Page 66 of Satin Empire

“Yeah, you’re right. I just keep thinking about it—” I stop myself, breathing through my nose to stay calm.

“It wasn’t your fault. You did nothing wrong. Go back to sleep and I’ll see you in the morning.”

“Night, bro.”

Saul hangs up. I stay in the bathroom and stare at the mirror. Was he giving me some bullshit just to make me feel better? Right now, all I can see is the fear in Alana’s face, the abject terror in her eyes, and I can almost taste all the tears she cried since we got home. It breaks me, thinking that I might’ve been the cause of what happened.

I know it was a freak coincidence. She just happened to visit the place with her cousin at the same time the Russians decided to check it out again.

Even if they were there because of me, there was no way they knew about her—that was just a fucking terrible coincidence.

But I still blame myself, and I don’t think I’ll ever get over it. Just like that first kill when I was fifteen is seared onto my soul, so is the look on her face when I pulled Alana from that grungy bathroom.

“Carlo?” The door opens a crack and a sleepy Alana looks in at me. Her hair’s messy and her lips are pouty as she squints against the light. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine. Go back to sleep.”

“Come with me.” She rubs her face and holds out a hand. I look away, back at the mirror, and see a man crossed with scar tissue where only pieces of his heart remain. But what’s left of me is falling for her so hard I’m not sure there’ll be an inch of my body that doesn’t belong to her by the time the sun rises.

I let her lead me back under the covers, but I don’t let her go. I pull her close, feeling her breasts against my chest through her thin t-shirt, her nipples stiff. She’s breathing fast, and when I kiss her, she leans into it like she’s catching her breath from my lungs. I let her mouth sear mine as my hands move along her body, exploring this woman, this miracle, my fucking Alana, and thinking how close I got to losing her.

I care about her more than I ever imagined I could. I need her in a way that terrifies me, but I’m way past the point of turning back. She’s in me, and I want her so badly I’m ringing with it, from my toes to my tongue.

I roll her onto her back and kiss down her lips, down her neck, shove her shirt up over her tits, suck her nipples, kiss down her belly until I slide off her shorts. She shimmies her hips, panting as my mouth explores her inner thighs, and I can’t help myself. I’m feasting on her and she tastes incredible, she sounds immaculate, and I feel closer to her now than I’ve ever felt to her before. We’re survivors, both of us getting through life in our own way, both of us lost but trying to find a place for ourselves.

We’re trauma bonded, broke and scarred, and I love her because she doesn’t look away from my horrors.

No, she’s still here, she’s wriggling her hips and pressing her pussy against my mouth as I shove her panties aside and tongue her up and down, she’s grabbing my hair and moaning my name in breathy whispers, when she should be running the fuck out the door screaming her goddamn head off.

Instead, I’m fucking her with my fingers and sucking her clit as her back arches, and she screams when she comes, she screams my goddamn name, because I own her, and I love her, and I’m not sure I could survive another night without her ever again. And when I pull her into my arms and she straddles me, my cock’s so hard I’m afraid I might break her, and I want to break her as she moans and I slide deep inside her tight, warm pussy. She rides me, our bodies sweating, and I tease her breasts and suck her nipples, biting down just hard enough to make her moan.

“Tell me you love taking me between your legs,” I command and she does it with little whimpers. I shove my fingers in her mouth and she sucks them as I turn her onto her back and fuck her, sliding nice and deep, blissing out at the velvety heaven of her pussy.

“I can’t get enough of you, Alana,” I growl into her hair as I fuck her again and again, making her breasts shake with each rough thrust, more animal than man right now. “From the first second I saw you, you’ve been stuck in my head, and I don’t want to get you out.”

“You’re going to keep me, aren’t you?”

“You don’t sound upset about it. No, you sound like you enjoy getting your needy little pussy filled up, you dirty fucking girl.”

“I love it,” she groans, digging her fingers into my back. “I don’t want to get away anymore. I want to be right here, with you.”

“You want me to fuck you senseless, you filthy girl. Look at you, moaning and taking my big dick, grinding your hips to get every fucking inch of me. You love it, don’t you?”

“I love it,” she gasps, arching her back and rubbing her clit against me. “I fucking love it so much.”

“Come for me, baby. I want to feel you come again.”

“Keep fucking me. Don’t stop.”

I thrust into her, and we’re moving as one, all my thoughts are gone, there’s only the feeling of my cock driving deeper and deeper until her orgasm makes her body spasm again, and that finally hits my limit. The girl is so fucking sexy, I can’t help myself. I spill deep between her legs, biting down on her shoulder as I come hard, seeing stars.

She’s so warm and soft in my arms afterward. I love the way she gets all limp and smiles like she’s drunk. I tighten my grip, not wanting an inch between us, and she burrows herself against my chest, kissing me softly and letting out breathy sighs.

“I have to go to the family house tomorrow morning,” I tell her while stroking her hair. “And I want you to come with me.”

“Are you sure? I’m fine here. Honestly, I already feel better.”

“No, not after what happened. You shouldn’t be alone for a while.”

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