Page 60 of The Princess Trap

“So you say. What about Cherry Pop?”

“Taken.”

“Of course it is,” he sighed. His fingers found the knot of her scarf at the base of her neck. “What’s this?”

“Scarf.”

“To sleep in?”

“Yeah. It’s silk, so my hair doesn’t dry out.”

She could hear the smirk in his voice as he said, “So delicate, hm? A born princess.”

She rolled her eyes. Tried not to think about the fact that she was afakeprincess. A fake princess-to-be. Whatever.

“Cherry,” he whispered. “I like touching you.” His finger trailed down the back of her neck, along her spine. It dipped under her T-shirt, dragging down the fabric. She arched her back and shivered.

“I know you do.”

“Oh youknow, do you?”

“I noticed, yeah.”

He wrapped a hand around her throat and pushed, gentle but insistent, until she lay back against the bed. Cherry tried to ignore the way her nipples tightened and her clit throbbed, brought instantly to life by… What? By the casual way he controlled her? By the restrained strength in his grip? Or by the way he lay down beside her, his chest against her side, his muscled forearm lying between her breasts?

His lips pressed against the hollow just beneath her ear, finding the sweet spot with unnerving precision in the pitch-black. “Do you like it when I touch you, Cherry?”

She swallowed, her throat dry. And even though her mind was scrambling and bright white stars were bursting behind her eyes, she forced herself to speak. “It’s obvious that I do.”

“Is it?” His voice was low and soothing, but with a thread of command that had her pulse quickening. “I don’t think it’s obvious. Not until you tell me. So tell me.” His grip on her throat tightened, his fingers pressing against her pulse.

White fire shot through her veins as she gasped out, “Yes, I like it.”

“Tell me what you like. Tell meexactlywhat you like.” Always, he wanted more. More of her.

She loved that.

“I don’t know,” she smiled, her voice hoarse. “Show me what you can do, and I’ll tell you what I like.”

His tongue slid out to trace circles against her skin, the place where it grew thin and sensitive at the base of her throat. “Is that a challenge, sweetheart?”

“Yes,” she breathed. “It is.”

Chapter Nineteen

Ruben squeezed his eyes shut at her words, willing his stampeding pulse to slow and his lust to fade. Just a little bit, until it became something he could handle, something he was used to. Because right now, his need for Cherry was almost scaring him.

She lay there, the curve of her hip a breath away from his aching cock, her throat shifting as she swallowed beneath his hand. For all her fucking mouth, she liked this. She liked the power exchange.

“I think I know what you want,” he said softly. “But thinking isn’t good enough. We need to be sure. And you’re not sure yet. Are you?”

“I… I don’t know. Not exactly. No.” Her voice shook. Not much; the slight waver was almost imperceptible, but he noticed. And, because he was a twisted fuck, he liked it.

“You trust me?”

She hesitated.

He ignored the way that hesitation tore into his heart and clarified. “You know I won’t hurt you? I won’t do anything you don’t want?”