Page 106 of Unholy Bonds

Oh, fuck it. She’s mine the first moment I touched her.

“Do you want a bite of it?”

She moaned and nodded. I smiled. I fucking loved her. It was a mistake, but… fuck.

I could run a million miles and would never be able to stop my need for her. I could go to another planet, and I still wouldn’t really get away from everything that was Yara West.

It was inevitable. The destruction. There was no way out of this obsession. It would ruin me, but I had no other choice. All I could do was hold on until then and pray that she wouldn’t rip my soul into pieces.

There was no way in hell I could let her go. Not after making her mine in every way possible. I bent down, burying my face between her thighs, searching for more of her. I smiled when she groaned.

When I was done, she was a screaming, cursing mess.

“You look so fucking smug, Ryden,” she said when I finally settled next to her.

“I am. I’m going to destroy your life, Red, and I don’t feel a shred of regret. Not anymore,” I said with a sigh, pressing a kiss against her shoulder, tracing that scarred butterfly above her breast.

“I’ll let you destroy my life, Ryden, if you promise to eat me out like that.” I knew she was thinking about the deal we made… the no-strings-rule.

Fuck that. It was broken a while ago, and I knew she’d try to unbreak it, but I’d try harder to keep her, to always keep her.

For the first time in my life, everything was blissfully quiet. I had never felt this… this peacefulness in my life. Even when I was young, I was always on alert. There was always that darkness, lingering, waiting.

Her fingers went to my lips. I bit her, and she yelped, giving me a mock glare.

“Always.”

Fucking forever, Yara. Because you’re mine. You will only ever be mine.

I had to iron out a lot of details, but for the moment, everything was just the way I wanted it to be.

I pulled her closer, wrapping my arms around her, cocooning her into my skin. She settled in, like she was made for my body.

She fit perfectly.

“Good night, baby.”

41

GIFT OF GIVING

YARA

Iwoke up with a groan. My body felt like it was run over by something delicious but also… destructive. Every part of me ached, but I enjoyed the pain. I turned around to see Ryden lying next to me, looking almost soft and content. The harsh lines around his eyes, the firm press of his lips… they were absent, making him almost accessible, normal.

I traced the scar by his lower lip with a sigh.

For two people who started this for sex, we were… dangerously wading closer to uncharted waters, and I didn’t know how I felt about that.

He looked like a melancholic song written about broken dreams and desires, and I wanted to be the words in his poetry.

He yawned and stretched. “Good morning, Yara.”

“Good morning, Ryden.”

He rolled over and pressed his body to mine, his erection nudging against my thighs as his hands drew art on my back.

My body came alive. Wanting more, I moved closer, seeking his heat. Last night was explosive, but I didn’t feel like it was enough. More and more. I hoped, wished, that this need wouldn’t be so sharp all the damn time.

---