Page 159 of Stand: Part One

“What the hell was that? Why would you expose yourself like that and help fund your own opposition?” she hissed as she tried to push away from where I had her pinned under me.

Gripping the hem of her dress again, I pulled the wet material up until the perfect curves of her ass fell right into my hands, a lacy black thong peeking between her cheeks. Despite the small round scar that lingered on one cheek, Jaden’s ass was still something to marvel at. So much so, I’d almost forgotten she’d spoken.

“I can hardly call them my opposition when they’re so good at unwittingly eliminating all of my competitors,” I answered, squeezing those perfectly round globes. “My donations fund their operations to unknowingly track down my competition. Multiple groups reveal all the new secrets and methods being used to find them.” I pressed myself into her, letting her feel my hardened cock between her cheeks. “The latest tech and software, the most recent targets and raids, the preventive measures, all the connections to the deepest insights, police, judges, private investigators—it keeps me well informed and ahead of the game.”

Jaden pushed back against me, her frustration grating her voice. “That’s disgusting,” she barked, then jammed her sharp little elbow into my rib cage repeatedly until I grabbed her hair and shoved her face down into the cushions.

“Why? Because it puts me at an advantage?”

She turned her head to the side and snarled. “No. Because it makes you the one thing you told me you never were. A liar!”

With her feet dangling above the floor, Jaden was somehow able to pull her knees up and kicked her heels into my thighs, digging in hard enough for her to gain the leverage she needed.

With one foot still planted firmly against my leg, she used it to lift her body up and kicked me in the sternum with everything she had. The impact was hard enough to push me away, giving her the chance to flip herself over and somersault to the other side of the couch.

“A liar, huh?” I pressed, cocking a brow.

“Pretending to be something you’re not? Deliberately misleading those people for your own gain? Yeah, I’d call that a lie,” she snarled.

My muffled laughter filled the air. “Funny, I don’t recall ever being asked by any of them if I specifically engage in such a trade. Seems like an odd question to ask someone at a charity event.”

She growled, her beautiful face twisting into a cute little scowl. “A wolf in sheep’s clothing is still a lie!” she shouted.

I almost snorted at the ridiculous idiom.

“Keeping my business to myself is not a violation of my own code of ethics,” I said, moving around the couch to herd her away from it. “I am not beholden to your standards, my little wife. You are beholden to mine.”

Grabbing the frame, I shoved the couch to the side and out of my way, the action causing Jaden to kick at the coffee table between us, flipping it up to crash against my shins.

I barreled through it, kicking it out of my way with my harsh steps, my eyes tracking Jaden’s every move as she reached for a nearby glass figurine and launched it at me. I could have dodged it, but I decided to catch it instead. I didn’t want more glass covering the floor while she was still barefoot.

“No more glass,” I warned, dropping it on the chaise lounge. “I don’t want you cutting up your feet.” Jaden paused for a moment, arching a brow at me before releasing a short, sharp laugh. I shook my head as I lunged for her.

She instantly dropped to the floor, rolling into a tight somersault right under my arms, then rising back on her feet far behind me. Her hand instantly snaked out to snatch another goddamn figurine and lifted it over her head.

What the fuck…

I was going to kill whoever the fuck decorated this house with so much breakable shit.

“Don’t you fucking dare!” I roared. “What did I just say!” My patience for her disobedience was running thin. If she cut her feet, so help me God…

Jaden paused to lower the object and quickly knocked on it with her knuckles, glancing down as she did and then back up at me. “It’s plastic,” she assured, then chucked it across the room at me.

My chest rumbled with agitation as I barely twisted my torso to allow the “plastic” figurine to fly past me as I charged for her. She made it only a few steps before I tackled her to the nearby rug, tumbling so that she fell on top of me to cushion her blow to the floor.

Flipping us over, I pressed myself between her legs, taking the hem of her dress between my hands and ripping it up the side seam. “You’re such a little brat,” I snarled as I smacked the side of her bare ass hard enough to echo through the room.

Jaden yelped as she wrestled with my hands, trying to pry herself away from me. When that didn’t work, she pulled her knees in and shoved them inward against my chest, pushing me back so that she could try to kick off into a backward somersault. But her move failed when I grabbed her ankle and pulled her lower body back down.

She took the opportunity to wrap her leg around the back of my neck and then hooked the knee of her other leg around her shin, trapping my neck and arm between her legs. Securing my stretched-out arm with her own, she squeezed her thighs tightly to lock in an impressive triangle choke, compromising my air supply and blood flow.

I groaned with a grin under the strain, glad to see she had regained the strength in her legs. But when she caught the smile on my face, she growled and squeezed even harder.

Goddamn, she’s fucking strong.

I considered just lifting her and slamming her back down to the floor, but I didn’t want to hurt her that much right now.

So instead, I went for one of her own usual annoying but sometimes effective moves. I reached out with my fingertips and pinched the sensitive skin right between the curves of her ass cheeks.