hate

CEASAR'S POV

“The line’s already ruined,” I growled at her mouth. “I’m two seconds from dragging you into the coat check and fucking you until that dress is on the floor and my name is the only sound you can make.”

I expected Vera to be scared by my threat to ruin her but instead, she leaned in, letting her lips brush mine, letting me taste the promise.

“Then don’t waste the two seconds,” she whispered, daring me.

My grip tightened, knuckles white, trying to fight the temptation, even as every muscle in my body screaming to turn her around, bend her over the nearest surface, and bury myself inside her right there.

Xandra cleared her throat, amusement thick in her voice, “I’ll… give you two a minute.” but I knew that was her excuse to leave as she sees she is no longer needed here. She slipped out with a soft, delighted laugh, the door closing behind her with a quiet click.

Jane’s fingers tightened on the red clutch she still held in front of her like a flimsy shield. “So what do you think?” she asked, voice soft, excited, a little nervous smile playing on those blood-red lips.

Fuck.

What do I think?I think I just died and went straight to hell, because the woman in front of me is pure sin gift-wrapped in diamonds and silk.

I think she is the most beautiful, dangerous thing I’d ever seen.

I think I was going to die if I didn’t get inside her again in the next sixty seconds.

I think she looked too good, too irresistible, too damn perfect to walk into a room where other men had eyes. That she was dangerous, lethal, and utterly mine. Every part of her screamed sin, the kind you couldn’t resist even if your life depended on it.

Xandra had outdone herself, Vera had been elevated from stunning to untouchable, and I was already losing control just by looking at her.

And finally, I think she was a weapon dressed as a woman with a red clutch held in front of her like it could shield her from the way I was staring at her. No words could describe her. No compliment would ever suffice.

I didn’t want to go to Neven’s engagement anymore. I didn’t want another man on this planet to see her like this, not even Neven.

I wanted to drag her straight back into that bedroom and ruin every perfect detail Xandra had spent hours creating. Hell, I’d triple the woman’s f*e for making Vera look this perfect…and still curse her for it, because now every bastard in that room would be thinking the same filthy thing I was, that I wanted to bend her over the nearest surface, fist that silk, and tear it off her while she screamed my name until her voice gave out.

All I wanted was her, right here, right now but I couldn’t, not tonight, because tonight was hers.

Tonight she got to walk in and watch Neven realize, in real time, exactly what he’d thrown away. She deserved to stand there glowing and make him bleed regret for the rest of his miserable life.

So I swallowed the animal urge clawing at my throat, even as my body betrayed me faster than my brain could ever hope to catch up.

Heat slammed low, vicious and immediate, my cock hardening, tightening until it ached like a bruise and in a single heartbeat I went from trying to leash myself to completely fucking lost, my cock rock-hard, straining painfully against the front of my trousers just from looking at her.

One look, and I was gone.

What the fuck is wrong with me?

I knew damn well without a single doubt that if I shoved her against the nearest wall right now, she’d let me. She’d gladly spread those legs and take every inch of my cock inside her cunt without hesitation.

But this ridiculous engagement mattered to her. Her ex, the idiot who broke her, would be there, and she needed to walk in and watch Neven choke on his own regret. She deserved to show him exactly what he’d lost. She deserved to step into that room glowing, confident, and lethal. I wasn’t going to ruin the makeup, the hair, the dress, or the whole goddamn masterpiece just to bury myself inside her again. Not until after she’d made him bleed.

Because Neven was a fool. He’d hurt her, thrown her away, then downgraded to someone who didn’t even register on the scale. A downgrade-chasing, self-sabotaging idiot.

I’m not the kind of man who shames women, but the girl he replaced her with? Barely two. Vera had been a ten when he had her and now she was something beyond measurement, something no number could touch.

Any man with working eyes would regret losing her and right now, there weren’t enough words in my vocabulary to describe how she looked.

Neven was going to see her tonight and realize, in one shattering second, exactly what he’d lost.

I’d known he had some girl on the side, caught a glimpse of her once when he came to my office, barely registered, didn’t give a damn. Until I found out he’d been cheating on JaneVera the whole time and the other one wasn’t just a fling, she was the replacement.

And I never expected him to be stupid enough to actually put a ring on that downgrade and call it a fiancée.

And Janevera? No sentence on earth could capture how devastating she was right now, dressed like living sin, face carved from pure temptation. No words could do her justice.

And Neven? That dumbass nephew of mine was in for a very long and very painful night.

I couldn’t speak as every rational thought had drained south and all I could do was stare at the woman who was about to burn the entire world down.

And thank whatever god was listening that she was mine to watch it happen.

Finally I found my voice, it came out low, rough, and scraped raw, “You’re not walking into that party like this.”

Her brow arched, a defiant little spark flaring.

“Excuse me?”