Page 43 of Speak No Claim

“What? You’re just going to stand there and not say anything back?”

“Trust me, Hennessy,” he finally spoke with a rough yet smooth tone. “You don’t want me dreaming about you.”

I’d be lying if I said it didn’t catch me off guard. Everything about him did. I thought I knew what to expect when it came to him, but he proved me wrong tonight. He had the power to affect me, and I hated that more than anything. It didn’t make any sense. I was supposed to have the upper hand, not him.

His patronizing stare scanned the length of my body, starting with my pink toes, lingering on my breasts, and coming to a stop at my eyes again. I thought I was prepared. I thought a lot of things, but I would learn soon enough that I had no idea what I was getting myself into.

It was one thing to think you knew, to assume, but when it was staring you right in the face, when he was looking only at you, it changed things.

It changed everything.

The way his honey-colored stare bored into mine ignited a fire deep within me. He wasn’t looking at me. He was looking through me, and I hadn’t expected that.

I wasn’t prepared for that.

We locked eyes.

I had never been this conflicted around a guy.

I don’t know how long we stayed frozen at that moment, but he suddenly leaned forward, closing the gap between us and bringing us back to reality.

His cheek grazed mine as he moved closer to my ear. I faintly felt his breath on my neck.

“Your scent is poison,” he whispered, lightly brushing his lips on the sensitive area just below my ear.

Shivers rippled throughout my entire body. The beat of my heart escalated, betraying my mind to the man before me.

I curved my face, meeting his lips. “Hi, Jekyll, meet Hyde.”

He didn’t budge.

“So is this how it works? Am I supposed to spread my legs for you now?” I crudely mocked, letting him know he couldn’t intimidate me. “I will tell you one thing: I’m not impressed. You’re just a lost boy in a man’s world and not even a good one at that.”

He grinned, backing away.

I hated that I immediately felt the loss of his warmth on my skin.

“Is that an invitation?” he finally spoke.

“Fuc—” His finger pressed against my lips, silencing me, and I barely resisted the urge to bite it off.

“See how easy that was.”

I didn’t resist that time, snapping my teeth toward his finger. In one swift movement, he was tugging on the ends of my hair.

“I’m leaving now, but not because you won…” He tugged on my hair a little more. “If I stay, I’m going to show you how much of a man I really am, and you’re not ready for that. Besides, right now you’re easy prey, and I prefer to chase.”

And with that, he turned around and went back to his house.

I was dismissed.

Onyx

“Fuck me,” Caspian announced as I walked into my bedroom.

He stood in front of my computer on the desk in the far-left corner of the wide-open space. He’d been watching the surveillance cameras that surrounded the property.

“Someone just got chewed up and spit the fuck out.” He laughed, obnoxiously clapping. “I’d pay good money to see that again.”