Page 69 of Reverence

I spun around, wanting to walk away when I felt something hit my back and then land on the floor with a thud.

I froze, slowly turning back to her. She threw me with her damn heel and had the other one in her hand, getting ready to aim it at me.

When she threw it, I easily caught it. Looking at her with narrowed eyes. “Amala,” I said calmly, holding her shoe in my hand.

“You can’t keep me here.” She took a step forward. “Just take me home or I’ll find a way out of here.”

This moment felt like a major setback.

We’d gotten to a good point in our partnership and now this incident was sending it all to shit.

“You can try,” I observed her movements.

“However, you won’t get very far.” She took another step toward me but I stood my ground.

“This is unethical.” She taunted. “I could report you.”

“Are you baiting me?” I mirrored her movement, stepping forward when she did.

Her chest moved up and down rapidly, a clear indication that her breathing was becoming erratic.

“You’re ridiculously easy to bait.” She said, looking at me with a defiant glint in her eyes.

“Yeah?” The heat between us felt undeniable in this moment and I was seconds away from carrying her to my bed.

“Yeah.” She mocked, taking another step closer. “Easy to upset. Easy to rile up.”

“Keep pushing me and I’ll show you what happens when you continuously rile me up.”

“Oh, I’m so frightened.”

The response was sarcastic but it was the words she uttered next that completely disintegrated my composure and control.

“You’re not going to do anything because you’re all talk, no action.”

Twenty One

Ares

Within seconds I grabbed a fistful of her hair, pulling her along with me towards my room.

She resisted—obviously—so I picked her up.

“Ares!” She snapped, thrashing in my arms. Before she knew it, I threw her onto my bed.

Watching her body bounce slightly. “Oh, this must work like a charm huh? Manhandling women in your spare time.”

I licked my lips, eyeing her from head to toe. I always denied it. Her beauty, the attraction I felt towards her. Her physique.

Never allowing those thoughts to consume my mind but as she lay on my bed—looking at me with those eyes.

I couldn’t resist or deny it any longer. “It makes them wetter than a water slide.” I scoffed, wrapping my hand around her throat as I pushed her backward.

“Well, I’m drier than a saltine cracker.” I laughed softly, nudging my knee between her thighs.

“Yeah?” I scoffed, pressing my thumb and middle finger against her pulse points with more pressure. She held onto my forearm, digging her nails into the skin. “Show me.”

“What?” She breathed softly, her chest heaving.