Page 113 of Cruel Abandon (Fallen Royals 5)

“Hardly. Dr. Penn wanted me to keep a diary and write in it every day, but I only kept up on it for a few weeks. I didn’t have very interesting thoughts.”

He flips through it, then pauses to read a second. He clears his throat.

“Oh, don’t—”

“‘Dear Diary, today was most unpleasant. We had to do precision drills at cheer, and Jackie almost broke her nose. She wailed the whole way back into the school, then stopped as soon as we were inside. She likes dramatics. Still, her nose was an ugly purple color by the time the nurse was done staunching the bleeding. I’m sure she’ll still show up to practice and milk her injury. I love her, but sometimes she drives me nuts.’” He grins. “She was unpleasant, I agree.”

“Do you have to—”

But he’s flipping through it again. “Oh, this is one from senior year. ‘Jake asked me to the masquerade ball, but—’” He stops abruptly. “I don’t want to read this if you admit to kissing my brother.”

I motion for him to proceed.

He scans the rest of it silently.

I actually remember that one. Jake took me to the masquerade ball so I wouldn’t have to go alone. I was pretty sure I could stomach little masks, although I had skipped the year prior. And the whole time Jake and I danced together, I wondered what it would’ve been like if Liam asked me.

It drove me mental, and then I wrote about it.

And now he’s reading it.

His lips move, mouthing the words, and my face gets hot. I’m pretty sure I mention going with the wrong brother…

“Well.” He closes the book with a snap. “That settles it.”

I raise my eyebrow. “Settles what?”

He puts it aside and rises, coming over and leaning over me. I crawl backward on the bed and bite my lip.

He follows. “The matter of whether you like me or not.”

“I thought it was pretty clear,” I answer. “I can’t stand you.”

He nudges my legs apart with his knee and settles between them, his hands on either side of my face. He lowers himself onto his forearms, bringing his face close to mine.

“Can’t stand me, huh? So you’re not wet right now?”

I slide my hands under his shirt. “You can hate someone and still want to fuck them.”

Liam scoffs. “If all it took was a quick fuck to get you out of my system, I would’ve tried that two years ago. After all, you were tied up. In the dark.” His hand goes to my panties, then slips inside. “I could’ve, but you’re buried under my skin.”

I hold my breath. His fingers find my clit, rubbing me in tiny circles.

“Tell me,” he says.

“What?” I whisper. “That I’m attracted to you?”

He kisses the corner of my lips. “Tell me the truth, angel.”

Want fills me. I want him to touch me—more than the light, teasing of his fingers. I want him to kiss me, to fill me… even if I don’t know what that feels like.

Desire is hot and heavy, filtering through my blood.

“I—”

A creak comes from the stairs.

Faster than I can process, Liam has shifted off me, pulled me upright, and resumed his kneeling position next to the window.