Ruin (Rhodes #1) by Rina Kent

                             “You’re provoking me, Mae.” He releases my wrist and gathers a thick strand of my hair in his palm before he lifts it to his face. His eyes flutter close as he takes a deep inhale before whispering from between them. “More than I can possibly tolerate.”

                             I should push him. Run. Lock myself somewhere far away from his sinful features and intoxicating scent. More than anything, I should remember his psychopathic deeds and loathe him to shreds. Yet, my sane part completely abandons me since I plunge my fingers into the top of his hair. My body erupts in instant heat, begging to belong in his arms. Why do I have to keep denying this? Since when do I run away from myself?

                             With a soft tug, I raise his head and stare into his lost gaze. I don’t know if it’s something he sees in my face, but his eyes instantly gleam with fieriness. Probably the strongest emotion I’ve witnessed on him.

                             “Kiss me.” My voice’s above a murmur, strangled with my flushed emotions.

                             Aaron’s lips part before he thins then in a line. “Do you realise who you’re asking that from?” His voice is plummy, struggling to keep his cruel nobility in check. But his eyes. Damn his eyes. They look at me as if I’m the most beautiful thing in the world.

                             “Yes.” My voice is steady and calm. “I want you to kiss me.”

                             His jaw ticks, but he says nothing. My pulse quickens at the silence.

                             I’m not one to take silence for an answer.

                             “Aaron—”

                             Both of his hands grab my cheeks and his lips crash against mine. My heart almost leaps out of my chest as his soft yet bruising lips devour me. His tongue tears past my teeth, stealing my air, injecting an earth-shattering sensation into my veins, and forcing my lungs to saturate with his breath. He gives me more than a kiss. It’s a claiming. An animalistic need I never dreamt of experiencing. It erases the last bit of sanity in my brain. It makes me wrap my arms around his neck and wish I could forsake oxygen and survive on his breaths.

                             Screw right. I want wrong.





                             Chapter Nineteen

                             Aaron



                             ‘Kill her. It’s about time.’ Aunt Ariel’s voice is screechier than usual.

                             ‘You’re only delaying the inevitable.’ Father hisses.

                             Turning my gaze from Mae’s sleeping form, I run a hand over my face.

                             Ever since I stumbled to tasting Mae’s luscious lips, I’ve been in this constant intense war with my demons. The type that even drawing blood wouldn’t soothe. The kind I’m doomed to lose.

                             I steal a glance at Mae’s peaceful face. Screw it. I would’ve done it all over again if I had the chance to replay. I held myself for so long. Even after the kiss, I had to keep containing the urge to take her whole. My dark desire would’ve scarred her for life. That’s why I closed off and avoided her for three whole days.

                             The crowded meetings and the business talks were a good idea to take my mind off her. But even those didn’t work. All I could do was think of her.

                             Here I am, back to her room at the early hours after spending a sleepless night. It’s impossible to fight the itch to be near her, to breathe her citrus scent, and see my reflection in her eyes.