Page 107 of When Lies Unfold

“Yeah? Well, I like to be prepared.” With the blade in my hand, I keep my voice steady and gesture to her sports bra. “Promise I’ll buy you a new one.”

At her nod, I gently pull her bra away from her skin and drag the sharp blade carefully through the fabric. It falls away, revealin’ her perfect tits, and I use the same caution as I slice through the straps.

Lettin’ her bra drop beside the sink, I lower my attention to the knife in my hand. “I used this to help you.” When I lift my eyes to hers, I add, “You know I’m not gonna hurt you with it.”

She swallows audibly and somethin’ softens in her gaze. “I know.”

I return the knife to its drawer. Then I slide my fingers beneath the waistband of her black pants, my eyes never leavin’ hers.

Hell if I know why, but I’m compelled to tell her exactly what I’d do to that fucker who hurt her. It’s like I’ve picked up on a silent request from her—somehow, I know she needs to hear it.

“I’d torture him like he did you.” She sucks in a breath, desire flashin’ in her eyes. I ease her pants down, and she shifts to help me get them past her hips. “I’d take my time cuttin’ on him. Drag it out for hours. Days. Weeks.”

When my fingers encounter more scars hidden within the ink etched low along the side of her hip and curvin’ toward her stomach, my words are forced from between gritted teeth. “Make him bleed and cry like a goddamn baby.”

Her nipples tighten and her chest heaves, those eyes darkenin’ with arousal. Yeah, she wants to hear this. Needs to, even.

I tug off her pants and let them drop to the floor. “I’d make him fuckin’ suffer as long as I could. Break every bone in his body. Puncture his lungs and spleen.”

Sittin’ in a plain cotton thong, she cinches her legs around me, tuggin’ me closer. Her hand molds over my cock where it’s as hard as steel, practically punchin’ through my boxer briefs.

Voice breathless, she shoves my boxers down, lettin’ my cock jut free. “You’d make him bleed, inside and out?”

“Fuck, yeah.”

Eyes locked with hers, I kick off my boxers and bracket her hips in my hands. My thumb grazes over the upraised skin beneath the vibrant green vines and leaves etched along her left hip.

“I’d make him suffer for as long as his body held out.”

I dip my hand between her thighs and tuck two fingers beneath her thong, tracin’ them along the crease of her pussy. She’s slick already, and I wonder how much of it’s due to what I’m sayin’.

Lowerin’ my mouth to the tiny scars at the corners of her mouth, I dust my lips over them. I do the same to the ones along her cheek and jaw. The one at the very corner of her left eye.

When I nip at her earlobe and murmur, “I’d fuckin’ beat his face till it was too bloody to recognize,” her back arches and her tits brush against my chest.

Slowly, I pump my fingers inside her. In. Out. In. Out. Fuckin’ hell, the way she coats me in her hot, wet arousal has my balls already drawin’ tight.

“Does it make you hot hearin’ what I’d do to him?”

“Godyes.” Her hand speeds up, workin’ my cock in unsteady strokes like she’s desperate to jack me off. “Tell me everything.” Her breathin’ turns choppier when I start thumbin’ circles over her clit and continue pumpin’ my fingers inside her.

When her grip tightens on my cock, precum leaks at the tip. “You wanna hear how I’d cut off his fingers, one by one?”

Her pussy clamps down, flutterin’ a little, and her breath hitches. “You’d do that for me?”

The way she poses that question, like she’s surprised anybody would do somethin’ like that for her—because of her—pisses me the fuck off.

I stop my fingers and pin her with a harsh glare that has her hand pausin’ on my cock. “You don’t think I would?”

Her mouth parts, but she doesn’t form an immediate response. “It’s not that…” Her attention drops to focus on my throat, her voice soundin’ small. “You have your own stuff to worry about. And I’m not part of your world, so?—”

With my other hand, I lift her chin, forcin’ her to meet my eyes. Challenge fills my tone. “You’re part of my world now. Understood?”

When she wets her lips, I bite back a groan, my dick flexin’ in her hold. I wanna hear her answer. Need to.

The barest whisper, her single-word response is cloaked with vulnerability. “Yes.” Her answer delves deep inside me, wedgin’ its way somewhere I don’t want to acknowledge. Somethin’ big shifted tonight, and she’s opened up to me even knowin’ I’ve got the connections and power to find shit out.

But I don’t need to. I know enough to believe Lola Arias isn’t lyin’ to me. Fuck… All these upraised scars that sonofabitch carved into her skin tell me so.

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