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Hot approach

I cleared my throat and tried to articulate words as her fingers brushed my thigh and she smiled. The evidence of how much I had thought about her was quite obvious in the tightness of my pants. I grabbed her wrist. I had to stop.

A choked cry came out of her mouth as I held her tightly, and I turned her so that her hips rested on the countertop, those damned eyes looking away. Her arm twisted behind her back as I held her down, my groin pressed against her lower back.

"You're engaged," I said in her ear, my tone threatening but far more salacious than I intended.

The moan she let out before pressing herself against me rocked me to my core. Oh my god, did he like this? I enjoyed sex a little more risqué, but never in a million years would I have suspected that about Amelia . She was a spoiled princess, living off her father's coins.

"For a monster." Her voice was breathy and dripping with desire.

"How do you know I'm not a monster?"

"Better the devil you know."

I glanced toward the door. Getting caught with her squeezed between my erection and the toast crumb-dusted countertop would be bad news for me. But she was intoxicating. I brought my lips to her ear, inhaling her scent as she moaned with such tenderness.

"Don't test my loyalty to your family, Amelia . I'm here to make sure you get married, not to be teased."

I reluctantly let go of her and stepped back, my heart racing as she turned to me. She narrowed her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest.

"You can't pretend you haven't thought about it. I saw the way you looked at me. Your cock was hard against me. You want this too."

"And what is this exactly?"

Her mouth opened, then closed as she searched for the words.

"Is it sex, Amelia? A mouth on your pussy? A last foray before you're tied up? What do you want from me?"

"Never mind," she said, straightening her shoulders and pulling the princess mask back over her face.

" You probably couldn't give me what I want."

"Don't be a brat," I said, already imagining taking her by the knees. If I got any harder, my dick would burst.

"What are you going to do about it? " The spark flashed in his eyes again as he closed the space between us." You strike me as the type to talk for the sake of talking."

In a whisper, I had her hair clutched in my fist, holding her tight as I leaned in, our mouths an inch apart. "Keep telling yourself that, beautiful."

She opened her mouth, her pink tongue flicked against her bottom lip as she looked from my mouth to my eyes.

Tasting her was not an option.

I released her, and a pout came over her face as I pulled away from her.

"You're not mine to touch like that."

Disappointment made her frown as I shook my head, trying to clear my mind. I grabbed my water bottle and left the room, I needed air. I hoped no one saw my erect dick on my way out.

I loved a brat.

My fingers itched to put her in her place.

But she belonged to someone else.

AMELIA

I stuffed clothes left and right into my big designer suitcases, not caring in the least what was in each of them. I had to send them to William's house in the morning, before our wedding day. If all went well, I would be abroad under an alias long before then. Emes Falú had succeeded. I had hidden my new documents in my backpack under my bed. Rachel Stevens . The new me.

There was a slight hitch in my plan. Edward had set up shop outside my door the night before and had resumed his position. Staying was not an option. I had to find a way around it. If I tried to leave the room, he would escort me out or find someone who would.

Fuck.

I sat on top of the suitcase and tried to zipper it tightly. I had to make it look like I had accepted everything. Like I had accepted my fate. I would never accept being married to William . I would rather die.

I pushed my hair away from my face and tugged at the sharp edges of the zipper again, leaving red marks on my fingers, before surrendering with a groan.

The clock was ticking on the wall and every second I lost made me itch. I had to be on the bus by eleven at the latest. I had arranged an intricate pattern of stops that would ultimately take me to the airport to catch the flight to southern Spain. An Uber would have been much more direct, but without the redirection it would be too easy to track. Which also meant leaving behind my phone, my smartwatch and anything else that contained location software. I had already hidden them in my secret stash behind a loose board. Over the years, I had many of my secrets. Diaries full of teenage angst, money, anything I didn't want my sister to 'borrow'. The longer it took for someone to find something of mine, the longer it had to disappear.

First, I had to deal with the tall, tattooed pile of problems that assaulted my door. One of Chase's dark sweatshirts was waiting for me in the closet with baggy sweatpants and sturdy boots. I even bought a cap to tuck my hair inside. With the hood up, my look must have been a million miles away from my usual rather feminine style. Edward couldn't see my costume clothes or he would completely ruin the whole point of dressing up. Standing in front of the mirror, I looked at myself. Our altercation had affected Edward the day before. The hard cock in my back assured me of it. But he had still rejected me. I needed to say yes, to give in to desire. It was imperative to my escape plan.

Trying to seduce him would only help me escape, I told myself. So why had I been so excited by his touch? Yes, he was attractive, and I had appreciated his form a few times over the years, but he was just another guy. I'd had many relationships before, and while they were fun, none had filled me with such wickedly delicious thrills as I'd experienced trapped between Edward's erection and the kitchen counter. When he held me by the hair, I practically turned to jelly. A huge pile of lustful mush. It had been extraordinary. Men often felt threatened by what I was. My last name always put me at an advantage. When Edward had treated me without kid gloves, well, I'd be lying if I didn't feel something between my thighs.

I removed my boxers and exchanged them for outrageously short pajama shorts, covered in little red and pink hearts. My baby pink lace bra peeked out from behind the straps of the matching pajama top, and I hoped he liked the cute look. I leaned forward and wiggled my bra over the underwire band.

My lips glistened as I smeared on some dark pink lip oil, not as thick as lipstick, but it gave them that sultry, just-kissed look. A little blush on my cheeks and a swipe of mascara and I was ready. She had better believe it. There was no plan B.

With bated breath, I counted to five before opening the door, not flinching. It was now or never.

"Edward, " I said, in a honeyed voice and blinking my best doe-eyed look." Do you think I could borrow you for a moment?".

He looked up from his phone and I felt a tingle at the base of my spine as his eyes roamed down my bare legs, stopped at the hem of my tiny boxers and then up my body, past my chest and finally to my face. His knuckles whitened and his fingers tightened against the phone.

"What's wrong?"

"Could you help me zipper it up? I can't get it closed."

He didn't move and I bit my lip as I watched my whole plan fall apart. Then he got up and shoved his phone in his pocket.

"Yes, but quick. Your brothers will beat the shit out of me if they find me in your room."

I felt a huge relief. Phase one, completed. Now I had to seduce him into the second.

"Thanks, I've got a lot to do and not much packing to do. I just need a strong pair of hands." I hoped my look was as sultry as I intended, as I pressed myself against the door frame and looked him in the face as he passed me. Nerves gripped my belly. He was a man loyal to my family. I just hoped I could touch that loyalty long enough to escape.

It took him barely two minutes to tighten the briefcase and zipper it shut. Crap. It was clear he hadn't stuffed it enough. I knelt down beside him and placed a small padlock on the two zippers. When he stood up, I grabbed his hand with mine.

His breath caught as I ran my fingers over his hand and up his thigh; my nerves mingled with lust as I brushed his well-muscled leg.

His voice was rough as he looked down at me. Remaining on my knees, I tried to find the courage to move forward. The idea of seducing him did not repulse me, quite the opposite, but my motives were not right.

"I wanted to thank you."

"You don't have to thank me."

I slid my hands upward toward his belt, and his whole body stiffened as I did so. His eyes shadowed as he grabbed my chin and tilted my face up, his thumb gently running over my lower lip. There was hope. His face exuded lust.

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