Steel Princess (Royal Elite #2) by Rina Kent

I instinctively take a step back so I’m not within arm’s reach.

Cole and Ronan were right. Aiden’s calm side is much more terrifying than his enraged one.

His calm side is a facade that he’s perfected so well to make you feel safe before he pounces and devours you alive.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I speak in my most confident tone.

“Here’s what I think, sweetheart. I think you know exactly what I’m talking about, but you’re playing the ignorance card.”

“I really don’t.”

He narrows his eyes before going back to his poker face. “How about a certain new boy that you’ve been shoving in my face?”

Oh. Shit.

He pulls his fingers up and counts, starting with his thumb. “You wore pretty dresses for him. Put on makeup. Perfume. You got into his car.” He pauses with only his pinky up and his eyes darkening to a frightening colour. “Oh, and you let him touch you.”

I take another step back.

It’s true that I want to be strong and stand up for myself, but I’m not an idiot.

This side of Aiden terrifies me. I don’t want to be on the receiving end of whatever his demons are planning right now.

I need to be smart about picking my battles.

And this isn’t one I’d win.

“You let him fucking touch what’s mine.” His voice raises a notch with every word.

His features sharpen. It’s like I hit a switch and shed a light on Aiden’s demons.

I brought them out from the shadows. They stare at me with deranged anger and possessive obsessiveness.

And I know. I just know that I need to run.

Call it intuition or self-perseverance, but I feel it in my bones.

I need to escape him.

Whatever he has to tell me can wait until he’s no longer surrounded by a murderous gloom.

I whirl around and run, my breath catching in my throat.

I don’t make it three steps before an arm yanks me back. I cry out as I fall on the sofa head first. A suffocating weight slams on my back, covering me completely from behind.

Tremors jolt in my veins and my face nearly explodes from the heat.

“A-Aiden… w-what are you doing?”

He removes a stray strand of hair from my cheek with a gentleness that frightens me. “Do you remember what I said when you asked me what would I do if you cheat?”

I suck in shaky breaths. It’s like I’m asphyxiating.

He bites the shell of my ear, “Answer me.”

“That you won’t leave me.” My lips tremble.

“I changed my mind.”

“Y-you changed your mind? You’ll leave me?”

Why the hell is my heart shrinking into itself at the thought?

“I’ll never leave you, sweetheart.”

“But…” I breathe in the leather scent of the sofa. “You said you changed your mind.”

“I won’t leave you, but I’ll make you pay for every time I stopped myself from ripping his heart out.”

“Aiden…”

“Did you mistake my silence for approval?” he whispers in hot words. “Did you think you could provoke me and just walk away?”

My breathing deepens with each of his words.

I’m so fucked.

“I gave you a chance to be smart and get back in the game. I gave you the chance to make the right move, but you don’t want that, sweetheart, do you? You want me to make the move for you.”

“I wasn’t cheating. It’s not cheating if we were over.”

“Wrong answer. I guess we have to do it my way.” He yanks my skirt up.

“I didn’t cheat!” I cry out. “I never let him touch me.”

“But you did.” He licks the shell of my ear before he bites down.

“Get off me,” I shriek.

“Be smart, Elsa. If you pay like a good girl, you get what you want.”

I remain motionless for a while. I didn’t do anything wrong to pay, but if I say that, if I provoke him right now, then I have no idea what his demons will do.

Fine. If he wants sex then I’ll consider it a charity.

Or at least that’s what I tell myself as I nod.

He gets off me and cold air causes goosebumps to rise on my naked thighs.

I swallow, fingers clenching on the sofa as I wait for the inevitable.

Five seconds pass.

Ten.

Twenty.

I glance behind me through my tangled blonde strands.

Aiden sits on the chair, leaning on his elbow and watching me intently.

I stumble to a sitting position, smoothing my skirt down. “Now what?”

“Now.” He tilts his head. “I’ll fuck that mouth, sweetheart.”





16





Elsa





I’ll fuck that mouth, sweetheart.

My lips part in stupefaction as Aiden stands up. He rolls the cuffs of his shirt to his elbows, revealing a hint of his arrow tattoos. They ripple with the strong veins of his forearms.

He motions in front of him. “Kneel.”

No way in hell.

“Do you want me to make you?” He raises an eyebrow. “Is that it?”

One second passes.

Two.

Three.

“Last chance, sweetheart.”

If I bow to his command, he’ll have me at his mercy all over again. He’ll step on me just like before.