The way his voice feathered over the word come made it a sexual not innocent question.

He already knew I’d go with him. That despite myself, I was excited to see new things and be around people and adventures.

He didn’t need an answer to his question. Especially the sexual connotation.

He only wanted me to respond.

Fine.

Cocking my chin, I sucked on my bottom lip. Two could play at this game.

I think.

His muscles locked as his eyes became obsessed with my mouth.

The power he granted as lust filled his gaze allowed me to step outside my self-imposed rules and nod.

Just once.

Yes, I want to.

He never looked away from the glisten left by my tongue on my lip. “See, replying wasn’t so hard, was it?”

Hard physically? No. Hard psychologically? Yes. A thousand times yes, especially when he looked at me as if he was no longer a man but a ravenous beast with an appetite for mute prisoners...

“I like it when you respond.” His voice was ash and rubble. He swallowed hard. “Let’s try another question. Do you want to come? Or do you want to come?”

That isn’t a yes or no answer.

But I’d keep playing. I’d pretend I was mentally strong enough to flirt, even if the tangled heat he caused couldn’t retrain my brain from withdrawing in horror at the thought of his fingers on my breasts, his hands dropping down my body, his cock pushing inside my—

I gulped, squeezing my eyes against the lewd picture in my head.

I thought I was strong enough.

I’m not.

Not yet.

Elder sighed heavily as I stiffened in his hold. “For a second, I saw someone I wanted—someone capable of withstanding what I need.” He let me go as the lift chimed and opened wide. “Pity she’s gone again.”

His words were visible things. Four words, four fingers swatted across my cheek.

He’d told me I was weak before. He told me I was broken. But that was to earn a reaction from me. This…it was just a statement of truth.

It ripped out my heart and threw it overboard as chum.

“Are you coming?” Elder stepped into the elevator, holding the doors as they tried to close. “Time to dress.”

Whatever heat he’d sparked simmered into smarting discord. I held my chin high and stalked into the lift.

The doors hissed closed, trapping every unsaid animosity and desire tight around us.

Elder exhaled through his nose, his gaze bouncing from the mirrored door to mine.

Don’t say anything.

Let me go to my room without another figurative slap in the face.

My request went unanswered. He lowered his jaw, watching me beneath his brow. The fact the mirror was a third party, linking our eyes while standing side by side didn’t stop the spiralling heat from rekindling and crackling all over again.

He breathed, “Last night was…interesting.”

I swallowed as his gaze dropped to the sheerness of my sheet. “It erased a few of your walls. We should do it again sometime.”

A strange intoxication filled my veins until I swore my blood had turned to wine, filtering through my heart, making it drunk.

My knees locked as he bit his lip, the mirror showing every etch of his face, every shadow of his throat and jaw.

How much longer would I have to stand in this electrifying torture chamber with him?

My nostrils flared as his hand moved to capture a corner of the sheet. He never turned to face me, but his face darkened. “Don’t hate me for what I said before. I didn’t mean to hurt you.”

I bowed my head. Not out of respect or acceptance of his so-called apology but because I couldn’t look at him anymore.

I couldn’t stare into ebony eyes and try to read what he kept hidden. It gave me a headache.

Agreeing to go to Morocco is a mistake.

“Look at me, Pimlico.” His fingers tugged the sheet, forcing my fists to tighten to keep it in place.

My face pointed at the sky with fake bravado, but I refused to meet his eyes.

“Christ,” he muttered under his breath.

I shook with adrenaline but not fear. I’d been in his company long enough now not to expect a fist, but I couldn’t read him. I couldn’t pre-empt or stall whatever it was he was about to do.

What is he going to do?

His grip on the sheet turned aggressive. Yanking hard, he caught me by surprise, spinning me on my feet like a carousel. The white cotton escaped my broken hand while I held on with my other as tight as I could.

But it was no use.

Half-naked with the sheet draped over one shoulder, I crashed into Elder’s arms only for him to turn around and slam me against the mirrored wall.

My spine screamed as the bite of coldness activated the humming sensitivity in my body. I gasped as his face twisted into a tortured mask.

He breathed hard and harsh, my inhales and exhales in total sync with his as our eyes locked in shock.

“Goddammit.”

Goosebumps broke all over me as his hands suddenly landed on my shoulders, kneading me like a cat. His nose brushed mine as he bowed closer. “What is it about you that I can’t ignore? Why do you have this power over me?”

I daren’t move. Even though I couldn’t.

I didn’t know what he meant. The one with the power was him. Only him.

He bit his lip again as his fingers trailed from my shoulders to the hem of the sheet covering my left breast. My right was exposed, totally vulnerable to the brush of his chest just like our midnight swim.