Page 43 of Vexatious Queen

She shoved my chest, and I stepped back.

“I don’t want to feel weak.”

She did it again, urging me backward across the room.

“I don’t want to feel broken.”

The backs of my thighs hit the mattress, and I smirked as she wrapped her hand around my throat. She had stolen my move, but her hand barely went halfway. I mirrored her position, and she gasped.

“Fear is controllable, Princess. If you don’t want to fear anything, you won’t.”

“You make it sound so easy,” Ren said.

I tightened my grip, pulling her in closer, my lips hovering over hers.

“I could kill you right now, cut off your air supply, and watch you suffocate. Do you fear me?”

“No,” she whispered, her pulse beating out of control under my fingers.

“Your heart is racing. You know what I say is true, but you don’t fear me. You never have. You stood up to me even when I hauled you over my lap and spanked your adorable ass.”

Nipping her bottom lip, I tasted the sweetness of her gloss.

“Tell me why.”

“Because I had nothing to lose then,” she said, and it was an arrow right through my heart.

“You’re never going to lose me. If this is a prank, I’ll handle it accordingly. If this is a threat, I will break every bone they have, and that’s before the others get a hold of them.” Releasing her neck, I slid my hand up into her still-damp hair. “I’ll take you shooting, but don’t expect me to go easy on you.”

“I don’t want you to.”

Ren pushed me, and I fell onto my back. She followed, her knees straddling my hips, turning all thoughts in my brain to static.

“Hands,” she said.

Damn, had she been taking lessons from Liam? I lifted my arms, and she caught my wrists, pressing them above my head into the pillow. The position put our faces together, and her hair surrounded us like a shimmering curtain. Mine. She studied me like she was trying to solve a puzzle.

Ren kissed the corner of my mouth, and I tried to capture her lips. But the little minx moved away, kissing my neck instead. She drove me insane. When I tried to lift my head to chase her, she smiled against my skin and pressed harder on my wrists.

“Don’t move,” she said.

I stayed, but it took all my control as she sat up and peeled off her top. My clothes looked so fucking hot on her. Every muscle in my body was taut as my eyes raked over her hard nipples. They were begging to be sucked. Her chest rose and fell in a steady rhythm as she watched me, daring me to move.

Princess was not shy or sweet right now. She was lethal, shining, and entirely in control. God help me, I needed her and wanted her even more. I licked my lips and pushed my hips up under her ass.

“You’re killing me, Princess.”

She traced over the tattoos on my chest, and even that soft touch shot through my body like she had gripped my cock in her fist.

Her eyes were locked on mine.

“You said that no one gets near me without going through you.”

“I’ll kill them. No remorse.”

“I am not scared. I am not weak. Say it back,” Ren ordered softly.

I knew what she needed to hear right now.