The Dare Collection April 2019. Nicola Marsh
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Now I could have lain quiet and still in Ajax’s arms all day.
I rubbed my cheek absently against the cotton of his shirt, wanting to get closer to him, and he made a growling sound. ‘Fuck’s sake, don’t move until I tell you. Your hair will come down and people will see it and they’ll guess who you are.’
I stilled obediently. ‘Who do they think I am now then?’
‘Some girl I’m carrying back to my cave to screw.’
The words travelled down my spine like an electric shock. ‘Really? Do you often carry girls out of balls to screw?’
‘You can stop talking now.’
‘But what about—’
‘Quiet.’
There was a note of deep authority in his voice that calmed me, not that I needed extra calming right now. I was so calm I was nearly catatonic, lulled by his heat and the feeling of being held gently and carefully. As if I was something precious he didn’t want to drop.
A large group of people passed by us, their conversation loud, and then cooler air brushed against my bare legs, the glare of neon and streetlights illuminating the white of Ajax’s shirt.
We must be outside.
It felt like we were walking down some steps and I could hear cars.
Regret gripped me. Being outside meant he was going to put me down and I would lose his heat and that blissful sense of peace.
I didn’t want to. I wanted to stay here, in his arms, against his hard chest, listening to the certainty of his heartbeat.
There was the sound of a car door opening and his arms were loosening, and sure enough I was being let go and bundled into the back of a featureless black van.
‘Go,’ Ajax ordered the driver as he climbed in behind me, slamming the door closed. Then he pushed me down onto one of the bench seats, grabbed a seat belt and buckled me in as the van took off in a screech of tyres.
I clutched the seat belt as the van lurched, while Ajax sat down himself and did his own belt up.
The warmth that had held me so safe and still was seeping away, making me feel cold, the restless part of me stirring to life again.
‘Please tell me that’s it.’ I stared out the window as the building receded behind us, my heart racing, waiting for my guards to come spilling out. ‘Please tell me they’re not going to come after us.’
‘Oh, they might come after us,’ Ajax replied with infuriating calm. ‘But locating us is going to be a different matter.’
I turned to find his gaze on mine, satisfaction gleaming in his icy blue eyes.
My breath caught again.
He was sitting in a casual, arrogant sprawl, long legs outstretched, the material of his shirt pulled tight across his muscled shoulders and chest, as if he didn’t care that he was taking up as much room as possible. As if he was expecting me to move if I didn’t like it, but he certainly wasn’t going to.
He was like a king on his throne, staring at me as if I was a new country he’d just conquered.
Through the remains of the warmth left over from his touch, a shiver shot through me.
And all of a sudden it crashed down on me what had just happened and what it meant.
I was free of my father, but I wasn’t free. Not when I’d been kidnapped by Sydney’s baddest billionaire.
And I had no idea what he was going to do with me.
Ajax
I SAW THE moment the realisation hit her. The realisation of exactly what she’d got herself into. And, for the first time, wariness crept into her gaze.
It wasn’t fear, but I’d take wariness and about fucking time.
She’d been curled up in my arms, all warm and soft, relaxing as if I was her own personal hero all set to save her. And that shit wasn’t happening. Not when I wasn’t anyone’s goddamn hero.
Especially not when all I could think about was that tempting mouth of hers with that fascinating little mole just above her top lip. I wanted to kiss it. I wanted to lick it. I wanted to bite her bottom lip then suck gently on it, watch it get even redder and fuller than it was already.
Not that I would. She might be proving to be unexpectedly tempting, but I had a plan and I wasn’t going to deviate from it. Not when her continued virginity was such an important part.
She stared at me, that mesmerising energy she threw off still crackling all around her.
It was good that she was wary. Because I was dangerous.
Everyone treated me with caution, the more nervous giving me a wide berth. It was a reputation I cultivated because if there was one thing Dad had taught me, it was that fear kept people in line better than being nice ever did.
And people had to fear me. I didn’t want another Augustus King rising in this city and fear of what I might do to any pretenders to Dad’s empty throne kept the more ambitious at bay.
‘So,’ Imogen said, her long delicate fingers clutching at her seat belt. ‘This is fun.’ Then she had the gall to smile—a bit uncertain but a smile nonetheless. ‘Do I get to know where you’re taking me? And what you want with me? What about Dad? Won’t he be—’
I put a finger across her velvety pink mouth, silencing her, purely because I could.
Her eyes widened.
She looked ridiculously cute swamped by my jacket, with the cap pulled down over her pale hair, staring at me with those big green eyes.
I could still feel the imprint of her in my arms, the warmth of her body nestled against my chest. She’d rested there so quietly, yet I’d felt that live wire quality to her, a subtle vibration that had somehow crawled under my skin and stayed there. It made me think that she wasn’t the fragile little thing she’d first seemed. Certainly, when she’d pulled at my hand back up there in the bathroom, there had been a surprising strength to her grip. And even now, after I’d kidnapped her, I could see a glimmer of determination beneath the wariness in her gaze.
Curiosity flickered into life inside me, smouldering alongside the undeniable physical attraction. But I crushed both. Hard. She was a tool, a means to an end, and I couldn’t afford any distractions, not now.
‘We’re going to my house.’ I let my finger linger on her lips a fraction, to show her I meant business. Nothing to do with how soft they felt. ‘And I’m going to keep you there a little while.’
Her mouth turned up, giving me a smile that had no hesitancy in it whatsoever, the wariness draining from her clear gaze.
And for a second I didn’t quite know what to do with that. I was her father’s mortal enemy. She had to know who I was—what I was. She should be cringing in fear, not giving me bright smiles like I was her best friend.
‘Yay.’ Her lips moved against my finger, brushing against my skin, the warmth of her breath making me catch mine. ‘I was hoping you’d say that. Where do you live?’
Yay? What the fuck? And why the hell was I breathless? Luckily, physical attraction was the easiest appetite to control so I controlled it.
I dropped my finger. ‘That doesn’t concern you right—’
‘What kind of house do you have? Does it have a pool? Is it by the sea?’
‘It’s not—’
‘Can I go outside? Does it have a view?’