Licking my lips, I sigh. “Now, you hit back.”
She nods, expecting the answer. We were raised the same—an eye for an eye. I have no doubt she’ll make it brutal. In fact, a twisted part of me gets excited at the promise of her carnage.
“And this?” Her voice is small.
Pressing my forehead to hers, I gaze at her lips.
“I told you, we’re going to fix this. And then, you’re going to be mine again.” No use in denying it. She needs to know how this is going to go.
“And if I don’t want that?—”
“Notan option.”
She clamps her mouth shut. Lifting her chin, I brush my nose against hers, my lips begging to devour hers.
“Last chance, Princess,” I murmur. “One last chance to tell the truth. If you lie, I’ll fuck you in this shower until you’re begging me to stop. And even then, I won’t. I’ll drag orgasm after orgasm out of you until all you know is my touch.” I wait for the words to sink in. “Do youloveme?”
Instead of answering, the fucking Devil keeps her mouth shut.
Good as any confession to me.
Smiling, I claw my hand into her locks, moving her head as if it belongs to me. It does—as assuredly as I belong to her.
“It’s fucking torture not to be with you, to feel you whenever I want,” I confess, staring into those eyes that have captured me since our first meeting. “You say you don’t want this, that you’re with the fucking douche, but we both know you’re lying to yourself. Youwantme. Youwantus. And you’re afraid.”
“I’m not afraid?—”
I cut her off, picking her wet body up, pressing it into the tiles. My hands dig into the meat of her ass, still careful not to agitate her wound. But when she shivers, I press closer, my cock so fucking close to her center, it’s a damn tragedy.
“Youare.” My eyes dare her to lie. “You’re terrified that this is real—that I’ll still be here when things get rough. You’ve spent all this time doing it alone; you can’t process having someone to help.” I move her, the barest amount, drinking down her gasp as my cock teases her slit.
Christ, I know how she feels. How she smells. The sounds she makes. I could come from her whimpers alone.
“Your soul is mine, Maeve. Your heart, your body, it all belongs to me. Get over your fear—because I’m notfuckingleaving.”
My cock nudges her center, the barest give, and her hips buck, asking for more. I don’t give it. Instead, I surge forward, claiming her lips in a harsh kiss that’s more domination than passion. Our teeth clash, and adjusting her again causes my dick to move through her slit, another rush of heat between us.
I take what I can—tasting every inch of her mouth. I want to sink into her—take her again. I should—she needs another reminder of who I am and needs a purge of that fucker from her mind.
But this hurts her worse than fucking her. She’ll remember this.
She rips away. “Another promise?—”
“A vow,” I interrupt. “A vow to you. On my soul, you’ll never be alone again. Not in this life—and not in the next. We’re inevitable, remember?”
She rubs her lips, and it’s the first time in a while, she doesn’t hide the emotions in her eyes. I drown myself in the faintest flash of hope—hope that maybe, truly, I’ll be there in the morning.
Without question. Only death could steal me from her, and even then, I’d take her with me.
20
MAEVE
The wound heals nicely—of course, because Linwood stitched it—but my body takes longer to recover. It’s days before I can move without constant shooting pains along my hip—due to the fractured bone—or for the room to stop spinning every time I stand. Most of the correspondence I do is through Hayes, or from my bed.
Have you ever tried to look imposing as a five-foot-nothing woman propped up with big pillows, to a bunch of hardened criminals? It’s not easy.
It helps that Linwood is at my side, glaring from the shadows. He’s a steady presence of strength as I command my men, and unfortunately, I can rely on him for that comfort. He changes my bandages and helps me bathe.
