Excerpt 1:
A thrill shot through me. 

It was sharp and vivid, and suddenly, I was drowning in him. In his heat, in his scent, in the way his body caged mine like he was the only thing keeping me upright. 

“Don’t lie,” he growled. “You can be pissed at me. You can be scared. You can feel whatever the fuck you want. But don’t pretend you don’t want something more from me. You’ve been clinging to me since the day I took you out of Rykov’s house.” 

“Well, I wasn’t angry before.” I lifted my chin and let all my irritation flow into the glare I gave at him. “But now? Yeah. Now, I am.” 

“Good. Get angry for a change. Stand up for yourself. Prove you’re not just a victim looking for a goddamn savior.” 

“You think that’s what I want from you? That I’m so weak and desperate I can’t stand on my own?” The words tumbled out, fueled by a courage I didn’t recognize. A fire I’d never dared stoke before. 

“No, Lena,” he growled. “I think you’re a thousand times stronger than you know. And I think if you knew me at all, you’d understand why friendship isn’t something I can give you.” 

“But you’re friends with Robin.” 

“I don’t want to fuck Robin.” His voice was rough. Like the words had clawed their way up his throat.  

And they stunned me. 

My mouth opened, but nothing came out. Was I even still breathing? 

He twisted my arm higher up my back—the dull pinch of it, reminding me I was at his mercy. “I can’t be your friend. Because every time you get close, it gets harder to hold back. Harder to pretend I’m not about to lose my fucking mind.” 

His hold loosened, just slightly, like he was about to let me go. But before I could process it, his fingers flexed, and in a swift, merciless motion, he’d wrenched my other arm behind my back, pinning both wrists in one unyielding hand. 

“You want something safe. Someone stable. But that’s not who I am.” His free hand slid up to wrap around my throat, his fingers pressing into the side of my neck. “This is the kind of man I am.” 

And God, despite the edge of fear, despite the voice in my head telling me to run, my panties were soaked. 

He leaned in, his mouth hovering at my ear and breath rough against my skin. “What I want is to tie you up and then take you apart. Slowly. Thoroughly. Until you forget every man who ever came before me. I want to ruin you for anyone that isn’t me. Then build you back up from the wreckage. Stronger. Fiercer. Like the queen I already see when I look at you.” 

He paused, his breath hitching. “And then do it again. And again. And a-fucking-gain.” 

Excerpt 2:
Hell, maybe she really didn’t know. My hatred for the bastard had clouded not only my thoughts but my actions and my fucking judgment. Maybe it had hidden my respect for her too. 

And along with it, the brutal truth of my unmitigated and disastrous obsession. 

“I thought it was obvious.” The infuriating, crawling burn crept up the back of my neck. “I can’t fucking stand that he touched you. That he hurt you.” 

“Oh.” A faint blush bloomed across her cheeks. 

Fuck, it was sexy. 

Without thinking, I pulled our entwined hands to my chest. Right over my hammering heart. “And you talk about it like it was your fault. Like you asked for the trauma. Like there’s any fucking version of this that can justify the horrible shit he did to you.” 

“I know it’s not all my fault. Not really. And there are things I’ve never said out loud. Things I haven’t been ready to face. But…” Uncertainty caught in her throat as the tension between us pulled tight, almost painful. 

“But what?” 

“Maybe it’s time I did.” 

Her hushed words brushed my skin, and a sharp, crackling heat licked down my spine. “I’m listening.” 

She caught her bottom lip between her teeth, and my jaw tensed. Fuck, she had no idea what that did to me. She held it there, tormenting me, before finally letting it slip free—glistening and inviting. Goddamn irresistible. 

She lifted her free hand and pressed it to my chest, just beside our entwined fingers. Her grip tightened in my shirt as if she couldn’t bring herself to let go. “I told you I trusted you. And I do. At least I want to.” 

Her trust should’ve scared me. Because fuck, I could’ve so easily corrupted it. Twisted it into something dark and selfish. Hell, part of me still thought I should. That it was the smartest move. The surest path to revenge. 

But in that moment, with need coiling inside me, I felt nothing but greedy anticipation. The urge to take her deepest fears and darkest secrets and claim them for myself. Just like the rest of her.