Perversion (Perversion Trilogy #1)(42)

“Then, what do you want?” I grind. Trailing my gun from her head, dragging it down the side of her neck. Her act is good, but I’m not falling for it. Not this time.

She lifts her eyes to mine. “You.”





Emma Jean


Grim lifts me in his arms and presses me against the wall. “Please, Grim.” I don’t even know what I’m begging for. Him. Another life. Just one more kiss.

His gun is at my throat.

“You want me to risk my life and the lives of my brothers for some pussy?” He asks, cupping between my legs. He has a disgusted look marring his beautiful face. I gasp at the sensation of his fingers in my most intimate place and hate it all at the same time. I feel vulnerable and angry and hurt. Not just for me.

For Grim.

“I don’t want to risk anyone’s life, but I don’t know what else to do,” I tell him.

“Coming here was the worst thing you could do.”

“No, it’s not. I know it’s not.” I shake my head. “It can’t be.”

“You lied to me!” he accuses. The anger and hurt in his words sits on my already heavy heart like an anvil. His hand shakes, his finger massages the trigger.

“I did, but I told you I’m a liar. I didn’t want to. You have to believe me.”

His other hand moves to my throat. His knees spreading my legs. “I don’t have to believe shit.”

It’s a battle of wills. Whoever makes the first move loses. Or wins. However, you want to look at it. But hate or not, the connection between us is tangible. A magnet pulling two people together from opposite sides of town.

White trash Romeo and Juliet.

I'm not weak, but when it comes to Grim, I lose my edge. My mask. Everything I've built up over the years to protect myself from the outside world. But he needs to see it. He needs to see me. My hunger for him. My fear. All of it.

“You’re trembling,” he remarks. “Scared?”

“Yes, but not why you think. I’m not hiding anything. Not from you. Not tonight,” I say.

“Fuuuuccckkkkk!” he roars, smashing his fist through the wall next to my head. “Another fucking lie!”

“No, you were right when you kissed me by the bay! I do feel it, this thing between us. The way the air shifts when you’re near. The way you broke through to me and can see me the way no one ever has. I can’t fake that!”

Grim’s anger stabs right through me. His pain is my pain, and it’s as real as if he’d sliced me open with a knife.

Something shifts. He tilts his head to look me over, slowly, deliberately. That makes me feel more vulnerable than I ever have. He has a smug look on his face.

The air all around us is hot, humid, but my skin prickles as if I’m in the Arctic.

“Cold?” he asks, taking notice of the hair on my arms standing on end. His pupils are large and dark. His lids hooded.

I swallow hard. “N-N-No.”

Shit. Great stutter, EJ. Why not just let him hear all your inner thoughts?

“And what might those be?” he asks, pressing his chiseled chest against mine, his lips brushing my jaw. Thoughtfully. “I’d really, really like to know.”

“What?” I ask, as though my entire body hasn't just broken out in a shivery cold sweat.

“Your inner thoughts,” he says. His voice is deep rough and touches my very core.

I gulp. “I said that out loud?”

Grim nods and bites his full bottom lip, then wets it with his tongue. He presses both lips together before flashing me a wicked, knowing smile. The move is so erotic I almost groan in agony. Or maybe I do. It seems I’m having trouble keeping things to myself.

“Well then, Tricks, tell me, if you’re not cold—” He brushes his lips against my ear. He smells clean along with the faint hint of cigarettes and whiskey. “What are you?” He rubs his index finger across the prickled skin on my forearm and locks his gaze with mine. “Besides, afraid.”

Screw it. I’ve already lost. I concede. I forfeit. I literally have nothing left to lose. I want him to know me. Feel me.

One last truth before I’m gone forever.

“I’m yours,” I blurt. Both relief and unbridled lust surge from within me. I’m breathing heavy. My breasts feel full. I’m aching all over with need. For him to touch me. To take me right here against the wall.

His nostrils flare. “Damn fuckin’ right you are.” The words are barely out of his mouth when Grim covers my lips with his. “You’re a hard one to break, Tricks,” he says against my mouth before parting my lips with his tongue and invading my every sense.

So are you, Grim.

I moan into his mouth when our tongues touch. He tightens his grip on my hair, pressing his warm hard body against me.

His hand snakes into my shorts while his lips latch on to one of my nipples through my shirt. He rubs my clit through my panties while I buck my hips against him. “Please, please, Grim. Make me yours.”

I hate the needy tone of my begging. But I can’t help it. I need him inside me. I need him. Just this once. Just one more memory to hold onto for the rest of my life.

He doesn’t give it to me. Instead, he releases his hold on me just as I’m about to come apart in his arms. Like he’s stepping away from the flames of a raging fire. His stare is hard and angry once more making me feel small. Helpless.