“Alyx---” He reached for her.
“No!” She threw his arm away, and spinning back to face him, she demanded, “Why the hell did you send me to solitary confinement anyway?”
“Because I was concerned about you.”
Her jaw dropped. “What did you say?” Alyx was starting to screech again. “You were concerned about me, so you had me freaking locked in an isolation cell?”
Nathan did his best to fight off a grin. “Yes.” But he failed.
The sight of the sexy-annoying grin tugging at the corner of Nathan’s mouth did it for Alyx, and she yelled in his face, “You think this is funny? ” She slammed her cuffed fists against his chest as hard as she could, and she was rewarded by the sound of the former model sucking in his breath. “Did you think it was funny that I was frightened out of my wits---”
“Of course not.” Nathan caught her hands just as she raised them up for another blow. “But I had no other choice.” He kept his gaze locked with hers as he slowly brought her hands to his lips.
Alyx stiffened.
“If I had let you stay outside with the rest, you could have been forced to bunk with God knew who, and I couldn’t bear the thought of that. I wasn’t willing to take the risk of coming too late and finding you harmed by the other inmates. That’s why I had them lock you up here. Alone.” At the last word, Nathan’s lips grazed her knuckles. “I knew it could make you terrified and anxious, but I also knew you were smart enough to figure it out sooner or later.”
His eyes lifted to hers. “And you did, didn’t you?”
Alyx scowled. She didn’t give a damn even if every word of his made perfect sense now. He had still frightened her out of her wits, dammit, and that was---
“Forgive me?”
Never. That was what she wanted and what she should say. And it was already on the tip of her tongue, ready to roll off, when the ex-model decided not to play fair, his hands reaching for hers to make the fingers unfold.
And the moment it did, Nathan took one finger into his mouth.
Alyx jerked.
He began to suck.
Heat exploded inside of her.
Oh God. Oh God. Oh God.
“What are you doing?” She wanted to sound furious, but because her voice had this sexy faint tremble at the end, it only made the words sound like verbal foreplay, and it was all Alyx could do not to expire in mortification. She tried pulling her finger away, but the moment she did he sucked harder, and she hastily swallowed back a moan even as her blood tingled and her knees started to knock against each other.
“Stop this.” But when he only continued to torment her, Alyx couldn’t help choking out, “Please.”
Nathan’s chest tightened at the plea, and knowing how much it would have cost Alyx to say a thing, he slowly and reluctantly released her finger. Gazing at her with hooded lids, he asked again, “Do you forgive me then?”
She thought of saying no---
And it seemed as if he knew exactly what she planned on doing, with Nathan starting to bend his head again at the same time, the look in his eyes calmly warning her that if she didn’t accept his apology---
He started lifting her hands back up, and this time it didn’t look like he’d be satisfied with just sucking, and much less sucking on one finger.
Shit.
His lips started to part.
Alyx yielded to the inevitable. “Okay, stop!”
Nathan raised a brow.
“I forgive you, okay? I forgive you, so stop thinking I can have you sucking on my finger like a lollipop!”
Nathan threw his head back with a laugh. “Was that how it felt?” he drawled in a wicked purr.
“S-shut up!” As she spoke, the former model rapped on the door in a series of short and long locks. A moment later, the buzzer sounded and the door opened, making her look at him suspiciously.
“What next?” she demanded. “You want to see how I’ll react if you send me to Death Row?”
Nathan chuckled. “You really like to see the worst in me, don’t you?”
She didn’t answer, too busy staring at her wrists as a police officer entered the cell to unlock her cuffs. When the shackles fell off, Nathan took her hand. “Shall we go?” But instead of waiting for her reply, he guided her out of her cell, and she drew a deep shuddering breath the moment she stepped into the hallway.
It was over.
She was free.
They walked hand in hand, their footsteps echoing against the gleaming floor. “Alyx?”
“Yeah?”
“The moment we step outside the station, there will be reporters.”
“I’m used to it.”
“Yes, well…do you also think you can get used to people thinking you’re my girlfriend?”
Alyx
The first time I had met Nathan Callis, I had been at a café, sharing an outdoor table with my friends. As I tried to cross my legs, I had ended up kicking someone, and by the sound of the person’s grunt, it was as if I had almost chopped his balls off with my stilettos.