Page 25 of Darkness

My shoulder bumps into hers, and I shake my head. “No. Never.”

She waggles her eyebrows at me. “That flush on your face makes me think you’ve at least thought about it.”

“Stop! He stole me. He’s keeping me here. There’s no way I am ever sleeping with Nycto.”

Trixie purses her lips. “Okay… well, in the meantime, you have the books to satisfy your needs.”

My eyes widen as I take in the half-naked man on one of the covers. “Not that I’m a prude, but there’s no way in hell I’m… uh… taking care of myself in Nycto’s room. In his bed.”

Trixie leans past me, pointing to a book with a cognac glass and a pearl necklace on the cover. “This one might change your mind.” She winks at me, then stands. “Chapter fourteen. Trust me… you’ll enjoy it.”

I scrunch up my face, turn the book over, and slide it away.

Trixie laughs as she heads for the door. “Nycto won’t be back for a while. You have hours to yourself. Just sayin’.” She knocks on the door. The click of the lock is quickly followed by the door opening. “Honestly, Eva, let yourself enjoy your time here. Otherwise, you’ll drive yourself crazy.”

Trixie moves to walk out, but anxiety floods me at the thought of being left alone again. “Thanks for coming to see me, Trixie.” She turns back to face me. “Will you come back?”

Her face lights up. “Definitely. Read the book, Eva.”

I roll my eyes. She giggles as the door closes behind her, and I’m left alone in the red-toned room again.

I flop down on the bed.

I will not read smut. I will not read smut. I will not read…

My eyes slowly shift back to the books, and my jaw clenches side to side as I debate whether to pick up one of them or not. Swallowing hard, I pick the one with the half-naked man on the cover. He has abs on his abs. I bet Nycto has the same physique. Shaking my head free of those thoughts, I quickly place that book back down. My eyes then shift to the raunchy book, face down on the bed like it has been banished to the naughty corner. Gnawing on my bottom lip, I pick it up and read the blurb. It details a mafia kingpin forced into an arranged marriage to a woman who wants to join a convent rather than be a mafia queen. It piques my interest enough for me to open and take a peek.

Shifting up Nycto’s bed, I gather the pillows around me, get comfortable, and then open to the prologue. My eyes widen as the antihero savagely tortures and kills a man in the most brutal of ways. I cringe, I gasp, but most of all, I love how intensely the book has drawn me in within the first few pages.

The antihero meets the heroine, who kind of reminds me of Nycto and myself. The feisty female who doesn’t want anything to do with him but is attracted anyway, and the broody, broken, hot-as-sin guy who harbors demons and makes all the wrong decisions for the right reasons. I can’t help but find myself picturing Nycto as the antihero and myself as the heroine.

When he speaks, it’s Nycto.

When she speaks, it’s me.

I’m soon lost in a fantasy playing out in my mind of Nycto and me finding our way together in a world full of carnage and chaos. As I rush through the pages, their chemistry is electrifying. My breath catches at the way he fights wanting to be with her and how she struggles to see the good in him, even though he’s putting his worst traits aside for her.

They’re meant to be, and I’m only up to chapter thirteen. My heart pounds as they tear into each other, a fight of epic proportions. My adrenaline climbs as I turn the page, desperate to find out what happens next. She screams, telling him she hates him. It triggers something inside that I didn’t see coming—he spins, grabs her, and slams her against the wall aggressively, his mouth colliding with hers as he takes control. She pushes him in the chest, but he grips her wrists, forcing them to the drywall.

My clit starts to throb as I gnaw down on my bottom lip. The entire time I read the scene playing out, I imagine Nycto doing this to me.

Wish he were doing this to me…

“Once I take you, you’re mine. Understand?”

“Mm-hmm.”

“Say it.”

“I understand.”

He yanks my hair and my head falls back. His lips connect with my throat as his cock slams inside me without warning. I gasp at his width, my eyes widening with the fullness.

Being with him was something I didn’t plan. I never knew we would get to this stage. Things between us have been fiery but also intense. Every time we’re together, an adrenaline rush surges through me.

He pulls back, then thrusts again. The force of him fucking me from behind, his fingers clamped tight on my hair while the other slides around to stroke my pussy is almost overstimulating. All the pent-up emotions we’ve been going through have led us to this point.

He rears up and slams into me, fucking me hard, fast, and unrelenting, his fingers circling my clit. Sweat beads on my brow as his teeth graze along my neck. He thrusts deeper, so deep I can hardly catch my breath, while his finger rotates on my clit, driving me higher. My skin dances in goose bumps, tingling and shuddering as he lets me know I am, without a doubt, his.

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