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“Even if I could get him alone, he wouldn’t tell me anything important. He’d never trust me.”
“I know. And that would never be my plan for you, sweet thing.” He suddenly has his hands on me, urging me over to straddle his thighs. His body’s warm and solid as he holds me, and he’s not hard, which means he just wants me close.
Something about that settles comfortably in my gut, like mending a wound I hadn’t realized was festering. Maybe when he says love, he’s capable of meaning it. Maybe it’s not just about what I can offer and how much he wants to fuck me.
“What are you thinking?” he asks, running his thumb over my brow.
I breathe out and shrug. “I don’t know what you see in me.”
He laughs until he realizes I’m serious. “Alice…”
“It’s just…I’m not like the others. I’m sheltered and weak. Physically,” I add when it looks like he’s about to argue. “I had training, but I couldn’t hold my own if anything ever happened and they got to me.”
He digs his fingers into my hips to hold me closer, his mouth sealing over mine, his kiss softer than Ari’s but rougher than James’. When he breaks apart from me, he presses his forehead to mine. “I never want to test that, my little goddess. Ever. I never want to feel my heart pulled into pieces because we let someone get close enough to touch you.”
I don’t remind him that Leo did. That he was right there, and he could have taken me without them realizing it. There’s no point.
“But I want you to give yourself credit. You survived us.”
“I tried not to,” I say.
His gaze goes stormy, almost furious. “No. You tried to take control, and you almost won. Then you put yourself back together. You found it in you to not only trust the men who hurt you but somehow love us in return, and for that…” He trails off and shakes his head before pulling back to look me in the eyes properly. “I heard what you said to James and Ari, and I mean to fix that. Right now, I plan to let Rhys go. I’m going to let the doctors treat him, then his father will come to collect him. I don’t expect him to stay long. He’ll be off with your cousin, and at some point, Leo will come for you.”
“Do you want to let him? Use me as bait?”
Kane bites his lip, then lets it go with a slick, wet pop. “I don’t know yet. There are obviously more leaks in my foundation that I was too distracted to see, and I plan to spend the next few weeks fixing that.”
“And then?”
“And then we get married,” he says and kisses me again. “We have a honeymoon where I get to love you the way I’ve wanted to all this time.”
I shudder at the thought and can’t help but twist in his lap. His lips turn up at the corners with a smirk, and he drops one hand to trail a touch up my thigh toward my hot core. “And then?” My voice is breathless now.
He teases my center with the hard press of his fingertips until I’m panting and slowly soaking through my panties. “Then we initiate the takedown. I don’t know how it’s going to go, but I promise you’ll be on the front lines, at my side. You’re my goddess, my queen.” He suddenly flips me onto my back andgrins at my small yelp as he digs his fingers into my leggings and pulls them down around my ankles. He frees one foot, then lifts my knee toward my chest, exposing me. His gaze looks starving.
“Kane,” I breathe out.
“Patience, little goddess,” he murmurs. He leans in, nosing along my lower stomach, where there’s now a noticeable bump. He kisses just above my coarse hair, then moves to the inside of my knee. I can feel my pussy clenching, desperate for something more than this careful tease, but I say nothing. I want to give him what he’s asked for.
“When we spill Guido’s blood, your hands will be stained.” He punctuates that sentence with sharp teeth grazing my skin. I shiver. “When we bury him, your nails will be filthy with dirt.” He’s closer now, his tongue peeking out to drag along my clit. I groan loudly, and his breath comes out in a rush. “When we stand in front of the world to declare our alliance, it will be under my name and our reign, and I won’t let a single person live who questions your right to be there.”
“Please,” I beg because he’s speaking right up against my pussy, and fuck—fuck—I need more.
I feel his cheeks lift in a grin, and then he applies his mouth to where I want him most, and he doesn’t stop until I’m sobbing and pushing against his powerful tongue and letting myself go.
Chapter 5
ARIEL
Things I am:a grown-ass man who understands that everything won’t always go my way.
Things I also am: a spoiled fucking brat who doesn’t like it when people who wronged us get to walk out of the house on their own two feet. Even if they have a limp and have lost ten pounds and will never forget the long weeks they were kept in our torture chamber.
Things could have gone a lot fucking worse for Rhys. They should have, but Kane has a goddamn soft spot that I’m glad had been beaten and cut out of me. I’d probably hesitate if I ever had to put a knife to Alice. I’d do something stupid like drug her unconscious so I wouldn’t have to look into those gorgeous eyes before I drained the life from them.
But I’d still do it.
The same goes for James and Phoenix. I’d probably put Kane down if I had to, but he’s more of a god to me than he is a person, so it’s a difficult concept—killing a deity. The fact remains, though, no one is above death. No one is above punishment.
