed hard. I felt the lump travel down, losing it once it passed my touch.

Her breathing picked up, chest rising and falling with need. I could see her, I could see all of her as she opened herself to me in ways that no one ever had.

She wasn't vulnerable or weak, she wasn't just tempting her captor with the hope of being set free. . .

What I saw in her eyes was real.

Crashing my lips onto hers, Imperial opened her mouth, inviting me in. She tasted sweet, she tasted of lust and desire. Our tongues danced around each other as her hands made their way into my hair, raking my scalp.

Every movement was raw, it was animalistic as the intoxication filled my veins, making me want nothing else but her.

She was a woman, a woman that deserved more than a place like this. She was an angel, a godforsaken rush in my hands that I wanted to keep for myself.

And I was going to get her home even if it killed me. . .

Because I'm already a dead man.