Page 75 of Twisted Temptation

The word hits me hard, and I feel it all the way down to my marrow. I manipulate judges and officials and law enforcement. I’m not the guy who manipulates a woman into coming on his lap.

"You went there dressed like a goddamn siren to embarrass me in front of my business colleagues," I seethe, angry at the suggestion.

"I went there to prove a point."

"Which was?"

"That you can't boss me around."

Wrong. I want to say it. I want to remind her whose ring is on her finger. But she is a blazing fire, and even I know that’s when you should tread lightly.

Her eyes lock on mine. "Just because you had to force me at gunpoint to marry you, it doesn't mean you get to tell me what I can and can’t do."

I clench my teeth. "I think you'll find that I do."

Her eyes flash.

"You don't own me, Dante. You bought a signature on a piece of paper and performances in public. You don’t get to manipulate me into having an orgasm in public.”

"I didn't have to do much manipulating."

Which is the wrong answer. I see the fury in her eyes the moment my words leave my big mouth.

But I'm in it now. And I don't retreat.

I take a step closer. "You’re pissed because you started something, and I ended it.”

"You tried to humiliate me."

Humiliate? No.

What happened at that table was the closest I’ve come to losing my mind in my entire life, and she thinks it was a power play. She has no idea how it felt coming undone beneath her while she rubbed herself against my cock.

"I wanted to make my wife come," I say, stepping closer. "Not humiliate her."

“You tried to embarrass me because you can’t stand the idea of not having control.”

“Listen to me⁠—"

"Don't tell me what I should do," she snaps, her eyes wild. “You fucking dry humped me in public and made me come in front of your businessmen.”

"And you should know it was one of the sexiest things I have ever seen."

“Stop trying to make this something it wasn’t.”

I step closer. “Seeing you let go. Feeling how good you felt. Remember, I felt it too.”

"You didn't do it to make me feel good," she snaps. "You did it to win."

She pulls her wrist from my grip and steps back.

I go still because she is half right. And the half she’s right about is ugly. I did need to win. I’ve needed to win in every situation since I took over this empire. But what she doesn’t know is that somewhere between her sitting on my lap and her coming apart in my arms, winning stopped being the point.

“Tell me the real reason you walked in there and declared war on me,” I say.

“I just told you.”

I take a step toward her. “That isn’t what detonated the bomb. You were jealous.”