There were always whispers about my roommate at Hillcrest Academy.
The wealthiest of the wealthy sent their kids to our boarding school, and Brooke Bennett had been at the top, though I never quite knew why. She was fun and outgoing, but she kept quiet about her family. The only things she showed me were photographs of her brothers.
I became fascinated with her second-oldest brother. Kai Bennett.
He was the most of them all. Smoldering. Hypnotic. Alluring.
Kai had eyes that pulled me in and a face that haunted my dreams.
Then I met him.
He came to our school with their father, and that’s when I learned what kind of family Brooke came from. They were mafia, and Brooke’s oldest brother was dead. Her father said accident, but Brooke said murder.
Three months later, her father died, and Kai became the head of the Bennett Family. Brooke left Hillcrest for good, and that was the last time I saw her.
Fourteen years later, I’m staring at her face on the television. Brooke is missing.
Two days later, Kai Bennett kidnaps me.
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I felt his pulse too. It was as fast as mine.
“You may hate me. You may loathe me.” His hand slid back from my neck and moved down agonizingly slowly, between my breasts to my stomach.
I gasped, and he slid his hand under my pajama shorts until they rested over my clit. I surged upward at his touch, my head falling back, everything in me starting to tremble.
One of his fingers dipped inside of me. “But you goddamn want me.”
And with that, a second finger joined his first and he took hold of my tank, his mouth slamming down on mine.
He nodded. “I won’t hurt him.”
I strained against him, my arms still pinned. “You promise? You have to promise.”
His eyes jumped to mine, and he raised an eyebrow.
I cursed. “You never said a word about kidnapping my friends. Never. You just said not to run.”
“Which you did.”
“Because you ordered them to take my friends!”
“Friends? I thought it was only him you cared about.”
I didn’t know who the woman was. She didn’t look like Carol. She was taller, had a bigger bone structure than Carol’s.
“I don’t know who she is,” I admitted. “But if she helped Blade, she’s someone I’m indebted to. So yes, friends. Both of them.”
Kai’s eyebrows pulled together. When I licked my lips, his eyes moved there, his eyebrows lifting.
My neck felt warm. The heat was spreading, moving up my face until I knew my cheeks were red.
“I didn’t mean to do that.”
He grunted again. “Right. If you stop fighting me, I will not hurt your friends today.”
“Today?!” I nearly levitated my entire body off of the elevator wall, my groin grinding up on him as I did. His hand dropped down to catch underneath one of my legs.
I had a hand free, and I used it.
I balled it up and swung.
He dodged me, then let go of my leg as he caught my hand and slammed me back all at the same time.
He was rock solid. If our clothes were gone, he would’ve been inside of me, but as it was, he just held me—face to face, every inch of our bodies pressed against each other. He moved his legs out, positioning my legs wider so I couldn’t kick.
“Stop. Fucking. Fighting!” he yelled in my face.
“Stop. Hurting. My. Friends!” I spat back.
His eyes bulged.
Sexual desire pulsated through us. It was heavy in the elevator, and it was alarming, dangerous, but there was more. There was real anger, because if I’d had a choice between fucking him or slicing that knife in his throat, I would’ve taken the knife in a heartbeat.
But I also wanted to fuck him.
I strained against him, my arms still pinned. “You promise? You have to promise.”
His eyes jumped to mine, and he raised an eyebrow.
I cursed. “You never said a word about kidnapping my friends. Never. You just said not to run.”
“Which you did.”
“Because you ordered them to take my friends!”
“Friends? I thought it was only him you cared about.”
I didn’t know who the woman was. She didn’t look like Carol. She was taller, had a bigger bone structure than Carol’s.
“I don’t know who she is,” I admitted. “But if she helped Blade, she’s someone I’m indebted to. So yes, friends. Both of them.”
Kai’s eyebrows pulled together. When I licked my lips, his eyes moved there, his eyebrows lifting.
My neck felt warm. The heat was spreading, moving up my face until I knew my cheeks were red.
“I didn’t mean to do that.”
He grunted again. “Right. If you stop fighting me, I will not hurt your friends today.”
“Today?!” I nearly levitated my entire body off of the elevator wall, my groin grinding up on him as I did. His hand dropped down to catch underneath one of my legs.
I had a hand free, and I used it.
I balled it up and swung.
He dodged me, then let go of my leg as he caught my hand and slammed me back all at the same time.
He was rock solid. If our clothes were gone, he would’ve been inside of me, but as it was, he just held me—face to face, every inch of our bodies pressed against each other. He moved his legs out, positioning my legs wider so I couldn’t kick.
“Stop. Fucking. Fighting!” he yelled in my face.
“Stop. Hurting. My. Friends!” I spat back.
His eyes bulged.
Sexual desire pulsated through us. It was heavy in the elevator, and it was alarming, dangerous, but there was more. There was real anger, because if I’d had a choice between fucking him or slicing that knife in his throat, I would’ve taken the knife in a heartbeat.
But I also wanted to fuck him.
He stared at me before pulling back, and I couldn’t move.
“I didn’t intend this, if it matters to you. You were supposed to be taken and put in a nice, comfortable room. You were supposed to be given anything you wanted, except your freedom. I wasn’t even planning on talking to you, except to ask about Brooke, but here you are.”
His hand went to my face, his thumb on my bottom lip. He traced it, and I couldn’t suppress a shiver.
It wasn’t a bad shiver. That was the problem. I would never understand my reaction to him.
He stepped back, his hand falling away, and triumph flared in his eyes. “Sleep tonight, Riley. That is all I ask of you.” He moved to the other side of the bed.
I slipped under the covers and felt the bed move as he joined me. The light went off a second after that.
“What happens if I kill you in your sleep?”
“I didn’t intend this, if it matters to you. You were supposed to be taken and put in a nice, comfortable room. You were supposed to be given anything you wanted, except your freedom. I wasn’t even planning on talking to you, except to ask about Brooke, but here you are.”
His hand went to my face, his thumb on my bottom lip. He traced it, and I couldn’t suppress a shiver.
It wasn’t a bad shiver. That was the problem. I would never understand my reaction to him.
He stepped back, his hand falling away, and triumph flared in his eyes. “Sleep tonight, Riley. That is all I ask of you.” He moved to the other side of the bed.
I slipped under the covers and felt the bed move as he joined me. The light went off a second after that.
“What happens if I kill you in your sleep?”