Chapter 230
KASMINE.
“Let me go, Kester!” I managed to choke out, but my words barely made it past my dry throat. I clawed at his arm as I struggled against the iron grip around my throat.
His body pressed into mine, caging me against the wall, heat radiating from him like an inferno.
But it was his eyes–those eyes–that made terror freeze up my blood
Dark. Dilated. Ferocious.
Unhinged.
“Kester,” I gasped, my voice cracking, “you’re hurting me!”
His lips curled into a wicked, twisted smile. “Good,” he murmured, as if that was what he wanted, as if my panic was exactly what he needed, “Good.”
“Please…” I breathed.
“What? Can’t stand the beast you awakened?” He seethed, his words coming in a snarl. “Such a perfect performance tonight, Kasmine. Bravo.”
His voice was simmering with a madness that made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. It was like I wasn’t even looking at the man I knew anymore. This was something else–something unrecognizable and dangerous.
His face was inches from mine, breath fanning across my cheek, bitter with whisky and rage.
I kicked my feet against the ground, trying to push myself away from the wall, but it was pointless. His body was like a cage. He wasn’t moving, and every breath felt like it might be my last.
My lungs screamed for air as his grip tightened around my throat, fingers digging in, making my vision blur at the edges.
I wheezed.
My legs weakened. My body trembled.
Stars began to pop behind my eyes.
I could feel life slipping in slow motion.
Didn’t warn you not to go anywhere around Jaden ever again?” He growled, baring his teeth, “Yet you defied me, Mine. You did.” His grip on my throat shifted, digging in even deeper.
Didn’t I tell you I’d make you pay if you kept pushing me? If you kept testing me? And now, look where we are.”
Something dark flashed across his face.
Then, finally, thank Selene and her mercies, his hand dropped from my throat.
I stumbled, coughing, clutching my neck, but before I could pull away, his hand shot out, grabbing my chin and forcing me to look at him.
Chapter 230
“What else do you want from me, Kasmine? What?” He pulled away and took a step back, and I could feel frustration radiating from
him.
“It doesn’t matter anymore, Keter. Maybe if you had been open enough with me, we wouldn’t be at this point,” I replied, rubbing my
neck.
“What do you mean?” He asked, hopeful that the conversation was finally leading somewhere.
“You keep way too many secrets from me, Kester. If you had just come clean about your feelings for June, maybe I wouldn’t have misunderstood things when I saw you and her together the other day.” I said.
“But…” He tried speaking up, but I stopped him.
“How about the actual reason Alpha Kex is hell–bent on ruining you? What about me being betrothed to Jaden? Even Karina? Heck, who do you have locked up in a certain basement?!” I listed, and all he could do was scoff, shutting his eyes before opening them again to stare blankly at me.
He dragged a hand through his hair, pacing once before stopping dead in front of me.
“I told you I had a plan, didn’t I?” His eyes bored into mine. “I told you to wait and that I’d handle everything. That I’d end things with June/
Out of all I mentioned, this was the only topic he chose to handle. That’s fine.
“You wouldn’t dare it, big brother. You wouldn’t dare end things with her. I won’t let you humiliate another woman in that manner just because of me!” I snapped back at him.
“Was that why you did what you did tonight?” he asked coldly. “You enjoyed playing the game with Jaden just to get a rise out of
me?”
“I did it for myself,” I spat. “Because I’m tired of watching you live your fake little love story while I choke on everything I never got to say.”
“Bullshit.”
“Believe what you want.”
He took one more step. Too close now. His breath grazed my cheek again.
“I see right through you, Kasmine,” he was quiet for a moment before he continued, “You’re dying to get the taste of Jaden’s cock now, aren’t you?”
My hand moved before I could stop it.
Crack.
His head turned with the force of my slap. The sting burned in my palm, but the ache in my chest hurt more.
How dare you say that about me?” I whimpered, letting the tears fall freely.
For a second, he de move. His jaw clenched. His hand lifted to his face, rubbing the spot, but there was no remorse on his face. No shame. No apology. In fact, his smile only grew wider. The angern him twisted like a rabid dog ready to pounce.
“Kasmine…” His voice sounded like a growl rumbling from deep in his chest. “You have no idea what you just did.”
Before I could blink, he was in front of me, his body pressing into mine, his lips crashing onto mine with such force that I gasped.
Chapter 230
It was hard and punishing. Its mouth was a frenzy against mine like a desperate, violent need. He kissed me like he was trying to claim me, to swallow me whole, and to make me feel everything he had bottled up inside.
I tried to pull away. I sincerely wanted to. But it was impossible. The kiss was overwhelming, torturing me in a different way now. The rage, the hunger, the control, it all wrapped around me in a way that was even more intense than before.
His hand gripped my waist, pulling me closer, pushing his body against mine, as if he was trying to force himself inside me, to bury himself so deep there would be no escape.
His other hand fisted in my hair, tilting my head back. Mine gripped his shirt like I needed it to survive.
He kissed me like a man who’d been living in drought and finally found water.
And I-
I kissed him back.
Because the truth was, I’d been drowning too, and he was the only one who ever knew how to burn and breathe in the same breath.
And somewhere between that kiss, the madness in his eyes, and the heat of his touch, I realized something–he wasn’t letting me go.
Not now. Not ever.
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