Page 44 of Forbidden Empire

But none of it mattered with his arms around me.

In that silent tangle with Aidon, the entire world went dim, and for once, I felt safe.

Just safe.

Like maybe that was all anyone wanted all along.

Seven

ESME

Aidon’s war room in the Underworld looked like a bomb had gone off in a stationery store. Maps flung everywhere, classified reports stacked in precarious towers across the table, a chaos of paper and half-scrawled notes. The only light came from the TV monitor’s harsh glow, flickering surveillance feeds painting the clutter in cold, frantic color.

Every property in the city, probably.

That was just how he operated: total control, no exceptions.

And the tension and distrust?

Off the fucking charts.

They were a near living, breathing thing.

Now that we’d fucked (multiple times, thank you very much), both of us were back on high alert, like we’d never bothered to take our armor off in the first place.

That back-and-forth power struggle? Oh, it was alive and well, right alongside the inconvenient, can’t-quit-you attraction that had gotten us into this mess to begin with.

Add all that together, and the air seemed to crackle, electric and hot and a little bit dangerous.

I should have been gone by now.

Slipped out of his arms hours ago, made my escape. It would’ve been a pain in the ass to get around the army of guards he kept parked outside the penthouse, but I could’ve done it. Easy.

But I hadn’t even tried. Not once.

Curiosity, that’s what I told myself. I wanted to see what happened next. What Aidon was planning. Stick around just long enough to grab the juiciest details, then vanish.

Except here I was, still here like a fucking idiot, waiting.

It wasn’t because being naked with him, twisted up in his arms, was the nearest thing to heaven I’d ever tasted. No, that wasn’t it. Not even close.

So here we were. Again. Caught in the middle of another goddamned tug-of-war.

My infuriating and sexy, pain-in-the-ass rival insisted I needed to shut up and do as he said, follow his every command.

I rolled my eyes and let out a derisive snort. Like that was ever going to fucking happen.

Nice try, Aidon.

He might have me dickmatized, but there was no way he’d ever control me.

“Not fucking happening,” I replied, sharp, slicing through the tension that filled the room, the fifth time now, each word colder, rougher than before.

Aidon’s jaw flexed, the muscle ticking beneath the dark stubble across his face. His eyes went inky black, wild, dangerous, as if he was seconds from snapping.

“I’m not asking,” he stated with a low rumble, the kind that sent warning chills and heat, all the way down my spine. “If you want that heart of yours to keep beating, in that goddamn sexy body”—his gaze swept over me, slow and deliberate, every inch intended to fluster, to conquer—“then you’ll do what I say.”

I clamped my arms tighter across my chest, nails digging into my skin, refusing to give ground.