Chapter 514

Rowan's throat went tight as he caught the playful gleam in her eyes.

He had originally planned to keep himself in check, considering Mrs. Garrett and Rex were right outside. But now, Rowan suddenly didn't want to let her off the hook so easily.

"Yeah?"

Rowan dragged out the syllable, raising an eyebrow. "What do you want?"

As he spoke, he shut off the faucet, pulled out a soft cotton towel, and slowly, methodically dried the water from their hands.

He used the same towel-first drying hers, then his own.

It was a tiny detail, but it made Elissa feel a sudden, overwhelming sense of intimacy.

On top of that, his expression was no longer tense. He had slipped back into his usual nonchalant demeanor, with a dark, predatory hunger swirling in his eyes.

Elissa's ears grew hot. Sensing danger, she tried to pull her hands away. "I don't want anything. Let's go out, Mrs. Garrett and Rex are both "

But although he released her hands, the very next second, his large, perfectly dry hands clamped around her waist.

He wrapped his arm around her, pulled her flush against his chest, and pinned her against the edge of the vanity.

The fluid motion stole the breath right out of her lungs.

Elissa gasped, tilting her head back, and met his dark, desire-filled gaze. This time,

it wasn't just her ears—her entire face burned like wildfire.

Rowan squeezed her waist. She had put on a little weight since getting pregnant, and she felt impossibly soft against him.

If you asked Rowan, she was absolutely perfect like this.

She had been a little too thin before.

As he mapped the curves of her waist, the dark lust in his eyes intensified. "You don't want anything, yet you kept calling my name?"

Elissa was currently questioning why she had deliberately provoked him in the first place.

There were elders just outside the door.

She really didn't want to ruin the perfect impression she had spent all night building with Mrs. Garrett.

But she also truly hadn't expected this man to possess zero self-control!

Naturally, she wasn't going to admit fault. She stubbornly argued back, "Aren't you the one who always told me to say it? I wanted to say it, so I did. Is that a crime?" She sounded entirely too justified.

Rowan kept one hand firmly on the small of her back, shielding her from the cold, hard marble counter. His other hand slowly traced upward along the curve of her waist, until his fingers curled possessively around the back of her neck.

"Then say it again."

Elissa shuddered.

The temperature in Rivercross Residence was strictly controlled at seventy-two degrees. After examining Mrs. Garrett, she had felt a bit warm and taken off her jacket, leaving her in only a soft, comfortable cotton dress.

Now, the man's warm, calloused palm was pressed directly against the sensitive skin of her nape.

His thumb brushed back and forth with agonizing slowness, sending a cascade of shivers down her spine.

Elissa didn't even dare to look him in the eye anymore. She lowered her eyelashes and forced a steady voice, "I don't want to say right now

If she said it again, there was no telling what he'd do.

His grandmother and his best friend were right outside that door. He might not care about being shameless, but she definitely did.

Suddenly, Rowan let her go. Just as Elissa thought she had managed to escape, he leaned forward, planting both arms on the edge of the vanity boxing her in completely.

She was trapped in the middle.

No matter which way she turned, her senses were flooded with his intoxicating, masculine scent of agarwood.

It smelled incredible.

But right now, she desperately wished she were a hundred feet away.

Elissa swallowed the urge to ask herself a thousand times why she had ever teased him, and glared at him with wide, watery eyes. "What are you

The moment her lips parted, he ducked his head and captured her mouth in a searing kiss.

This wasn't their first kiss.

They had shared kisses that were deeper, longer, and far more passionate than this

one.

But this was the first time Elissa had been kissed until her face and neck flushed a violent, explosive crimson.

She tried to ask a question, but before the words could leave her throat, he kissed her again.

Each kiss was light, like a dragonfly skimming across the surface of the water.

And after each kiss, he would pull back just enough to lock his intense, unwavering gaze onto hers.

After he repeated this three times, Elissa finally caught on.

This bastard was playing dirty!

He was forcing her to say his name again.

Embarrassed and utterly flustered, she met his gaze stubbornly. "You're doing this

on purpose."

She was dead certain.

"Yes, I am," he admitted smoothly, without a shred of hesitation. Then, he continued

to stare at her unblinkingly.

His look clearly said: Weren't you doing it on purpose just a minute ago?

He was simply returning the favor.

His gaze was so scorching hot that Elissa felt like she was going to spontaneously combust.

She was certain that he still cared about his reputation.