Page 35 of Jared's Redemption

The door at the top of the stairs clicks shut, soft footfalls stagger over the floor and come to a stop outside the door. I wait, holding my breath as the knob turns, but my heart pounds harder in my chest, trying to reach who is on the other side.

Luna locks eyes with me as the door swings open and the rest of the world fades away while I take her in. The scar on her right cheek is lighter, but the marking does not mar her beautiful face. It makes her fierce blue eyes appear brighter and proud. She holds her head taller and stands with her shoulders back.

Luna is wearing black cargo pants that hug every inch of her thick thighs in a way that urges me to rip them from her. The dark gray shirt with long sleeves if also fitted snug to her and my mouth is watering at the sight.

Our time apart has been cruel to me, but has obviously done wonders for her.

“Are you cheating on me, Biggums?” The perky words fall from her lips so easily, but I see the tremble in her hands before she crosses her arms and saunters closer.

“What are you doing here?”

“This was our room. You dragged another prisoner here to torture? I’m hurt, Jared. Truly. Did you want to keep all the fun to yourself?” She tilts her head with a pout on her lip. My hand raises to cup her cheek, wanting to brush the look away, but I stop myself.

Luna turns to face Steffen and I want to drag her out of here and far away from him. Steffen lifts his head, his eyes roaming over her slowly and I see the hesitation in her eyes before her mask slips into place as she stands in front of him.

“Pity that you aren’t fun to look at anymore,” Steffen hisses the words, spitting at her feet.

“Don’t fucking speak to her.” I snarl, lunging for him. Luna twists to stand in front of me, blocking my way as I stare down at her.

“I can handle myself.” She says, snatching the knife from my hand before I can blink and pointing the tip at my throat. A crooked grin curls my lip up as I press into the blade, feeling blood well up and drip down to soak the collar of my gray dress shirt. Luna doesn’t step away, her hold on the blade it steady as she watches my every breath.

She is every bit as beautiful as I remembered. The face that haunts my days and dreams. I can’t shake her and when she’s standing so close, her perfume flooding my nose makes me want to run for the door. Her gaze flicks to the very obvious hard on I’m sporting in my black slacks and I chuckle at the realization.

“We’re matching.” I say, making her eyes squint in a glare at me. I fight to ignore the growing sting in my neck as she twists the blade before pulling it away.

“I hope your death is slow and agonizing.” Steffen says, mustering bravery. I wrap my hand around Luna’s and stab the knife into his stomach. He throws his head back with a cry of pain and Luna laughs. A deep, gleeful laugh that makes her shoulders shake and my heart ache.

“Beautiful.” The word slips from my mouth like a whispered prayer. Luna smirks over her shoulder at me and jerks the blade from his body, smearing the blood over his face as he tries to jerk away.

“You stupid-” Luna shoves the blade through his mouth using her weight and a soft grunt, cutting his words off.

“Yeah, yeah. Stupid bitch, I know.” She says, waving her hand like she’s board with the conversation she’s having with the dead guy. Luna spins to face me, making a face at the blood staining her hands.

“Do you mind grabbing my suitcase at the top of the stairs? I’m going to run to our place and wash up. This makes me want to peel my skin off, blech.” She sticks her tongue out, skipping towards the stairs while humming under her breath.

What the fuck just happened? Steffen is dead, limp in the chair as his blood puddles around him and annoyance pinches when I see some have slipped past the tarp.

“This day just keeps getting fucking better.” I grumble, yanking my phone out to call a clean-up crew.

Luna is in my shower, the door wide open and her clothes strewn across the floor. I throw her massive suitcase to the floor next to the door and run a frustrated hand through my hair. Her off key singing tries to paw away my annoyance, but I grip onto it. These past few weeks, she dropped off the face of the earth. Aden refused to tell me anything, but his baby took up the majority of his attention.

I accepted that the love we shared was dangerous. It was a feral beast that I had no business trying to capture, knowing the danger it posed to her. But here she was, and I had to put a stop to it. The shower turns off, stopping my pacing as she calls out for me.

“What are you doing here, Luna?” I shout, planting my feet to stop from going to her.

“I need a towel, silly.”

I can’t move when her naked form steps into the doorway. Water drips from her and soaks the carpet under her feet as she challenges me with her eyes. I become breathless as I observe her form, particularly the dark, textured pink skin on her healed shoulder. The longer I stare, the angrier her face becomes.

“What, got a problem because I don’t look like a fucking porcelain doll anymore?” She sneers, mistaking my stare for something other than adoration.

“Excuse me?” I ask, crossing my arms as I feel her tantrum brewing. Pushing her buttons might be a bad idea, but I was having a lot of ideas about what buttons I wanted to push to make her scream and this was the tamer option.

“I never once looked at you with pity or disgust from your scars, Jared. I won’t cover them up, either. Fuck, I’ll walk around naked and make you look at them every day if I have to!” She shouts, throwing her hands into the air. The motion makes her boobs bounce and I feel like a boy seeing his first pair of tits with the way my eyes lock to them.

“You aren’t parading around my home naked, Luna. Because you are getting dressed and leaving.” I force the words, but Luna just cocks a brow and plants her feet.

“Make me.”

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