Page 48 of Deviant Princess (Knight's Ridge Empire 5)

“I don’t expect you to be. Hell knows I wasn’t.”

My teeth grind at the thought of some other motherfucker having his hands on what’s mine.

“Jealous?” she asks, correctly reading my reaction.

“Of someone else fucking my wife? Yeah, Hellcat. I am.”

She holds my stare, but she doesn’t comment.

“I know… this isn’t exactly conventional. But that doesn’t mean I don’t want it. What you said out in the kitchen earlier, you were right. I’m far from hating this.”

“Why? You hated me before and used every opportunity you could to prove just how much you despised me and how untrustworthy I was.”

“Many reasons. You proved me wrong. I was a fucking idiot who couldn’t see what was in front of my face. Because I wanted you but refused to accept it.”

“So what about now? Where exactly do you see all this going?”

“Well, when you walked in, I was kinda hoping I’d get between your legs…”

“I’m being serious, Theo. I want to know what you really think about all of this. How you feel about all of this.”

“Damn, Em. I’m not good with this shit,” I complain, scrubbing my hand down my face.

“And I’m not good with being lied to and locked up in your castle, but here we are. So man up and talk, or I’ll walk straight back out and sort myself out.”

“Shit,” I hiss, letting my eyes roam leisurely over her body. “Em, I…” I shift, giving my aching cock a little more space.

Sucking in a breath, I prepare to do something I’ve never done before. Let someone in. Really in.

“I want you, Em, like I’ve never wanted anyone. When you’re with me, I’m… different. You unlock a different side to me that I didn’t think existed.”

“A psychotic side?”

“No,” I say with a laugh. I already knew that was there. “You show me that I can take a step back, that I can care about more than just my job, my future. You prove to me that I can be like the kind of man I’ve watched Seb grow into over the past few months. You make me a better person. A more caring person. A less selfish person.”

“Says the guy who’s locked me up to keep me to himself?”

My shoulders drop. She has a valid point.

“You also make me crazy, obsessive, selfish. For the first time in my life, I’ve got something that can be taken away from me. What if you take yourself away from me?”

“Shouldn’t that be my choice to make?” she asks coolly.

“Yeah, it should. But so should choosing your husband.”

She pushes from the wall and takes a step closer to me. My fists curl where they’re resting on my thighs.

“What makes you think I wouldn’t have chosen you?” she asks, her brows pulling together, a look I don’t like filling her eyes.

Pity.

I shake off my knee-jerk reaction to stop myself from feeling so vulnerable and hold her eyes, letting her see deeper than everyone else does.

“Why would you? You’ve told me enough times what you think of me, and I haven’t exactly done much to prove you wrong.”

“We’ve both said a lot of things I’m sure we didn’t mean,” she says honestly.

She pauses just out of reach.