The Wrong Brother's Temptation novel Chapter 96

Chapter 96

Sienna

10

55 volsthors

I kept looking at him, at those perfectly angled cheekbones and the slight temporary marks the mask had left along his forehead and under his eyes, painting a faint imprint of the wolf eyes he had been wearing.

“Mom told me to come home with you” I lied, hating the complex situation I found myself in. On one hand, his father had asked me to stay away from him, on the other the sight of him kissing other women made me mad with jealousy.

He gave me a look to say he didn’t completely believe me but frowned and muttered.

“I dont have all night”

He began walking out the room and I followed him without a word.

The night had gotten colder and I folded my hands on my chest but that did nothing to lessen the cold. Connor saw me rubbing my hands together but walked forward without a word as opposed to his usual sweet demeanor where he would have offered me his coat right away.

He unlocked the car and got into the driver seat wordlessly.

The silence inside Connor’s sleek black sedan was suffocating.

The leather seats creaked faintly under us, and I was surrounded by the mingled scents of his cedar cologne, spilled alcohol, and the faint metallic tang of blood from the scratch on his knuckles.

My gaze flicked to his hands on the steering wheel and the way he was gripping it too tightly. He radiated anger and heat in equal measure and kept staring stoically ahead as if he didn’t even want to acknowledge that I was seated beside him.

Fog had already claimed the windows, turning the outside world into a hazy blur of distant streetlights. I sat rigid in the passenger seat, fingers twisted in the damp fabric of my ruined dress.

My heart hammered so loudly I was sure he could hear it.

“Connor… thank you for…”

The engine roared viciously as he revved it, drowning out my words. The car lurched forward, tires screeching around the corner. I grabbed the door handle instinctively, my knuckles turning white due to how hard I was gripping it.

“Slow down,” I tried again, voice shaking. “Please, just talk to me”

But his response was another savage rev.

The car swerved dangerously close to a truck in the next lane and horns blared viciously.

My stomach dropped and I held the door handle tighter, pressing myself back into the cool leather telling

1/4

15.32 Thu, Jul 23

Chapter 96

myself it was fine.

10

58 your hors

He was driving like he wanted to punish the road itself or maybe punish both of us. Every near–miss sent fresh fear spiking through me, but underneath it was something darker.

There was confusion, guilt and a twisted thrill at the raw power rolling off him.

Tonight I saw a version of him I hadn’t seen before. In childhood he was just mean and arrogant but tonight as he hit the creeps, I saw the darker, uglier side of him.

His anger was deadly and so were his punches. His wrath rolled off of him in waves and I thanked the Goddess that it wasn’t directed at me.

Aaron had made matters worse by the time Connor had almost killed one of them. He had said words I’d never dared speak to Connor and now I was seated in his car, struggling to untangle the mess.

I kept glancing at Connor every now and then but that sweet smile and heated gaze was gone, replaced by a firm set in his jaw and tense shoulders.

This was not the Connor I had kissed and fucked anymore but the bully I hadn’t met yet since childhood.

While I was lost in thoughts, we finally screeched to a halt outside my house.

The abrupt stop threw me forward against the seatbelt. For a long second, the only sounds were the low rumble of the engine and our ragged breathing fogging the windows.

“Get out,” he barked in a flat and cold voice, eyes fixed straight ahead.

The words landed like a slap. They reminded me painfully of the last time we’d fought like this that ended with him dropping me off. But this felt heavier and crueler like something between us had actually shattered.

“Connor, please. Just talk to me for one minute.” I reached toward the scratch on his temple. “You’re bleeding…”

He slapped my hand away sharply and I flinched.

“I dropped you home because your mom expects me to act like the responsible fake boyfriend,” he clarified, soudning dangerously calm. “That’s it. Now get out.”

I didn’t move because I wouldn’t be able to sleep at all without getting a chance to explain myself,

“I’m not leaving like this. What I said… I was wrong. I was scared of how much I…”

But then his phone buzzed and the screen lit up with messages from the two women.

Come back soon, baby. We’re waiting. One had sent a photo displaying her cleavage and pouty lips. Connor glanced at it, then back at me with a cruel little smirk that didn’t reach his eyes.

“See? Some people actually want me around.” He started typing a reply, voice mocking. “On my way, darling. Can’t wait to have both of you at once. Been thinking about those pretty mouths all night.”

2/4

15.32 Thu, Jul 23

Chapter 96

55 vouenel

Each sweet nickname that he used for them like baby and darling felt like a knife twisting deeper.

“Don’t go,” I whispered, voice cracking. “Please.”

He tilted his head, eyes cold. “You want me to sit outside your door all nigth?”

“No, that’s not what I meant”

“Then what the hell do you mean?” He asked, his voice growing a bit annoyed.

“I… I don’t want you to.”

“Not good enough a reason for me.” His hand moved toward the ignition.

But I let out a frustrated breath and reached for his arm. “I am not done talking to you…”

He ignored me anyway, so in a desperate attempt I lunged, yanking the keys out before he could turn them.

“Give them back.” He scowled.

“No.” I held them up in the air, as much as the car allowed me to and shook my head.

“Not until you listen to me”

“I’m done listening to you, and I am losing my patience so give me the damn keys”

Heart racing, I shoved the keys down the front of my dress, tucking them between my breasts. “No, we are going to talk first.”

10

His eyes darkened dangerously. The car suddenly felt too small with the windows completely fogged. “I’m in no mood for games, Sienna.”

I almost hated the way he called me Sienna, not speckles or darling or sweetheart or any of the cliche nicknames I had gotten used to.

“Yeah?” I whispered, something reckless and desperate rising in me. “Me neither.”

“If you think you can run away from me with the keys…” He began but I gathered the hem of my dress and somehow squeezed myself into the tight space between his body and the steering wheel, straddling his lap. “What the fuck are you doing?” He asked but I noticed how his voice went slightly hoarse when I settled in.

My knees pressed against the seat on either side of him. Our faces were inches apart. I could smell the alcohol on his breath mixed with that familiar cedar scent.

“Who said I was going anywhere” I said, even as my heart hammered wildly.

3/4

15:32 Thu, Jul 23