Page 27 of Filthy Hot Billionaire
“Kiss me, Em.”
My mind exploded with a million questions. What was going on? Why was my stepbrother kissing me? Where was Kitty? Why wasn’t my evil stepmother saving me from this … this temptation? For once in my life, I could’ve used her overbearing interference.
“I won’t hurt you, Emily. I just want to taste you,” Knox growled, pressing his lips to mine.
I couldn’t bring myself to kiss him. Not so much because he was my stepbrother or because I didn’t want to but because I’d never kissed a man before, and clearly finesse wasn’t something one was born with. I didn’t know what he expected me to do.
The fear overwhelmed me and a tear escaped, trickling down my cheek, sliding between our joined lips. Knox must’ve realized it because he pulled back, his eyes meeting mine. There was definite heat there, but something else, too. Concern? Worry?
“I don’t know what you want from me,” I whispered, a sob breaking loose, shattering the silence that had surrounded us.
He released me as he sat back slowly. “Go to your room.”
“What?”
“Go to your goddamn room, Emily,” he barked, his voice loud and harsh.
This time, I didn’t hesitate.
I ran.
~~~~
Knox
Emily’s tears caught me completely off guard. Enough that they’d pulled me back from the brink, stopped me from pushing for something I’d wanted for so goddamn long.
Six painfully long years.
That was how long I’d been infatuated with her, how long I’d fantasized about her.
Too fucking long.
I had known seducing her would require some gentlemanly effort on my part, yet when I was in her presence, I wasn’t interested in taking the long, leisurely route. It was the very reason I’d kept my distance, refusing to come back here unless absolutely necessary. Every time I’d come, I’d left wanting her more than I had before. I couldn’t explain my obsession with this woman, but it was there all the same. I’d long ago accepted that Emily Campbell was my one true weakness.
And now I had no interest in easing her into this, courting her for her approval. I wanted her—now—and I was a man used to taking what I wanted. As far as I was concerned, I’d stayed away from her too damn long already. These past six years had been a necessary hell, one I’d endured for her benefit, certainly not my own.
If I’d let my desires take over, I would’ve listened to Kieran and whisked Emily out of here a long time ago. I would’ve carted her back to New York and seduced her, molded her into the perfect woman for me. But I hadn’t because I wasn’t looking for a woman I could manipulate. I’d hoped by waiting, Emily would grow up. I should’ve known leaving her here, forcing her to remain under Kitty’s rigid reign was the wrong thing to do. Emily had no experience with social interactions, much less intimate ones.
I couldn’t wait any longer though. I couldn’t keep trying to find other ways to occupy my mind with thoughts of Emily always intruding. The women, the sex, the emotionless encounters … they did nothing for me because at the root of it all, I still wanted Emily.
But it was time I moved on.
“Whatever you think to do with her”—Kitty stepped forward from out of the shadows—“I will not allow it.”
I looked up as she approached, her expression masked as usual.
“Rhett gave you the chance and you turned it down,” she said snidely.
Ah. Right. Rhett’s ridiculous offer of taking his daughter in lieu of their debt.
Setting my empty wineglass on the table, I got to my feet, turning to face her. “Mother, we’re well past the point of you allowing anything. And I think you’ve got more important things to worry about than Emily’s virtue.”
Her eyes narrowed as she spoke, slowly, crisply. “I have been giving that more thought since our discussion earlier. I am not sure you are in a position to make demands.”
I took a step closer, continuing to stare down at her. “That’s where you’re wrong. You put me in this position, in case you forgot. What you did… trying to manipulate me like you do everyone else… This is on you, not me.”
My mother’s eyes held firm, her expression stony. “The statute of limitations has expired. You can no longer hold that over my head.”
