Page 86 of Silk and Sirens

“That’s the problem,” he rasped. “I can’t get you out of my fucking head.” His hand slid from my jaw to my throat, fingers wrapping around it with deliberate, possessive pressure.

I tried to shove him again, but there was no real force behind it. “Go back to your date, Caden,” I said, although there wasn’t much conviction behind the words.

“I can’t, not when you’re like this.”

“That’s a joke, right?” I let out a frustrated sound. “I don’t need you to save me.”

His fingers tightened, my pulse hammering against his palm. “Good. Because I’m not here to save you.” He leaned in closer, his expression cold like he could kill me without a second’s thought. “But I won’t stand here and do nothing as you break.”

“I wasn’t breaking,” I hissed, even though we both knew it was a lie. “I was handling it.”

“You were drowning. Just shut up and say thank you.”

Rage returned like wildfire. “Fuck you, you arrogant⁠—”

The words died on my tongue as he suddenly yanked me forward, crushing his mouth to mine with a bruising, desperate force.

His hand released my throat only to fist into my hair, tugging my head back to better meet my lips. The air between us turned thick and electric. His body hard against mine, heat pouring off him in waves while shame and need twisted viciously inside me.

This wasn’t like the first kiss, which was overruled with anger and the need to win. This was different.

This was all-consuming.

He kissed me like he could make me forget, like his mouth could stop these tears from falling.

I yanked myself away and stared into Caden’s hooded, predatory eyes.

“What are you doing?” I whisper-shouted, my breathing hard.

“Why did Selene send Vivienne to seduce me, instead of you?” His head cocked slightly, studying me with that unnerving intensity.

My heart stuttered. “What?”

Planting both hands on the sink on either side of my hips, he caged me in. “Why is Vivienne out there trying to wrap her legs around me, when you’re her trained whore?”

He leaned in closer, his body heat pressing against me. But I wasn’t going to admit that I was supposed to seduce him, to use my body even as I fought with everything in me not to become what she’d tried to turn me into. Not to Caden, because I couldn’t get attached.

I couldn’t want him.

“I don’t⁠—”

“Another poisonous lie,” he growled, cutting me off. His fingers dug into the edge of the sink, knuckles white. “Try again, Tempest.”

I swallowed hard, trapped between his body and the cold sink at my back. Managing to twist, I faced my reflection so I could wipe the makeup from beneath my eyes.

“Because if I did what she asked, I’d lose myself,” I finally whispered, my fingers brushing through my hair until they reached my favourite clip.

In one fluid motion, I pulled the razor-sharp blade free and pressed it to his throat.

Caden went very still.

“Now, you’re going to go back in there, and you’re going to pretend. Because if you don’t, you’ll ruin everything.” You’ll make me everything I didn’t want to be.

A single drop of blood pearled against the blade.

Rather than move away, Caden leaned further forward until his hard cock pressed into my stomach.

My body betrayed me instantly, heat pooling low despite the adrenaline screaming through my veins.