Her ass is cherry red, so gorgeous, and my cock is raging hard. I could slide between her ass cheeks right now, truly make her mine. Rip her virgin hole to shreds with my massive dick.
I meet her gaze.
And she nods.
Only slightly, but she nods.
I slide my fingers between her legs.
Still so wet.
And she…
“Go ahead,” she says. “Take what you need. Do to me what you need to do. I deserve it all, River. All of it. If this is what I must endure to prove my love for you, I’ll bloody suffer it.”
My rage is still inside me, but it’s quieter now—less like a scream and more like a whisper echoing through an empty room. It coils low in my gut, not gone, just watching. I breathe, and for the first time since I realized what Emily and Sebastian did, the air doesn’t taste like blood and betrayal.
I wanted to hurt her. I wanted her to feel what I felt, to break where I broke.
But now?
I just feel hollow.
Because somewhere between the anger and the obsession, I stopped being the one who was wronged. I became the weapon. The one who wronged Sebastian. Alex. Most of all, Brett.
And now, Emily.
The heat inside me is flickering. Not out. Not yet. But changing. Cooling into something heavier, something that hurts in a different way.
I don’t want to hurt Emily.
I don’t want her to suffer. Why the fuck did she use that word?
You don’t hurt a person you love.
This isn’t new to me. I’ve always known it.
I do love her. I love Emily.
And though I’m angry with her, I’m angrier at myself for something that has nothing to do with her.
Yet she’s willing to let me do what I need. She’s willing to let me hurt her.
I slide down onto the bed beside her. “Forgive me.”
Her eyes widen. “For what?”
“For trying to hurt you. That’s not me, Em.” I sigh. “I’m a damned mess.”
“You’re not a mess, River. You have every right to be angry. Just as I had a right to be angry with you. But I do love you, and sleeping with Sebastian was a mistake. I regretted it as soon as it was over.”
“I think he has a thing for you,” I say.
“Maybe. But I have a thing for you, River Barrett.” She rolls onto her side and snuggles against my shoulder.
“I swear to God,” I say through gritted teeth, “I’ll never give you reason to doubt my love again.”
She smiles. “You’d better not.”
