Page 133 of The Life of Anna-Tenth Anniversary Edition: Act 1

Anna’s eyes filled with tears as she saw the sincerity in his expression. “I don’t deserve someone like you.” She wrapped her arms around him.

After one last kiss, Aaron left and Anna leaned against the back of the door. She had been looking forward to the night with Devin, until Alex told her the truth about herself. Now she didn’t want to see Devin. If she were braver, she might have been angry at him for not telling her the truth about who she was. But she wasn’t brave.

As soon as Devin walked into Anna’s apartment, he knew something was wrong. She wouldn’t look him in the eye and didn’t embrace him as enthusiastically as she should have.

He’d had a busy week and hadn’t been able to take advantage of Anna’s new location to visit her. His cock was hard and throbbing, and he’d intended to fuck her as soon as he arrived. He reigned in his irritation; she was a delicate creature and needed to be treated accordingly.

Fucking Alex.

He only had a few minutes to sort out whatever was going on, so he led her to the couch. “Anna, Baby. What’s wrong?” He stroked her hand and she tensed. He grasped her chin with gentle but firm pressure and locked eyes with her. There were always ways to find out what was going on in her head. He kissed her gently until she relaxed. Then he stroked her cheek again. “What’s wrong?” he asked in a gentle voice.

“Alex . . . He . . . he said . . .”

Devin frowned. “What did Alex tell you?” He kept his voice as even as possible.

With a halting voice, she recounted what Alex had told her about being a Half-Immortal, and Devin’s anger boiled just beneath the surface.

I don’t have time to deal with this shit right now. Fucking Alex. He would confront the German first thing in the morning and have a long—and hopefully painful—discussion with him. He might not be able to kill the man, but he could absolutely hurt him.

But right now, he had to deal with Anna’s present mental state.

“Anna, what Alex told you is technically true.” He stroked the side of her head and concentrated, closing his eyes and feeling her mind break open to his will. She shivered and let out a groan as he began to change her thoughts. “Baby, it’s not as bad as it sounds. When your parents died, I wanted you to have a place in this world and become a great helper to me. Remember? I told you what Jack did to you couldn’t be helped, but that I’d make it up to you. You asked to dance and I’m letting you, right?”

Her eyes glazed over as he twisted the truth in her mind.

“I love you, Anna. It was the only way I could have you, and I need you so badly. If your father didn’t want me to have you, he would have stopped me. He’s Immortal. Immortals are powerful. Humans can’t do things they don’t approve of.” It wasn’t true, but she didn’t need to know that. “Alex wants to control you and keep you close so he can use you. That’s why he got you this apartment so close to his place.” Devin smiled as an idea popped into his head. “He’s so big and strong... Can you imagine what he would do to you if you angered him? Would a single night’s sleep be able to heal what he’d do to you?”

Anna shuddered and squeezed her eyes shut.

“I won’t do that to you, Anna. I love you. And you enjoy the pain I give you, don’t you? Remember how good it felt last week?”

A smile crept across her face, and Devin smiled to himself. It was working.

“You like what I do to you, Anna. You know I only want for you to be an important helper to me. And you are going to do it so well. Especially tonight.” He paused. “Open your eyes, Baby.”

She obeyed, struggling to focus on him for a long moment.

“I have some very special things planned for you tonight.” He released her mind and leaned back to see if it worked. He hadn’t done this before and there could be consequences if he’d done it wrong.

Anna blinked, dizzy as her mind cleared, and looked up at Devin. Something nagged at her, telling her she should be afraid of him, but she couldn’t for the life of her remember why. He loved her. He needed her.

She reached a shaking hand out to touch his cheek. He smiled and took her hand in his, kissing her palm sensually. Her eyes drooped as his lips caressed her palm. “Devin...”

“That’s my girl.” He leaned forward and kissed her, cupping the back of her head to bring her closer. “I’ve missed you,” he murmured against her lips.

She moaned softly and pressed into him. She needed him as much as he needed her. It didn’t matter that she and Aaron had made love many times that day already. She needed Devin. She slid her hand up his leg to his cock. He groaned as she stroked him over his soft wool pants.

“Devin . . .”

“Yes, Baby. I know.” Turning her around to face the back of the couch, he kissed the back of her neck and pushed her dress up over her hips. He stroked her ass with one hand as he unzipped his pants with the other. He ran the hot flesh of his cock across her ass, then moved aside her thong and traced it down her cleft to the entrance of her pussy. She moaned as he teased her, rubbing himself along the lips, but not entering her.

“Please, Devin . . .” She pushed back against him.

He pressed forward and groaned as he slipped into her hot, silky slit. “Oh, God, Anna, I’ve missed you.” He unzipped her dress and reached forward to caress her breasts inside her bra, playing with and tugging on her nipples.

She moaned as he thrust hard. “Oh, Devin... yes!”

He grabbed her hips and slammed into her over and over again. “Come for me, Baby. I want to hear you scream for me.”

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