SWNOVELS Chapter 7
“Kitten,” I murmur, trying my hardest not to smile at the fire blazing in her eyes as she sits behind bars, for the second time since I’ve known her. “You really do seem to think you have nine lives, don’t you?”
She glares at me and crosses her arms, not realizing it just makes her look even more beautiful, even more provocative. The way she unknowingly pushes her breasts up in that black tank top she’s wearing is a sight for sore eyes. “I see you’ve come to gloat,” Sierra says, pouting just slightly.
I smirk, I can’t help it. “You do realize it’s my office you tried to break into, right? Who else would they have called?”
“They should have called Raven, like I asked them to.”
I tut mockingly, loving the way it riles her up. Her eyes begin to sparkle dangerously and her cheeks flush beautifully. “You haven’t learned your lesson from the last time you got arrested for breaking into my office, have you? Do you need a reminder, sweetheart?”
Her breath hitches, and her expression shifts, becoming disarmed and a little shy at the mention of that evening. She’d broken in with Valentina, her sister-in-law, who, at the time, was still her brother’s secretary. They’d gotten caught and arrested, resulting in Luca bailing Val out — but much to Sierra’s absolute horror, he left his little sister to me.
“Hardly,” she says, looking away. “That night was one I’ve regretted ever since, and the last thing I need is a reminder of it.”
My chest clenches painfully, and my smile slips. Right. Of course she regrets it. Why else would she have distanced herself from me shortly after?
“Let her go,” I tell the officers behind me, feeling oddly defeated. “But leave the handcuffs on.”
Sierra’s eyes snap to mine, and the way she blushes does something to me, makes me a little hopeful when I know better. “Gotta protect myself from your claws, sweetheart,” I tell her, loving the outrage on her face.
She storms past me, indignation oozing off her in waves, and I sigh as I stare at her for a few moments, taking in her curves and her long, dark hair that just about hits her waist. She pauses and looks over her shoulder when she realizes I haven’t moved, and I smile, realizing that I’m just as completely and utterly fucked as I’ve ever been when it comes to her. She doesn’t even need to say anything for me to follow her, and she has absolutely no idea how much power she holds over me.
“I see you got your tires fixed,” she says sourly when she finds my town limousine and my driver waiting for us.
I bite back a smile as I hold open my car door for her. “Which is exactly why you aren’t getting out of those cuffs anytime soon.”
She rolls her eyes as she gets into my car, and I join her, ensuring we’re facing each other as I pull the door closed behind us. Sierra inhales sharply when I lean in, her eyes roaming over my face and lingering on my lips. It isn’t until the car is in motion that I snap out of my daze and pull her seatbelt on for her, clicking it into place. She blushes, and just like that, my wounded heart recovers.
I smirk as I pull my tie loose, noting the way her expression shifts just slightly when I pull it off. For a moment, I could swear I saw longing in those gorgeous emerald eyes, but then her expression hardens.
“I was right, wasn’t I? You hid my jewelry in your office.”
She still knows me so well. “I’ll trade you a truth for a truth. You said something very interesting when we danced, Kitten. Tell me what you meant, and I’ll tell you whether or not you were right.”
Sierra narrows her eyes and throws her head back a little as she slips her foot out of her cute fuzzy slipper and presses it against my chest, pushing me flush against my seat. I can pretty much guess why she’s here dressed in what can only be described as house clothes — she figured out where I put her jewelry and rushed out. “Just because I’m handcuffed doesn’t mean I can’t forcibly make you talk, Xavier.”
I bite down on my lip as she slides her foot up and presses against my throat lightly. “Oh yeah?” I murmur, my voice huskier than I’d intended.
Sierra gasps when I grab her ankle and turn my face to bite her leg. “W-what are you doing?”
“What do you think? You presented me with a snack, so I’m taking a bite.”
“Xavier!” she admonishes as I suck down on her skin and mark her just above her ankle. “You… you’re completely unhinged!”
“You say that like it’s new information, when you were the one who drove me crazy.” I smirk and undo my seatbelt before leaning in and working my way up her leg, my teeth grazing over her soft leggings.
“Tell me, Kitten. Did you feel like I didn’t treat you well at the opening gala?”
Her breath hitches when I kneel in front of her and drape her leg over my shoulder. She’s never looked more beautiful.
“Answer me.” My lips hover over her inner thigh, and she squirms, her breath coming out in little pants.
“I can never follow your thought process,” she whispers. “What are you talking about, Xavier?”
I grab her hips and look up to face her, my heart racing. “Before you left me standing on that dance floor, you told me that I should treat my date better. Who were you referring to?”
She hesitates, all desire draining from her gorgeous eyes. “Valeria.” Her entire body tenses, and she looks away, remorse crossing her face, as though she’s only just realized how intimately entwined we are.
I sigh and slide my hands up, until I’m holding her waist. “Valeria?” I repeat, the puzzle pieces falling into place. “Interesting.”
She clenches her jaw, her eyes cutting to mine. “Interesting? Interesting? That’s all you have to say? You’re a pig, Xavier Kingston. What do you think Valeria would think if she saw us right now? You have no respect for her, and you don’t deserve her.”
“She’d be fucking horrified, that’s for sure,” I say as I look into Sierra’s eyes. She looks furious and incredulous, but beneath that lies something else, something she’s trying to hide, something that looks an awful lot like jealousy.
I’ll be damned. I didn’t think there was anything major that Sierra didn’t know about me, but I was wrong. So wrong.