AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Keyon looked at her with a slight frown between his brows. “I am not known to show mercy, Eloise. And perhaps a life with his guilt torturing him is a bigger punishment than a quick death. I gave him a chance. Now it’s up to him to either use it or destroy himself.”
Eloise nodded. She walked toward him and took his hand in hers. He jerked at the contact but didn’t protest as she weaved her fingers with his.
“And it’s not just about Ava. He is a fool to act so disrespectfully toward his wife. Betraying the woman he vowed to protect.” Keyon shook his head. “I’ll never understand it.”
Eloise smiled. “Says the man who runs the biggest brothel in the country.”
“If not my brothels, they’ll go to others. At least in my hells, the women and men are willing.”
Eloise tugged on his hand and led them both toward the bed. She sat on the corner, and Keyon settled next to her. “Would you be faithful to your woman?” Eloise asked cheekily.
Keyon’s gaze was so intense it burned through her clothes and heated her deep to her soul. “Always,” he whispered.
A large boulder lodged in Eloise’s throat. She wished it could be her. She wished she could be his woman. But it was impossible. He was a criminal, she the thief-taker’s sister. And besides all that, she was betrothed.
But she wanted to feel a night of passion in his arms. If just once.
Eloise leaned in and placed a soft kiss on his lips.
Keyon shook his head. Was he denying her?
“You don’t know what I’ve been through, or you might not be kissing me, touching me willingly.”
“I do not care what you’ve been through. Or what you’ve done. I care about the man you are now. I care that your touch ignites a spark in me and lights me on fire.”
She raised her hand, slowly, tentatively, before lightly grazing his cheek with her fingers.
Hades caught his breath. “You would be disgusted if I told you the entire truth.”
She shook her head and carefully took his hand in hers. “It doesn’t matter to me.”
“I’ve been forced to do things that your innocent mind cannot comprehend. I’ve been forced to pleasure men since I was five.”
Eloise’s eyelids fell closed from the impact those words had on her.
Five years old. Just a child.What had this man been through? And how had he managed to wrangle power out of the hands of his abusers?
“My touch is tainted,” he continued. “I don’t deserve your touch. I don’t deserve your passion. I do not deserve you.”
Eloise took his hand and touched his knuckled to her lips.
Keyon closed his eyes. “I used to feel disgusted at the touch of others. Whenever I feel aroused, I feel dirty, I feel wrong. And every time I feel the release, I feel enslaved, degraded. But not with you. Your touch always arouses me, yes. But you make me feel powerful instead. How do you do that?”
Eloise stared at Keyon with nothing to say.You make me feel powerful.That’s exactly what she loved about being with Keyon, too. He made her feel wanted, important, powerful. She blinked and opened her mouth slightly, still unsure what to say.
But words were unnecessary. Keyon ducked his head and took her mouth in a scorching kiss.
* * *
No, he did not deserve her touch. The soft press of her fingers against the rough scar on his cheek drove him wild. He did not deserve her passion. The slight stroke of her tongue as she returned his savage kisses; her warm, soft body pressed up against his hard length. Neither was he prepared for the gulf of emotions that swallowed him as she guilelessly gave him permission to touch her, kiss her, devour her.
So what if his touch was tainted? He would be certain to taint her, too. He would brand her with his kisses, claim her as his own, and never, ever let her go back to her brother, to the world that did not include him.
He was a scoundrel for even breathing the same air as her. But hewasa scoundrel.
And from this moment on, she was his.
Hades’ hands slid along her sides until he encountered her rounded hips. She was soft and pliant in his arms. He squeezed her and brought her closer to him. Eloise’s arms traveled up, and she locked them behind his neck, drawing him even closer, compelling his tongue to enter deeper, play with her tongue, tickle, and stroke her.
