I stepped closer to her, crowding her against a tree. “I don’t believe you.”
Her chin lifted. “I don’t give a damn what you believe, Lucas.”
My hand came up, closing around her throat—squeezing, and I felt her pulse jump under my fingers. “It’s Mr. Rowan to you.”
The air shifted, and her breath hitched—not with fear. But with something that I didn’t want to name.
“Careful,” Taryn said, her voice lower now. More intense. “This isn’t helping your case.”
I leaned in.
Close enough to feel the heat of her breath.
Close enough that if I moved an inch?—
“I don’t give a single fuck,” I smiled slowly.
Her lips parted in surprise.
My grip tightened around her throat even more, and her breath hitched.
“How do you like not having control?” I breathed the question inches from her mouth.
I saw the desire in her eyes, and everything changed.
My anger didn’t disappear; it shifted.
Turning into something sharper. Hotter. More dangerous.
“If you’re trying to prove something,” she murmured, “you’re doing a terrible job.”
I almost laughed.
“Yeah?” I leaned in just a fraction more.
The smell of her coconut lotion invaded my senses, and my dick pulsed.
Her hand came up—gripping my wrist, not pulling it away, just there.
“You need to let me go,” Taryn’s voice was shaking now.
Not in fear, but in want.
I felt precum leak out. The high of having her at my mercy was going to make me cum in my pants like a schoolboy.
The thought snapped me back to my senses, and I suddenly released her and stepped back.
Taryn sucked in a breath like she hadn’t realized she needed it. Her eyes were still locked on mine.
Then she smiled slowly, “Stay away from me, Mr. Rowan.”
It didn’t sound like a warning. It sounded more like a dare.
I stared as she walked away. Had she been at my mercy or had I been at hers?
I didn’t call Adrian first.
That was yet another mistake I made today.
