Page 34 of His Asset
“I killed for you,” he reminded bleakly.“Those three scientists—“
“Were some of the many who hurt me, disrespected me,” I cut in.
He reached out, then dropped his arm as I stepped back, away from him.I shook my head.“I’ll never see you as anything more than what you are.”My voice dropped to a whisper, full of steel.“A black-hearted human monster.”
Chapter Thirteen
Years of suppressedrage finally exploded inside of me, bursting through my mouth in a silent scream that sent my echolocation rippling through the penthouse.And yet, I still didn’t have it in me to hurt Adam.Lamps imploded around me, lightbulbs shattering in a cascade of sparks and glass.
I was panting in the shadows where sunlight didn’t reach, my adrenaline still high but my rage fading, replaced by something hotter, more intense.The moment Adam’s hands wrapped around my shoulders, I moaned at the electricity streaking through me.
Rage wasn’t the only thing I’d suppressed.My passion had also been tempered for far too long.
It was as if the release of my powers had unleashed the desire that had been throbbing between us.All the months of resistance, of denying the ache beneath my skin, crumbled under the weight of his touch.
That he needed me as much as I needed him only added fuel to our fire.
His fingers traced along my jaw, down my neck, and every whisper of skin against skin sent sparks racing through my veins.“Bella,” he murmured, his voice thick with something I couldn’t name.Desire.Regret.Something darker?
I wanted to lean into him, to drown in the heat of his presence.But my mind screamed at me to pull away.He was the man who’d created me—and others just like me.He was the monster who’d financed the nightmare that had stolen everything from me.
Yet here I was, betrayed by my own body.
I closed my eyes, fighting against memories of sterile labs and suffering, but his touch promised something different.Something dangerously real.
His breath caressed my neck.“You don’t have to fight me anymore.You're not a science experiment...you never have been,” he whispered, his voice rough.Something in his words gave me pause, but before I could think more about them, he added, “You’re the one real thing I’ve been holding onto.”
A shiver raced through me.Not all of it was fear.So much of it was hope.Even more was blazing desire.
I shoved back the snide voice reminding me once again that he’d been the one who’d funded the nightmare.But in that moment, wrapped in the heat of him, none of it seemed to matter.
He traced a slow, deliberate path along my arm.“And you’re not my asset,” he said, his voice low and fierce.“You’re mine, in every way that matters.”
I should have hated the reminder of what I’d once been.Instead my guard crumbled further.This wasn’t about being his possession.This was something raw and real.He wasn’t investing in me for what I could give him.He was invested in me.And that scared me more than anything.
His voice dropped to a fierce whisper.“You know I collect priceless things.You could blow every one of them up right now and I wouldn’t care.”