AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Hadley gives me a soft, empathetic smile and squeezes my shoulder. “Then you should probably work out what will make you happy. Life’s too short not to love every second of it. Trust me. You’ve got the education and the career path, now focus on you. You deserve to be happy, Em. I don’t know if that happiness lies with Wilder or Hawk, but I think it’s worth exploring. You need to know for sure before you can put the past to bed.”
* * *
Hadley’s wordsstill play on my mind when I’m curled up in bed later that night. There’s a ring of truth in what she said. I’m too busy wondering how life might have played out if I’d gone on that summer vacation with Wilder; if I’d given up my dream of going to Halston and attended Ridgeway with all of them. I can’t move forward when I still have one foot stuck in the past. I thought I’d dealt with my feelings for Wilder and Hawk, but being around them has emphasized just how much I was fooling myself. Distance had enabled me to bury those feelings deep, except they never went away, and now, like a can of worms, the lid has popped open, and the contents are spilling everywhere.
I toss and turn for a while longer before pushing back the covers and getting up. Perhaps a hot chocolate will help calm these turbulent thoughts. Wearing mybite mepajamas and my Disney 3D Stitch slippers, I trudge down the stairs and into the darkened kitchen.
Flicking on the under-cabinet lighting, I move on autopilot, boiling the water and adding the chocolate powder while I figure out how to do what Hadley suggested and find my own happiness. She’s right, it all comes back to Wilder and even Hawk. Are they my happiness? God, I hope not, but they’re definitely occupying every spare space in my mind at the minute, so it makes sense to rule them out as definite no’s before moving on.
I’m so lost in my turbulent thoughts that I fail to realize I’m no longer alone until I feel the hair rise on the nape of my neck. In a fluid movement, I spin, pressing my back to the counter as I turn to face the darkened figure hovering in the doorway, just outside of the pool of light from the kitchen.
Images of the faceless shadow man with the white eyes from my dreams flash across my mind as terror freezes me in place with my heart lodged in my throat and my hands clasping the edge of the counter.
“Thought I told you to stay out of my way,” Wilder grunts, still not moving from his position. Even so, the sound of his voice somewhat settles the paralyzing fear, and I let out the breath I hadn’t realized I was holding.
“Jesus Christ, you nearly gave me a heart attack,” I chastise with my hand resting over my racing heart.
“Did you think I was your scary stalker?” he scoffs. “Trust me,Angel, you should be much more fearful of me.” He pushes off the doorway and stalks toward me. “Your stalker wants to wrap you in bubble wrap and keep you all to himself, but me?” He waits until he’s standing directly in front of me and I can see the unhinged look in his eye. The shadows reflecting back at me are like nothing I’ve ever seen. They speak of trauma and pain, of hurt and desolation, and have me wanting to reach out and comfort the man in front of me. “I want to tear you down until you’re nothing but a broken doll at my feet.”
“Why?” I croak in a hoarse whisper, warring with myself on closing the gap between us or ducking and running. I’m shocked by the extent of the vitriol dripping from his words. I know I hurt him, but I hadn’t expectedthis.Yet, the damage is clear to see in the crevices lining his eyes.
“Because I can.” Lifting his hand, he reaches for me until the pad of his thumb brushes along my lower lip. It’s a strangely gentle touch that is so at odds with the callous way he’s talking that it causes goosebumps to rise along the exposed skin of my forearms. “Because I want you to feel a fraction of what I felt.” His thumb presses harder against my lower lip as he drags it down until my lip slips free and his hand drops to rest over my collarbone. “Because you just had to come back here and bring everything up again when I’d finally gotten you out of my mind.” His fingers twitch, and I can feel his desire to tighten them around my throat like he did the last time we were alone in here together. “Because I’m not a forgiving man, and you, Emilia Harrison, are not deserving of my forgiveness.”
“Do you think I haven’t suffered these last four years, Wilder? That I haven’t questioned if I made the right decision and wondered how different things might have been if I’d—” He cuts me off with the press of his finger against my lips.
“I don’t think you’ve suffered enough.” He once again runs his thumb along my lower lip before pushing it into my mouth. Instinctively, I wrap my tongue around it and suck it deeper into my mouth. All the while, my eyes remain glued to his, watching as he remains hyper-focused on where his thumb has disappeared between my lips.
Despite his cruel words, electricity charges the air around us, leaving it thick with desire and hate. Creating a potent blend that both rattles me and has me quickly melting into a puddle on the floor.
When he pulls his thumb from my mouth with a wet pop, I try again to reason with him. “Wilder—”
“There’s only one thing that mouth of yours is good for, and it sure as fuck isn’t talking. Now, get on your knees, or you can get the fuck out of my house.”
Chapter10
WILDER
Iwatch with a cold detachment as Emilia sinks to her knees. She peers up at me, the jade green of her irises visible beneath the thick line of her eyelashes. God, my memory has not done her justice. I’d forgotten just how beautiful she is, and she’s especially captivating when she’s kneeling at my feet, staring up at me with a mixture of fear and lust, waiting to see what I’ll do next.
Once upon a time, my instincts were to protect her. Sure, I wanted to push her boundaries in the bedroom and explore unfounded territory with her, but I would have ripped apart any asshole who wronged her. I’d have stood between her and a moving bullet. Helped her cover up a murder and take the fall for whatever crimes she committed. Now? Now, I want to be that asshole who shreds her world into pieces and leaves her as adrift as I felt after she walked away.
Punish her.
I don’t know if that was an alcohol-fueled dream or a real conversation, but Hawk’s words have been circling around my head since Thursday night, and every time I think of punishing her exactly as I plan on doing right now, an excited hum shoots through my body. It’s certainly a far better response than pretending she doesn’t exist. When I stormed out of here after the first time I saw her, I’d decided I’d stay at the frat until she fucked off again, but why the fuck shouldIbe the one inconvenienced? This ismyhouse, and if she wants to stay here, she can damn well live bymyrules.
Well, I guess it’s only really one rule: If I see her spiteful little face, then she’s going to get punished.
Holding her captive with my gaze, I slowly move to unbuckle my belt and pop the button on my jeans before lowering the zip. “Open that mouth of yours,” I order, pulling my hard cock out of my boxers and fisting myself as I watch her hesitantly part those luscious lips of hers. Precum leaks from the tip as I watch her quietly obey me. Now, this is a version of Emilia I could get on board with. Compliant. Submissive. Acquiescent.
When her mouth is open wide enough, I push the tip of my cock past her lips. I feel the slight graze of her teeth along my shaft, and even though it makes my dick twitch, I growl, “Unlike what’s written on your shorts, I will do a hell of a lot worse than bite you back.”
I pause, waiting for her to relax her jaw before placing my hand on the back of her head and pushing forward until her throat constricts around my length. I groan.Fuck, that feels good.Gritting my teeth as I hold myself deep in her throat, I can feel her muscles spasming as she struggles to accommodate my size and adjust to breathing through her nose.
Just when she starts to relax, I push deeper, my balls hitting off her chin as I completely block her airway. Satisfaction courses through me as her eyes widen in fear and tears gather at the corners before spilling over.
Reaching out, I brush my thumb through the trail, bringing it to my lips and sucking the salty tear into my mouth. The taste dances across my tongue as I remain buried in her throat until her fingernails dig into my thighs and panic shines in her glassy eyes. Only then do I pull back, waiting until she sucks in a hasty breath before pressing forward.
Setting a punishing rhythm, I lose myself as I arch my back and drop my head so I’m staring at the ceiling. For a moment, everything between us falls away—all of the hurt, my animosity, her fear. There’s nothing but the feel of her lips wrapped around me, the perfect combination of suction and saliva driving me closer to the edge.
