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“Just get away from me.” Several visions rushed into my mind.
He remained near the door to my gallery, studying me with the same brilliant sapphire eyes that had attracted me to him in the first place. Yet tonight they held no sense of desire, only a calculating coldness that trickled down my back like a venomous snake ready to strike.
My heart was beating so loudly I was certain he could hear it. As if reading my mind, he lowered his gaze to my chest, his expression one of satisfaction.
“I can’t do that. Did I frighten you,mi diosa?”
“Are you trying to?”
He laughed, which only added to the suffocating feeling in my throat. Even from where he stood, it was as if he’d managed to wrap his hand around my throat, prepared to end my life.
Stop it. You’re losing your mind.
“It’s time to pull off the mask, revealing the woman hiding behind a lie. Don’t you think?” A hint of a smile curled across his lip. While it wasn’t threatening in of itself, as he shifted his gaze to the flat shoes I’d worn, I sensed his disdain. He preferred me in dresses and heels, calling me hisdiosa, his goddess.
“I asked you what you wanted.” My defiance seemed to amuse him. Suddenly, I could no longer breathe, the air sucked away, only to return if and when he allowed it. He’d always been in control. I’d just chosen to ignore the ugly facts that I’d known all along.
“Many things, my sweet girl. But you already know that. Don’t you? I’ve come to take what already belongs to me. You were always destined to be mine.”
Oh, God. When would I wake up?
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” The little voice inside my head continued screaming that this had everything to do with my ruthless uncle, a man even colder than the one standing in front of me.
Cruz cocked his head, taking a deep breath as he considered what I’d just said. This was the first night that I sensed he had a vengeful purpose in mind. And I was payment for an atrocity that had nothing to do with me. What had transpired between him and my uncle?
I swallowed only once, doing what I could to calm my nerves. I’d known that one day I’d be hunted down like a dog, forced to endure penance for daring to run away from my responsibilities.
But not like this.
Not because of a man I didn’t know, a viper in dark clothing, his sensuous voice harboring deceit and vindictive intentions. That much I could tell by his few words, but even more from the soulless glint in his eyes. How had I been so stupid, ignoring all the signs?
Still, his words dripped of the same lust I’d known before, but there was hostility as well. And his voice was little more than a predatory growl.
One of hunger.
Intense thirst.
As well as one of possession.
For a few seconds, I marveled in his beauty as I’d done before, drinking in the essence of power and sexuality as he gazed all the way to the floor. I could read his intentions clearly, his needs just under the surface of his perfectly coiffed attire and rugged features.
The man wanted to devour me.
But on this night, there was much more to his objectives, a tenseness to him that I’d never seen before.
I was locked in the moment, frozen in fear and anticipation of what he would do.
Without warning he flicked off the single light I’d turned on in the gallery, yet the eerie glow the closest neon signs provided accentuated a shimmer of colorful light through the floor-to-ceiling windows.
Everything had been a façade.
I shuddered as he took three steps closer.
The masked man.
A predator who’d stalked me, tempted me.
Dominated me.
