Chapter 3

✧･ﾟ: ✧･ﾟ:BECCA ✧･ﾟ: ✧･ﾟ:

"Speak." His voice sounded like gravel stuck in his throat. "Now."

His eyes dragged over my face. I'd always imagined that one day I'd meet Alaric Carson. That I'd thank him for everything he'd done for Luke and me.

But now he was right in front of me, and my words had abandoned ship.

"And don't even think about batting those mismatched eyes at me like it'll work. I've met girls like you before."

Girls like me.

I wasn't even sure what he meant by that.

I’d definitely never met any man like him before.

But I'd heard things about him.

(Alaric Carson is the devil himself.)

(You either want him or you fear him. There's no in-between.)

I bat my eyes at him.

Intentionally.

They are weird. One green. One blue. Heterochromia. Doctors called it rare. Kids called it freaky. Ashley called it "interesting" the first time she decided I was worth keeping.

I've never been good at this. Flirting. Seducing. Playing games. Jason was my first real boyfriend…awkward make-out sessions where I felt like I was failing a test. That's it. That's my experience.

But right now? I feel reckless. Untethered. Like something snapped inside me and I stopped caring what happened next.

My fingers hooked the hem of my white sundress. I pulled it off. Let it fall.

Alaric went completely still.

His gaze dropped. Slowly. Taking in every inch like he had all the time in the world to wreck me with it. His pupils blew wide until there was barely any blue left.

I was standing there in black lace, and I'd never felt more exposed or more alive.

"What the hell are you doing?" He gritted.

I stepped into the pool. The water was warm, climbing up my legs, my waist, my chest until I was submerged to my shoulders. My heart slammed so hard I could hear it, but I didn't stop. I walked toward him.

He didn't move. Just watched like he was trying to figure me out or decide what to do with me.

Up close, he was worse. Lethal in a quiet way. Wet hair pushed back. Sharp jaw shadowed with dark stubble. His lips were rough, fuller on the bottom…the kind of mouth that looked like it didn't lose control. Ever.

And eyes that didn't blink enough.

"You've got nerves."

I tilted my chin. "What can I say? I'm full of it tonight."

His gaze dropped again, slower this time.

"You're on my property."

"Feels like mine now."

He stepped closer. Water shifted between us, and I could feel the heat rolling off him even through it.

"You really don't know who you're dealing with."

"Alaric Carson," I said softly. "King of Nexus."

His mouth twitched. Not a smile. Just attention. I had Alaric Carson's full attention now.

"You're not afraid." He moved closer. Too close. "Here alone on my island." He rasped softly. "At my mercy."

My throat tightened. Alaric Carson was the most powerful man in the city…maybe the country.

He could ruin me with a snap of his finger and no one would dare ask why.

And yet I stepped closer.

"What could you do to me," I breathed, "that I wouldn't let you?"

One second there was space between us. The next, his hand closed around my throat. His thumb pressed into my pulse like he wanted to feel it betray me.

It hammered against his thumb.

"Careful," he murmured near my ear, and I felt his breath ghost across my skin. "Do you have any idea what I could do to you right now?"

The words sank into my skin, made my stomach flip.

"I'm not afraid of you."

"You should be."

"I'm not."

His grip tightened just slightly. Not enough to hurt. Just enough to own.

"Then what are you?"

"Angry." The word scraped out. "Hurt."

His thumb brushed my jaw. That small touch did more damage than the grip.

A tear slipped. I hated it.

His thumb caught it and stilled. For a second, something almost soft crossed his eyes. Then it was gone.

His hand left my throat, sliding to my jaw and tipping my face up.

"Who sent you?" he asked, colder now. "Bill?"

"I don't know who that is."

His eyes searched mine. "Then how did you get in?"

"Do you want me to leave?"

His body angled into mine. One hand settled at my waist under the water… firm, possessive, like it had every right to be there.

"What do you want?" His voice roughened. "Because I'm running out of patience. And I don’t have a lot of it."

The words left me before I could stop them. "I want you."

His grip tightened on my jaw "That's not an answer."

My heart slammed against his hand. "I want you to fuck me."

His eyes went dark. Not blue. Not even cold. Just black.

"How old are you?"

"Twenty-two."

His jaw flexed hard. "Jesus Christ. You're barely legal."

"I am very legal."

"You look younger."

"I'm not."

"You're still too young for me."

"I don't care."

"You should."

I waded closer, pressing against him. His body went rigid, like he was fighting to hold himself back. I felt every hard plane of him. The solid wall of his chest. The tension coiled in his shoulders.

And lower.

Against my stomach, through the water, I felt him twitch.

Oh God… was that his cock?

"I want this."

"So you thought what?" His voice went dangerously queit. "You'd walk in here, strip down, and I'd just bend you over and give you what you want?"

I held his gaze. "Yes."

His eyes burned into mine. "Why."

Because it hurts. Because I need something…anything…to kill it.

"Because five minutes ago," I said, voice breaking, "my boyfriend was inside my best friend."

His expression didn't change, but his grip loosened by a fraction.

"I watched them." The words burned coming out of my throat. "They wanted me to."

Another tear slipped. I hated it.

"So this is revenge," he murmured, thumb catching it.

"No." I shook my head even if part of it was. "I want you because I want you."

I touched his chest, letting my fingertips ghost over the wet hair there. His muscles tensed under my touch.

"You looked at me and didn't look away. No one does that."

"And what does that mean?"

"That I exist." My finger trailed along his collarbone, and I felt his breath catch. "Make me forget."

His hand slid into my hair, gripping just enough to tilt my head back. The pull sent heat straight between my legs.

"I'm not a bandaid, little girl," he said roughly, and the nickname did something to me. "I'm not a quick fix. I'm the worst thing that could happen to you."

"Good." I leaned into him, my body flush against his. "I'm already broken," I whispered. "What's a little more?"

Oh. That jerk against my stomach was… his cock, hard and thick, pressing into me. My breath caught.

So that's what a man like him feels like.

His grip on my waist tightened, fingers digging into my skin.

Holy shit. He wants me. The ruthless tycoon that terrified the city wants me.

Then he let go and stepped back.

"Get out."

"No."

His eyes darkened, pupils blown so wide they swallowed the blue.

"This isn't a negotiation."

"You want me." I stepped forward, closing the distance he'd created. "I felt it."

"What I want and what I take aren't the same thing." Another step back. "Get out of my pool."

"If you want me out, Alaric Carson…" I closed the gap between us again, and his jaw clenched so hard I heard it. "You'll have to make me."

That struck.

His face went dark. Dark in a way that made my thighs clench so hard it hurt.

And I realized I might've just pushed Alaric Carson too far.