Page 13 of Unhallowed

He must be out of his mind if he thinks I’ll sabotage what I have with Draven. Over what? A kiss he forced on me? No matter how much I melted against him and wished for more, it was wrong. I shouldn’t be thinking about him, I should be focused on the man who rescued me. My everything.

And it won’t be happening again.

No, the only one I’ll be fucking is Draven, who is right here in this bed with me, looking straight into my eyes. His striking ones dilate and constrict once more as he looks at me, and he licks his lips.

I follow a line down his torso, his brand on the left side of his chest. A Heathen tattoo below his collarbones right where Killian’s is. Black butterflies flying up his torso—and I immediately know why they’re there.

We used to talk about butterflies coming out of cocoons. His newbeginning. Random tattoos litter his torso, snakes on his hips leaning down, down, down to his cock. Killian has tattoos there, too. I lick my lips, snapping my eyes back to his.

“There’s something you’re not telling me,” I say softly, and he tenses.

“There’stoo muchI’m not telling you, Angel.” He kisses me softly then pulls back. “But you have to accept that until you’re my wife, my lips are sealed.”

“Why?”

“Because there are rules for everything, and this is what they call for.”

“You and your fucking rules,” I scoff. “What will I wear for this wedding? Can you even tell me what I’ll be doing?”

Draven gulps, running a hand through his white blond hair. “Nothing,” he whispers.

Oh, hell no. “You mean to tell me that I will be naked in front of people I don’t even know?” There’s no way I can do this. “And they what? Get off on it?”

“It’s the rules—”

“Fuckyour rules, Draven!” I growl at him. “I will not go naked. How many people?”

“Thirty.” He looks down. “Maybe more.”

In a moment of madness, I flip him onto his back, climb on top and straddle his hips, rubbing my pussy against his hardening dick. “Do you really want to show me off, Drav?” I ask him in a breathy voice that makes him push up against me, trying to seek some friction. “You want everyone to see me naked?”

He grabs my face, squeezing my cheeks, hurting me. It brings little butterflies all the way to my pussy. “Of course not, Firefly. But I. Don’t. Have. A. Choice.”

“And why is that?”

“Because these people make all the decisions for me.”

I stay silent and debate what he’s saying. Is this what our whole life will be like? Following instructions? Not having any autonomy? I might as well be trapped in that basement again, the little girl with no way out.

“I know what you’re thinking, Angel.” Draven forces me to make eye contact with him. “I’ll give you everything you could ever dream of, and even what won’t ever cross your mind. Please trust me.”

“I do,” I reply carefully. “But I can’t be trapped again.”

“You won’t be,” he assures me. “I will give you the world if you let me, I’d give youeverything.” He growls, his free hand gripping my waist tightly, pinching my skin, digging his fingernails into it. I moan, my eyes going wide at his possessive grip.

“I feel the darkness closing in, Draven. I feel it again and I don’t like it. This whole situation where I’m going into this marriage blindly and into a fucking secret society—”

He frowns, his eyebrows drawing in, his mouth turning down. His voice is cold, summoning a chill down my spine. “So Killian has been filling your ears with bullshit now?”

“Is it bullshit, Draven?” I gasp as he rolls my hips over his, letting go of my face and his fingers digging into them. He’s gentle, and I want more. He isdistractingme from this conversation, and I’m letting him. Damn it all to fucking hell. Damn him for making me want him. “Or do you want to keep me in the dark like I’ve been my entire life?”

“The darkness is necessary for now, Angel.”

I groan from annoyance and pleasure intertwined, and my hand meets his cheek gently. “Will you protect me?” What is going on? What will tomorrow look like for me? Is it going to change my life? Will I be branded too?

“Always.” Draven reaches for my throat with one hand and pulls me down until our noses are touching. “You’re my hope in the darkness, Firefly.” That makes me feel slightly better. I have him. I havehim.

Draven reaches between us to lower his pants, and I get off him momentarily. His big, hard, cock springs free, bobbing up to meet his abdomen. He’s beautiful, a masterpiece. His snake tattoos extend all the way from his abs, to his hips, and down to his pelvis, right above his cock, a light dusting of hair right over them. I was too busy getting fucked by his tongue before to notice him. Really see him. I lift my shirt over my head and sit back on his thighs, baring myself to him as well. Grabbing my small breasts and squeezing them.

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