Page 44 of The Arrangement

“You don’t know a damn—”

An opened hand struck his jaw with aimed precision. Fire burned through those beautiful eyes of hers. The faintest trace of blood skimmed over his tongue. Oh, fuck, her slap stung like a son of a bitch. That was just about the last thing Anton expected her to do.

“Don’t tell me that. Don’t ever tell me what I don’t know when you won’t speak to me. You wanted me just as I was, remember?”

Fists clenched at his sides, anger exhaling from the strangled breath he released. The air seemed to turn a little thicker when she looked up at him so openly unhappy with tears brimming. “You going to hit me back now, put me in my place and show me how to behave, Anton?”

“No.”

Never, his mind screamed, but he was awfully goddamn angry.

His dick was as hard as a rock and his mind was hazy with whiskey, so when her fingers started loosening up those buttons on his dress shirt, switches just flipped all over again. He had her ass up on the edge of his desk in a second. The glass of whiskey and opened liquor bottle skidded across the desk before falling to the floor, sending glass shards scattering and golden liquor pooling at his shoes. A laptop and lamp crashed to the floor as well.

Sweet kisses dotted the side of his mouth before her teeth cut into his jaw, her fingers scoring lines down his throat with sharp nails. Fuck, he’d take feeling anything from her at that point. If it was hurt she wanted him to feel, Anton was already filled.

“This is what you needed?” Viviana demanded, popping the buttons on his shirt. When his mouth came dangerously close to hers with a growl forming at the back of his throat, she bit out at him. “Come on, then. Fuck me.”

Anton ached. From his chest, to his cock, to his heart, it damn well throbbed. “Jesus—”

“There’s no God here, only me.” Tears slipped over her trembling lips as Viviana looked up through her lashes and frowned. “But that’s just what you want, right?”

Another drag of her nails across his bare middle had Anton shuddering. And he gave it back just as hard, forcing her thighs wider, knowing it had to have burned. She only tilted her head back to expose the silken flesh of her neck and sighed. That shirt of his she wore had nothing underneath it, just her bare sex on the wood of his desk, wetness seeping from her pink pussy, and she reached down to spread those silken lips open for him.

“You’re not even sorry, are you?”

“What do you want me to say?” he ground out, teeth gnashing on the words.

Her gaze met his bluntly. “Don’t treat me like the woman you don’t want me to be.”

Raven hair twisted in his fist, tugging her head back so he could watch her face for just a moment. There wasn’t a lick of fear there, no hesitation or worry. A ragged exhale left his lungs in the most painful way. The smell of whiskey washed over her lips and jaw as her hands started working at the belt and zipper of his pants.

“Can you even say it to me?” Viviana said, voice wavering.

“Sorry. I’m so fucking sorry.”

When his cock was buried balls deep, her nails clawed into his back, and glass crunched under his shoes. Finally, he felt like he was home. Viviana whined a sound that was so full but airless at the same time, her lashes fluttering along his neck.

“Love you,” Anton whispered. “You know I do.”

Their love was the only thing his lies didn’t own.

Chapter Ten

Viviana woke to warm lips trailing a burning path from the corner of her mouth across to her cheek. There were fingers between her thighs, teasing lines over the sensitive lips of her pussy, making her body feel alive and revving to go. The scent of stale whiskey and lingering cigarette smoke hung heavy in the air.

Ignoring the way her body wanted to respond to Anton’s touches was an impossible task. When her hips rolled into his hand almost involuntarily, and fingers slipped in between her folds to thrust up knuckle deep, her gasp couldn’t be contained. With skilled precision, he found her g-spot and curled his digits, making fluid gush between her legs at the touch. A thumb flicked up to press at her aching clit, rolling gentle circles over the nub and making her jerk into his body.

“Mmm, you’re so fucking wet and ready for me,” he hushed in her ear, burying his face into her neck. He suckled and kissed, teeth nipping with a faint sting determined to bring Viviana from her sleeping stupor. “Wake up just a little more for me, baby. Open those pretty eyes so I can watch them when you come.”

Unfortunately, the couch they’d fallen asleep on in his office wasn’t the most comfortable spot, considering something was digging into her back in the worst damned way. It made focusing on his motions and voice a little difficult.

“Stop.”

He froze immediately, withdrawing from her sex. “I just thought …”

Viviana’s eyes popped open at the barely hidden quake in his voice. More than once he’d woken her up in that very same way, heating her body to a fever, chuckling dark and deep when she shook and came so surprised and relieved. Their frustrations from the night before weren’t what urged her to stop him, but she could understand how he would misinterpret it in that way. She found his cheek pressed to hers, gaze trained downward, and those wet fingers of his were now grasping roughly to her thigh with a shake he couldn’t quite hide. Whatever he must have felt, it was a little more than disappointment at her refusal, and it probably tasted a lot like shame.

“No, that’s … I didn’t mean it like that.”