Page 132 of The Sinner's Bargain

A thick trickled expelled from my body and hit the inside of my knees. I squeezed my thighs together but it was no use.

“You knew?” I panted, unable to believe I was throbbing again after cumming four times already. But if he touched me even once, I knew I’d break again.

“That you were a horny little demon desperate for my dick?” He smirked and pinched my nipple through the front of my dress, making me gasp. “Oh, I knew.” He took my hand and peered down at it. “Where’s the wrapping?”

“I took them off. They’re not bleeding anymore.”

“Keep them on. You could get an infection.”

I had to rely heavily on Thoran as he helped me down the stairs. My knees were still trembling, and I couldn’t fully feel my feet. He seemed to find a world of humor in my distress.

There were two guards just inside the doorway when we reached the foyer. Both promptly dropped their gazes when we arrived. For a horrific moment, I realized they must have heard us. Well, me. Thoran had been holding me against the open door frame as he destroyed me, and sound traveled.

“Do you think they heard us?” I hissed just for Thoran’s ears.

He barely acknowledged the pair when he answered simply, “Not if they know what’s good for them.”

I wasn’t given the chance to press when we arrived at the dining room. Oliver and Vance were the only two in attendance.

Oliver beamed and rose. “Miss Smith, looking as lovely as ever.”

I smiled at him as Thoran helped me into my seat. “Thank you.”

Oliver regained his seat. “I heard you visited the village today. How did you like it?”

“I loved it,” I said, meaning it with my whole heart.

We fell into an easy conversation about the different shops and the people. He suggested several places I should see the next time I went, and I promised I would.

“Abby loved the village,” he said after a lull where Cooke served steaming plates of roast and potatoes with tiny carrots. “She would go every morning before the sun even came up. She loved watching the sunrise from that fountain in the courtyard. I feel her there sometimes when I sit and watch people go by.”

“Were you two close?” I asked when Oliver trailed off.

“She was my best friend.”

A sad, wistfulness crossed his round face, and I didn’t press anymore.

I couldn’t imagine losing Malcolm. I supposed, in a way, I had, but he was still alive and, one day, I would see him again and that was the hope I would keep with me.

“You did what?” The hard snarl in Thoran’s voice startled me to the present and the tension I’d missed between him and Vance.

“We don’t exactly have an abundance of time, Thoran,” Vance was saying. “The sooner we secure this opportunity, the sooner we can resume our lives. Unless you’ve decided to let Ronin have everything.”

“It should have been discussed with me before you made that call,” Thoran shot back. The fury wafting off him curdled the single nibble of roast I’d taken.

“We did discuss it, remember?” Vance retorted.

“And I said I would think about it.” Thoran turned on Oliver. “Call them back—”

“No.” it wasn’t fear in Oliver’s kind face but pity. Comfort. “I’m sorry, Thoran, but this has to be done.”

Live fire burned in Thoran’s face. A vicious and molten crackle of fury that whitened the peaks of his knuckles clenched on the table on either side of his plate. His golden eyes shot between the two men watching him back, but it was the third man I hadn’t seen slip into the room that he spoke to.

“Cyrus, take Blue to the office.” The coiling inferno was still there when his focus rested on me, but brutally controlled. He took my hand and brought it to his lips. “I’ll be there in a moment, love. Go with Cyrus.”

The guard appeared at my shoulder. Wordlessly, he gathered up my plate, cutlery and wine glass, and stepped back. Thoran rose to pull my chair out and help me to my feet. He gave my fingers a gentle squeeze of comfort.

With my insides a writhing mess, I turned and followed Cyrus from the room, but not before Thoran’s thundering roar tore through the delicate strain.

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