Page 89 of Embrace the Darkness

My witty retort made his eyes darken and his lips pressed to mine. They were softer than I'd imagined. Not that I'd been imagining them. I just…Damn. He turned my brain to mush as he sucked my bottom lip between his. I found myself caving by kissing him back, molding to him more firmly. His tongue dove between my lips and I sucked and stroked it with mine, drawing forth a groan from him.

Hearing him cleared away some of the fog in my head. I became lucid enough to remember I didn’t really want to do this. I flattened my hands on his chest and pushed. He broke our kiss. As his eyes bounced between mine, he seemed reluctant to let me go, but his arms unraveled, and I stepped away.

I fought the urge to lick my swollen lips. “A favor for a kiss. Transaction complete. Until next time, Nicky,” I said, stepping backwards again, putting more space between us until I turned and walked to my vehicle where my security stood waiting. Asher opened the door for me to climb in. Like they were in sync, the rest of the guys hopped in and we drove away.

CHAPTER 39

It was late when I wandered downstairs. I couldn’t sleep. The events of today kept replaying in my head like a movie, forbidding my mind a moment of peace. In nothing but a long red silk nightgown, courtesy of Angela, I padded through the dark and quiet house on my bare feet. I filled a crystal tumbler with some of Stefan’s favorite whiskey and found myself standing outside the chamber.

I pushed open one of the heavy doors and flipped on the lights. It was eerily quiet. Mark’s body and the evidence of today’s meeting had been wiped away. But I could still see everyone sitting around the table, hear their voices, see the bullets I'd tossed around when trying toget Dylan’s attention. I walked around the room, while sipping at my drink, until I was standing behind Stefan’s chair. Resting my arms on the back of it, I stared at the Prionsa’s chair—my chair.

I was Stefan’s heir.

Was that something I wanted? It wasn’t something I'd ever seen coming.

I felt lost, slowly drifting into limbo. The lack of control put me on edge. I'd set out on this path because I wanted to change. I wanted equality and respect. My uncle had been taken out in the process and I’d been placed in a role I didn’t aspire to.

My internal moping session got interrupted when the door on the other side of the room opened. Jamie stepped inside, eyes finding me instantly. By the lack of surprise, he'd already known I was in here. He quietly glided further into the room to stand behind my newly appointed chair. He mimicked my pose by resting his arms on the back of it. Dropping my eyes from his, I stared down at the crystal tumbler in my hands. There was a sip of whiskey left—a sad amount, if I was going to be in his presence.

“You were born to sit here,” he said, gesturing down. “Today proved that.”

“Why didn’t you take it when Stefan offered it to you?” I asked, my eyes drifting back up to meet his.

“Because I knew it was always meant for you.” There was no hesitation or resentment in his answer. Just pure honesty.

“Was I the only one who was oblivious the entire time? Was he really grooming me?”

Stefan had said that everything he'd done or put me through was to make me stronger. Had that just been more lies? I should have felt bitter. I was beyond fed up. Maybe I’d grown accustomed and that was why I couldn’t feel anything other than numb.

Jamie dropped his arms from the chair to stuff his hands into his pockets. He was still dressed in black slacks and a burgundy button-down shirt he had worn to today’s meeting. The shirt was untucked now, and the sleeves were rolled to his elbows, exposing his tattooed skin. His small smile was my answer. I had been the only one naive to Stefan’s grand plan.

It was kind of nice talking to him without fighting. It was almost like the way we'd been before—friends. Then reality set in. I remembered the way he'd hurt me. My anger bubbled to the surface and I found myself hating him for making me miss him.

He must have noticed the change in me because his eyes narrowed. “How much longer is this shit going to carry on? I’ve tried to give you space. Yes, I fucked up, but how long are you going to punish me?”

“I’m not punishing you. Whatever it was we had is over.”

“Stop acting like you don’t know what we are to each other. I know I did a shitty thing, but it wasn’t enough to call it quits. Punish me, fine, I deserve it, but you don’t get to walk away from me. Not for that,” he snapped, then shook his head. “There has to be something else going on. Something happened or changed that you’re not telling me.”

With a shuddering breath, I steeled myself. This was going somewhere I didn’t want to venture. “You need to move on.”

He reeled back and his eyes turned dark. “Like you are with Louie? Or is De Luca the one you want? It’s hard to tell. You’ve kissed both of them in the past twenty-four hours.” My surprise must have shown on my face because he smiled, cruelly. “I guess you were right about the security. They aren’t so discreet.”

It must have been Stefan’s goons. Dean and Asher wouldn’t have told him shit. Biting my tongue, I stoppedmyself from taking the bait. I didn’t owe him an explanation and I was done fighting with him.

“I told you, you’re mine,” he said, calmness returning to his voice.

“I don’t belong to you,” I snapped, my control slipping.

“I love you.”

I threw the crystal tumbler as hard as I could at him. He easily ducked. The glass smashed into the wall behind him, shattering into pieces that scattered on the wood floor. “Don’t fucking say that to me,” I bit out, jaw clenching. He was making things harder—to the point of unbearable. I needed to get away from him.

I turned and darted for the door. Just as I was pulling the heavy door open, Jamie’s hands slammed it closed and his warm body pressed against me. “Stop running away from me,” he growled. One of his hands dropped from the door and wrapped around my waist, lying flat on my stomach and pulling me close. His pelvis molded to my ass at the same time his nose brushed my ear, then burrowed into my hair.

“Let me go,” I ordered, my words coming out strangled.

“I can’t.”