Page 108 of Pistols & Peonies

He pins me with a hard look. “You done?”

“Not even close,” I snap, yanking my arms out of the sleeves and shrugging my jacket off. “You wanna sell this as some kind of dream scenario to a bunch of dumb kids who don’t know better, be my guest. But leave me the fuck out of it.”

He steps into my space, voice dropping to a dangerously low decibel. “You think I like this? You think I want to parade you around for Alpha’s amusement?”

“News flash, Commander,” I scoff, giving him my sweetest, fakest smile. “You’re the one who signed up to be Alpha’s attack dog. So don’t act surprised when he starts yanking your leash.”

His upper lip curls back from his teeth in a snarl, but he doesn’t bite back.

He doesn’t say a damn word.

I’m painfully aware that I’m crossing lines here, hitting buttons I have no business pressing, but I can’t stop. I’m too riled up, too far gone. Because this is what I do– I push, I poke, and inevitably, I chase away anything good that comes my way.

It’s like starting a wildfire that’s impossible to contain, some reckless part of me wanting– no, needing– to see just how far I can push him before he snaps. Before he realizes I’m more trouble than I’m worth and walks away for good.

“You want me to play along so bad?” I ask, tilting my chin up as I kick off my boots. “Then fucking make me, Kane. I dare you to try.”

He lets out a sharp, humorless laugh. “Keep it up, mate. If you wanna act like a brat, then I’ll treat you like one.”

“Wow, what a threat,” I shoot back, rolling my eyes. “Whatcha gonna do, ground me? Revoke my privileges?”

Kane stares me down so hard I can feel it in my bones, but I just glare back at him defiantly, refusing to cower.

He jerks his head toward the bed. “Sit.”

I don’t move. “Or what?”

A muscle in his jaw ticks. “Don’t test me,” he warns. “I’m a patient man, but even I have my limits.”

I roll my eyes again as I drop down onto the edge of the mattress, folding my arms with a huff. “What’s the matter, Commander? Afraid Alpha will be disappointed if you can’t control me?”

I barely finish the sentence before his hand darts out, catching me behind the knee and dragging me down flat. In the next blink, he’s straddling me in the center of the bed, one knee on either side of my hips, pressing me into the mattress with his full weight.

“Keep talking,” he growls, voice low and rough. “See what happens.”

“Maybe I’m hoping something does,” I grit out, squirming beneath him. “This whole domesticated act is boring the shit out of me.”

Something flashes in his eyes– all heat and hunger– and for a second, I think he’s going to cave and kiss me. Instead, his hand curls around my chin and he tips my head back, forcing me to meet his eyes.

“You know what your problem is?” he murmurs, arching a dark brow. “You think if you bite me hard enough, I’ll walk. But I’m not going anywhere, Violet. Not now, not fucking ever. You’re mine.”

I open my mouth to tell him exactly where he can go, but he cuts me off with a bruising kiss, all heat and possessive hunger. His palm slides up my thigh, squeezing hard enough to bruise as I gasp into his mouth, liquid heat blooming low in my belly.

He pulls back, breathing hard, dark eyes boring into mine. “You wanna fight?” he rasps. “We can fight. But you’re not walking out of this room until I win.”

I arch up, grinding against him. “Try me,” I snarl, voice sweet as poison.

His hand tangles in my hair and he yanks my head to the side, exposing my throat. He licks a stripe from my collarbone to the hinge of my jaw, then nips hard enough to make me hiss in a breath through my teeth.

“Such a fucking brat,” he murmurs, lips ghosting over my skin. “You need someone to put you in your place.”

“Yeah?” I pant, biting back a moan as his teeth scrape along my pulse point. “You volunteering, or just talking shit?”

He yanks me upright and flips me over, pinning me face-down with a palm in the center of my back. The move knocks the breath from my lungs, but I twist my head so I can peer back at him over my shoulder, eyes narrowed.

“If you don’t want this,” he says, voice deadly calm, “tell me now.”

I bare my teeth in a vicious smile. “If I didn’t want it, you’d be on the floor by now.”