Page 26 of While He Breathes

Her lips purse, but she doesn’t respond, which is all the answer I need. Her lack of denial confirms that although hermind thinks she’s finished with me, her body is still very much at my mercy.

The black fabric pools beneath her, leaving her completely bare to me apart from a scrap of lace that covers her pussy.

I don’t bother swallowing the groan that forces its way from my throat as I take in her bare skin. Every soft inch of her is perfection, and I don’t know where to begin.

“Are you going to be a good girl for me, Ember?” I rumble.

“I’m not going to be your anything,” she snaps as she twists, trying and failing to dislodge my hold on her.

I chuckle. “But Little Flame, you’re already my everything.”

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

EMBER

Ihate the way my body responds to him.

I despise the ache between my thighs that only seems to deepen the longer he has me pinned to the bed.

And I fucking loathe how my heart does a little flip at his words.

“But Little Flame, you’re already my everything.”

There’s not a hint of mistruth in his eyes as he stares down at me, and a little bit of the ice against him thaws, completely against my will.

“What do you want from me?” I whisper, pressing my eyes closed to ward off the tears that threaten to fall. I’ve already cried too much tonight, to the point every blink is like sandpaper beneath my eyelids.

Orion stares down at me for long seconds, as if he’s not sure how to reply to my question, and maybe he’s not.

Not for the first time, I can’t help but wonder if he only wants me because of the chase, because he knows when all is said and done, I’m going to hate him for what he took from me.

But then a flicker of vulnerability reaches his dark eyes, and my chest tightens.

“I want your love. I want your submission. And more than anything, I want you to rule by my side. That’s all I’ve ever wanted. For you to be the queen of my empire.”

He’s lost his fucking mind. That’s all I can think as I consider him and his words. In what universe would I want to have anything to do with importing drugs? Why would I put myself in that kind of danger? Always looking over my shoulder for the next threat, always afraid that either Orion or I would get arrested and wouldn’t come home.

I’ve already lost too much to risk ever wanting any of this for myself.

I shake my head. “I want nothing to do with you or your empire.”

“Little liar,” he murmurs as he dips his head, trailing gentle kisses along my jaw and down my throat. “Your mouth says one thing, but your body tells me just how badly it needs me.”

“Orion,” I warn.

“You don’t know how much I love my name on your pretty pink lips, Ember.”

“Stop,” I plead as he nips at my collarbone, dragging a moan from my throat.

“No.”

“Please stop,” I breathe, swallowing another moan when his lips latch onto my oversensitive nipple, and my entire body tenses at the sudden pleasure.

His dark eyes flick up to meet mine, and he considers me for long seconds.

“If you can tell me, without a shadow of a doubt, without hesitation, that you don’t want this, that everything that you felt for me is gone, I’ll walk out that door.” He pauses, allowing me to digest what he’s just said. “But know this, Ember. I know you better than anyone on this planet. I’ve spent months learningevery single one of your tells, and I will know if you’re lying to me.”

My breath catches in my throat as his words sink in. Months? We were only together for a couple of weeks and only knew each other for a week or two before that. I suspected that he may have followed me here and there, but to study me indicates he actively stalked me.