Page 5 of Vicious Kingdom

A soft gasp escaped the bushes. Petals fluttered.

“Fine, stay there like the silly little girl you are,” I snapped and took a purposeful step toward the lake.

A good swim would be just the thing to force my iron control over my wandering mind.

“Maybe I’m hiding from someone,” the voice, like a fresh rainfall after a sweltering day, murmured from the dark.

That sound still held a fucking power over me. My heart quaked in my chest.

Anna—Annaliese Hertz—unfolded from behind the bushes. She’d filled out in the last few years. The plump lines of youth were all gone, and the soft curves of womanhood replaced them. Her long legs stretched, bare feet tripping out of the woodchips. She stood, adjusting the swath of fabric she was trying to pass off as a dress.

It clung to her tight little ass, and my dick swelled at the memory of seeing it naked and bare.

I stared at her. Emotions, raw and volatile, constricted in my chest. The urge to reach out, to fucking strangle her, was strong. I wanted to…reachforher. Pour my anger out on her. Lust infused with fury, until I didn’t trust myself to move.

Annaliese fidgeted with her shoes, not moving to put them back on her feet.

“You changed your hair.”

The moment I said it, I wished I could rip the observation out of existence. Noticing anything about her was bad enough, but admitting it—dio! What an idiot!

“Yeah, well, Mom said it should be long until I got married, so I lopped it off,” Anna said with a shaky laugh, running her fingers through the short style that didn’t reach her shoulders. “And then I colored it.”

I hated it. My fingers remembered all too well running through the silky strands.

I bet it’s still as soft.And the color looked great on her.

Mentally slapping myself, I stiffened. “Go away, little girl. You have no business running around down here in the dark.”

It was a low blow. She wasn’t a child. If memory served—and it did—she’d reached the quarter of a century mark now.

Anna pursed her lips. “My family pays the club dues, I have every right.”

I wasn’t having this petty argument. She was a spoilt child—selfish and manipulative. Some things time would never change no matter how old she was.

I brushed past her, going to the lake.

“Leonard!” Her voice was full of uncertainty. “Wait, please.”

I stopped. I didn’t turn around.

The soft pad of footfall sounded behind me.

I braced myself as she came around to stand in front of me. The scent of vanilla and oranges wafted past, stirring another bolt of heat in my veins.

“I just wanted to say I’m sorry. And that now—now that I’m back, and we’re going to run into one another, that we should talk,” she rambled. Her fingers worked the straps on her shoes.

“I don’t have time for children.” My words held a bite. That was good. I needed to be strong, to not let her see that she still held some strange power over me.

I would examine that phenomenon later so I could better plan to eradicate it from my system.

“Garh! I’m twenty-five, I’m not a child,” she insisted.

“Age has nothing to do with it.” I took a step forward, making her flinch. “Your actions dictate otherwise, little girl.”

Hurt flickered through the temptress’s eyes. The reaction in my chest was not good. But those terrible blue eyes were deceptive. I couldn’t fall prey to their charm. Not again.

Were they always so bright?