Page 60 of Once A Crime Lord

She shivered. “Yes.”

“And he still took the risk. He knew the consequences for trespassing, Lyla.”

“He doesn’t understand your world—”

“Our world.”

He closed in on her, and her body locked against the need to run. He was a natural predator. Fleeing would only make things worse.

“You fucked up today,” he said.

“So did you.” The feeling of being hunted pissed her off. She shouldn’t be afraid of her husband, but she was. The polished veneer was what most people saw, but she knew about the beast beneath the pretty exterior. “You could have killed me.”

“If I didn’t love you so much, I would.”

Her breath whooshed out of her. “What?”

“I told you why I never committed fully the first time,” he said as he backed her against the wall and planted both hands on either side of her head. “I didn’t want anyone to have such power over me.”

His will was so strong that she could feel it pressing in on her, demanding her submission.

“You have the power to save me,” he said quietly and rubbed his thumb over her bottom lip. “And destroy me.” His eyes met hers. “Today, you destroyed me. You threatened to leave me for him.”

“Gavin, I couldn’t let you—”

His thumb slid into her mouth. Her lips closed reflexively before she tried to turn her head away.

“Gavin,” she garbled as his thumb slid deeper. What the fuck was he doing?

“Suck,” he ordered.

“We have to—”

He leaned down so their faces were inches apart. “Do it, Lyla.”

Her mouth watered as she held his feral gaze. He was on the precipice. One wrong move and he would lose it. Since his hand was in her face, she saw that his knuckles were swollen and ripped from God knew what. She raised her hands and felt him tense until she gripped his wrist. She brushed her finger over the cuts and then did as he asked. She sucked.

“I was so desperate to keep you safe, to get you away from those fuckers. I tracked you to that hotel, unsure why you were there, and I hear him say he can make you disappear.” The fingers resting against her jaw tensed. “There’s something you don’t understand about me, something you never did. When it comes to you, I’ll do whatever it takes to have you with me. I’ll steal you from another man, blackmail your father, or threaten someone’s life to bind you to me.” His eyes met hers. “Or kill a man for coveting what has always been mine.”

She pulled back. “Gavin—”

He replaced his thumb with his pointer and middle finger and sank them deep so she stopped trying to talk. His fingers skittered over her tongue and thrust slowly in and out of her mouth. She shifted restlessly. Why the fuck was this turning her on? And how could she be turned on when she should be pleading for Jonathan’s life?

“I’m not the kind of man you want to fall in love with you,” he said quietly, eyes fixed on her lips. “Men like me, when we find a reason to live, we hang on too tight. I know men who have killed their wives because they can’t handle how she makes them feel.”

She dug her nails into his chest and felt his muscles tense in reaction.

“I never understood that feeling until today,” he said.

“Gavin—”

He wrapped one hand around her neck and pulled her away from the wall. He walked her backward until the back of her knees hit the cot. The narrowing of his eyes gave her a split second of warning before he whirled her around and bent her over. Her hands landed on the thin mattress. He yanked her sweatpants down and trailed rough, calloused fingers over her bare ass. Goose bumps rose over her body.

“What are you doing?” she demanded and tried to wriggle away.

“Don’t move,” he ordered.

“Gavin—”

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