Page 18 of Let the Game Begin

“You shouldn’t…” Her voice shook, tears of resignation clung to her eyelashes. I could have stopped then and apologized for my behavior, but I wanted her. Craved her. Demanded her. I was a profoundly selfish person; I always had been and now I needed to have her.

“Push me away,” I challenged, and she lifted her tiny hands to put them against my chest. She applied light pressure, and I saw the way her pupils dilated at even that small contact. “That’s it?” I said mockingly. But the Tigress had begun to tremble, possibly from excitement, fear of giving into me, or simply the awareness of her own desire blooming to life inside her. I gave her a satisfied smile, because I knew that she had lost her capacity to reason. I was well aware that she had a boyfriend in Detroit, but I didn’t care. I wanted her and that was enough for me.

That was how I survived, after all. I attacked a woman’s mind; I ferreted out the things she craved, then I sated myself with her body. In that way, I was able to cling to the slim thread keeping me tied to this life.

I pressed closer and tilted my head slightly until our lips touched. Hers fell open, demonstrating her willingness to taste me. I brushed her lower lip with mine; hers was smooth and soft. Selene narrowed her eyes as though locked in an internal battle between right and wrong. My vote was for wrong, as always, but I knew she didn’t entirely agree with me. I grasped her hips and toyed with the ties on her swimsuit, ignoring her discomfort. Idemanded more; my body was trembling with the need for greater contact, so I pressed my hips into her and closed my eyes, savoring the connection between us.

I pressed my nose to the place beneath her ear and I imagined I could feel the beating of her heart and smell her arousal mixed with the scent of chlorine. Her hands rested on my shoulders and her breasts were plastered against my front. Her stiffened nipples poked into my chest, and I had to stifle the urge to lean down and take them between my teeth. We stared into each other’s eyes.

This was my favorite part: the moment before a kiss. When hearts are frenzied, minds are turned off, everything is waiting with bated breath. I brushed her soft cheek with the tip of my nose before reaching her mouth, the gates of paradise.

Would she let a poor devil like me in?

I licked the curve of her mouth and tried to kiss her. Initially, I found a barrier of clenched teeth and struggled to get a response. But I courted one slyly, moving my tongue slowly until the moment when she was inevitably forced to give in to damnation. After a few seconds, her lips parted like the petals of a flower, finally giving me access.

She kissed me back, and from the uncertain way she followed my movements, I could tell just how inexperienced she was. How far had she gone with other men?

I was used to women who were fully capable of exciting, seducing, and satisfying a man. Women who were confident in themselves, charmers who were good in bed. They were well-practiced at kissing, fucking, and fulfilling even the most depraved male fantasies.

I liked this contrast between us.

I adored the shy, dainty way this girl moved her tongue, the prim way she tried to hold back her moans, and the subtle way she tried to push our bodies apart at the most sinful, yet natural, point of union that there could be between us. Between a man and woman. I felt no awkwardness or bashfulness about letting her feel how aroused I was and how my body reacted to the feeling of her mouth. I pushed my erection between her thighs and heard her gasping and trying to move away from me, to noavail. I held her still, squeezing her hips and continued to kiss her the way I wanted to fuck her.

I wanted to do it right there, in the middle of the pool, in broad daylight, and that was absolutely no good. I had to stop, or it was going to be another one of my typical fuckups. I backed away and allowed her to gulp down some air before resting my forehead against hers.

“Now, you can say you’ve faced your fears,” I whispered.

Selene’s breathing was labored, and she seemed dazed, possibly incredulous. She stared at me, absolutely mortified by her reaction to my attack. She touched her lips with her index finger and gulped, as if trying to understand what had just happened to her. It was at that moment that I realized the kind of truly selfish bastard I was, taking this piece of her.

I wished she would hurl insults or slap me. I wished she’d do anything, so long as she didn’t blame herself for following her instincts over her reason.

“Now I can say that I’ve basically cheated on Jared,” she said in a deeply harsh tone, but her eyes were glittering with a new light. Selene was finally conscious of the attraction that linked us, and this knowledge sent her spinning.

She jumped out of the pool and ran her hands through her hair in confusion. “I’m still in a relationship! I still have a…a…someone!” she screamed furiously. An instant later, she was in tears. Then she snatched up a towel to shield herself from my eyes, which ran longingly over her curves.

Those were the effects I had on people: confusion, dismay, guilt, lust, rage, and disappointment. I had brought nothing but evil to the people around me, and Selene would be just another one of my victims.

“So, we’ll make sure he doesn’t find out,” I answered cynically, but that only made the situation worse. Selene knew perfectly well that I didn’t care about whatever relationship she had, just that I had her, if only for a few minutes. She looked at me in disgust before fleeing.

I could understand her reaction. I kissed women to torment them—a kiss from me was simply a prelude to more carnal sins. It created desire; it was ardor and vice.

I got out of the pool and dried myself off hastily with one of the many towels we had around before peeling off my wet boxers and getting dressed.I took the stairs back to my bedroom to grab a sweatshirt and the pack of cigarettes I’d use to explain my absence to Logan. When I returned downstairs and found out that my mother had instructed Anna to set up the table under the gazebo in the garden. We were taking advantage of the sunny autumn day and having lunch outside.

I joined my family in the garden, feeling blissful as the crisp breeze fluttered my damp hair. I took the only available seat, right next to Selene.

Fate was not on her side.

I looked at her and paused to analyze every bit of her. She had pulled her hair back into a loose ponytail and was wearing her usual jeans, along with a light T-shirt that clung to her small breasts.

Suddenly, despite my empty stomach, I could only feel hunger for her. I sighed and tried to get myself under control. If I got a hard-on, it would be difficult to conceal, as I wasn’t wearing boxers anymore. Selene, for her part, tried in vain to ignore me. She drummed her fingers nervously on her thighs, and instinctively, I grabbed her hand under the table and squeezed it.

“What do you want?” she whispered furiously, trying to pull away from my grasp.

“Don’t be mad,” I answered tonelessly.

It wasn’t like she’d committed murder. She’d just gotten a little more proof that no one could win against powerful physical attraction.

“Easy for you to say.” She freed herself from my grip and pointedly turned her attention to my mother and siblings for the rest of lunch.