SWNOVELS Chapter 39
Chapter 39
Brooklyn
I gasp and push the door shut and then bolt-bolt-from the hallway.
I've always been fast, but now, panic moves me faster than I thought I could go.
I scramble up the stairs, sprint across the kitchen, pull open the kitchen door and then use the banister to propel myself up the main stairs two steps at a time.
Aden is a monster! He's an actual psychopath!
Of course, I had already made this assessment-in jail when I'd interviewed him. Then again when he kidnapped me. But now?
Seeing it play out like that right in front of my face, the truth feels like it has hit home inside of me.
I reach the top of the stairs and throw myself towards my room, my fingers inches from my doorknob, when something grabs me around my waist, hauling me back against a solid body—
"Please! No!"
I scramble, shrieking, trying to get free, but Aden holds me fast. He grabs me by the hair at the base of my neck, forcing my head back, my face turned up towards his.
I pant in his arms, pinned against him, finally still.
"What did I tell you to do, Brooklyn?" he asks, his voice low, dangerous.
"My phone!" I gasp, remembering my rationale for being there. "I forgot my phone!"
"You deliberately disobeyed me," he says. He doesn't care about my reason anyway.
He walks me forward a few steps, pressing me backwards, my feet working to keep up as I feel the door
to my bedroom press into my back.
It swings opens, and then we're in my room. I work hard to align this beautiful, safe space with the horror I just witnessed below us.
I've brought the monster inside with me.
Aden kicks the door shut and pushes me up against the wall. My breath comes fast then. I almost hyperventilate-
"Calm down, Brooklyn," he says, his body pressed against mine. I blink up at him, realizing that he's completely calm. That he's been completely calm this entire time.
His eyes, as they stare down into mine, start to have a calming effect. The Mafia King may have rejected his Alpha roots long ago, but the power is ever present in him.
I can feel it so strongly I could almost reach out and touch it.
It takes a minute, but my breath starts coming more evenly. I look up into his face, and he watches me,
his fingers loosening in my hair, beginning to stroke slowly at the base of my neck.
I can't tear my eyes from him as he brings his face close to mine.
"Did you like watching me work?" he asks, his voice dangerous.
I feel my lip starts to tremble. I see him look down at it.
"Do you know what happens to people who watch me when they're not supposed to?" he murmurs, his voice tipped with a razor's edge.
Slowly, I shake my head "no."
He brings his mouth close to my ear, the stubble of his jaw brushing against my cheek.
"They get punished," he whispers.
My breathing grows heavier at this. I can feel my breath matching up with my pounding heart, my chest pressing against his. I know he can feel it, too.
He withdraws his mouth from my ear, looking at me again, a cruel smile lighting his lips.
"Why, Brooklyn," he purrs, wondering. "It's almost as if, disobeying me like that, you want me to punish you..."
I close my eyes as a moan slips out of my mouth when he says that.
God dammit-god dammit-my whole body goes loose in his arms, pressed against him. A steady ache builds at the apex of my thighs, and, suddenly, I know that I'm wet for him.
And I know he can smell it. Any shifter worth their salt could.
I feel horror cross my face, shame. Goddess, what's wrong with me -
"No," he growls, and I open my eyes to see him staring down into mine. "Don't fight it. You want to pretend that you don't belong in this world, but you were born to be here. You're a shifter and a killer, just like me." His voice lowers, stroking me like velvet. "You're drawn to the danger, Brooklyn."
I shake my head, trying to argue. "No."
"Did you like that little movie?" He cocks an eyebrow up. "Yes, I saw what was in the VCR. You couldn't take your eyes off it, could you."
His hand slides down my waist, pushing into my hip. I groan.
He brings his face even closer to mine so that I feel his next words like a force against my lips.
"That got you hot," he says. "But danger? Violence? That makes you want to fuck."