“What the fuck are you doing?” Her voice is shrill, but all I can do is chuckle. “It’s not funny. I need my privacy if I’m to live here.”
I tip my head to the side as I lean against the doorframe. “Privacy?” I quirk a brow, waiting for her to say something more. “That’s something you’ll have to live without.” There’s no doubt this girl is going to be a challenge. Rage dances in her eyes, and for a split second, I wonder what she’d look like on her knees, choking on my dick.
“Get out!”
“No.” I push in and shut the door to my bedroom before I leave my clean clothes on the counter. She doesn’t move. Her defiance is sexy. It makes me want to see how far I can push. Would she ever break? I’m intrigued to find out.
I don’t bother waiting for her to move. I tug off the tee I’m wearing and throw it int the hamper before I shove my jeans down my legs.
“Are you—?”
“If you want to see the Crown Jewels, you’re welcome to stay,” I tell her when I hook my thumbs into the waistband of my boxer briefs. Just before my cock flops out, she’s in her bedroom and slamming her door in my face. A laugh rumbles in my chest as she curses me from the other side. Yes, this is most definitely going to be fun.
I hop in the shower, and I’m immediately engulfed in the gentle, yet spicy scent of cinnamon and warm berries. It smells like Christmas with a fire roaring on a cold evening. She’s going to take over my space, which I’m not happy about, but if I get to see that fire in her eyes each time I invade her space, I’ll get over sharing my bathroom with her.
Dad thought it was a good idea for us to have interconnected rooms. It’s bullshit to be honest. She could just as well sleep in my bed since we’ll be married soon. But then again, if she were in my private sanctuary, I couldn’t have Jarred there.
The moment I step out of the shower, I stop and listen. Next door, a crash sounds and that has my feet moving so quickly, I don’t think about it until I’m standing in Zaria’s bedroom with only a towel wrapped around my waist. I’m dripping wet, and the only thing I can think of is Joy is going to kill me for messing up the carpet.
But the sight that captures my attention and steals all rational thought from my mind is Zaria sitting at the vanity with mascara streaked down her face. And she looks breathtakingly beautiful in her brokenness.
“What the fuck are you doing in my bedroom?” she sneers, but it doesn’t escape my attention that she’s taking in every exposed inch of my body.
I stalk toward her without a care that my towel could fall. I know she wants to see what’s hidden under there, and I’ll gladly offer her a show. But what I don’t like is that filthy mouth of hers. The only time I want her talking like that is when she’s begging for my dick.
I tangle my fingers in her still wet hair and tug her head back so that those golden eyes can find mine. “If you continue talking to me like that, I’ll have to show you exactly who’s fucking room this is,” I warn, my voice husky, but rigid as I lean in closer. The droplets from my wet hair drip onto her forehead and trickles down the side of her face. One lands on the apple of her cheek, mixing with the dark streak already there. “There will only be one instance that you will curse in this house and in front of me, it’s when my dick is rammed so far inside your tight little cunt, you’ll be screaming for mercy.”
Her lip curls at my words, and I can’t wait to hear her comeback. “Fuck. You.” Her words are enunciated so beautifully, so perfectly, I throb against the soft fluffy material of my towel. “You may be a Thorne, but I don’t take orders.”
The corner of my mouth quirks. “Give it time, princess, you’ll take orders, you’ll obey orders, and you’ll crave those same fucking orders from me when you’re alone in bed touching your needy pussy, wishing it was my fingers.” With that, I release her hair and step back. If I stay in here much longer, I will bend her over and make her take me. “Wash your face, it’s time for dinner.”
I spin on my heel and stalk from her bedroom, slamming the door behind me. I stop for a short moment in the bathroom, and when she doesn’t race after me to stab me with something, I chuckle and make my way into my bedroom after grabbing my clothes.
“Already asserting dominance,” Jarred remarks from my bed. He’s lying against the headboard, his feet bare of shoes with his ankles crossed while his arms are folded behind his head. He looks good enough to fuck, but there’s no time.
“She needs to learn early on. I’m not taking that shit,” I inform him as I tug on my sweats without underwear, then I shrug on my shirt. I can feel the heat of Jarred’s stare on my body. He enjoys watching me, and I like when he looks at me. It’s something I’ve become accustomed to. Even while fucking, I’ve had him hidden in the shadows, jerking off while I stuck my dick in some girl. Keeping up pretenses, I’ve managed to leave a string of broken hearts across the country, especially in Thorne Haven.
But there’s one heart I could never break. I’d sooner die than hurt Jarred. But I have a feeling, someday soon, he’ll shatter mine. Or what’s left of it. He picked up the pieces when he came into my life and he managed to puzzle some together, but I told him, it would never work right. I would never be whole. Even if he wanted to keep me, there would always be fragile pieces of me to mend.
It was the truth then, and it’s the truth now. “Joy said I should come and get you both for dinner,” he tells me as he swings his legs over the edge of my bed. When he reaches me, he cups my face in his hands, and I do the same to him. “Don’t let shit get to you. I’m here,” he says. “Take it out on me.” The darkness that I’ve come to love in his eyes glint with a reminder of how healing he’s been for me. The need I’ve struggled with is easy with Jarred.
Lowering my head, I smile, keeping my eyes on him. “Let’s go” is all I can manage because feelings and emotions are difficult for me. Jarred has understood and accepted that. Since the beginning, I told him how much I struggle.
We make our way down to the kitchen and find the princess seated at the table. Joy is regaling her with some story that I’m hoping isn’t about me. “There they are.” Joy is on her feet, rushing to get our dinner. There have been so many times I’ve told her I’m capable of getting my own plate, but she still sees us as her kids.
I slip into the seat across from Zaria and Jarred takes the seat beside me. Her gaze flicks between us, taking each of us in. Her shrewd glare narrows as she watches me. The smile on my face doesn’t falter. I set a challenge, and I can’t wait to see her fail. Perhaps I’ll take her to the woods and get her to play a little game of chase. With that filthy mouth, I wonder how she’ll fare when there’s nothing between us but darkness.
Joy sets our plates in front of us and I quickly dig into my meal. I’m starving. I haven’t eaten today, and I know Jarred hasn’t either. We were busy out in the greenhouse, which I promised Mallory I’d look after for her. Since Cass no longer lives on the property, Kalyn hasn’t been able to keep an eye on the plants. And with Nesrin in London, I’m the only one left. Maybe I can have the little princess get her hands dirty.