Page 28 of Crime Lord's Paradise

Her breasts moved in rhythm with his thrusts. He willed her eyes to open so he could see them glazed with lust or shock or pleasure, but they remained closed. Her breathing was uneven and her hands gripped the pillow while beads of perspiration dotted her forehead.

He gripped her hips and punched deep. She let out a choked scream, hands flailing and hitting his chest while he groaned and filled her. He nuzzled her cheek while his cock wept happily inside her.

He kissed her cheek as she settled beneath him. “Don’t challenge me unless you want to pay the consequences.”

6

Lyla woke spread eagledin bed with a cold, wet spot under her ass and a familiar stickiness between her legs. “Fucking Gavin.”

She grit her teeth as she sat up. That fucker went to town on her last night. She hobbled into the bathroom and examined her bruised rump before she stepped in the shower. She had just finished blow-drying her hair when Gavin walked in. He wore a white button up tucked into navy slacks. His eyes were a shade lighter than usual, which told her his beast was still at the forefront. She eyed him balefully as he came up behind her and gripped the vanity on either side of her.

“Sore?”

“What do you think?”

“I think you deserved it.”

She whirled in the circle of his arms. The scratches on his cheek were noticeable, but just barely. It was typical that the scratches didn’t ruin his sex appeal. He wore battle wounds the same way he wore everything—with effortless arrogance. “I clawed youin my sleep,and I get a bruised ass?”

“You threw down.”

“I was having a nightmare. I didn’t know what I was doing.”

He lifted the back of her robe and examined her ass in the mirror. He didn’t look the least bit contrite. On the contrary, he looked pleased. “I can handle being scratched by a kitty. I don’t mind the tap on the chin you gave me either.” His fingers skimmed her swollen rump, and she tensed, waiting for another teeth-jarring smack. “It’s what you did after that set me off.”

“After?”

“You pulled away from me. You told me not to touch you.”

“When I relive that shit, I need a moment, Gavin! You’re always coming at me. You don’t let mebreathe!”

He ignored her statement by pressing her tender ass against the vanity. When she made a bid for space, he pinned her hands behind her back and forced her chest against his.Seriously?She had one really bad nightmare, and he went fucking psycho alpha on her.

“You don’t need time to think or breathe in that shit. You need to stay in the present with me. They’re dead, Lyla.”

“I know they are,” she said through clenched teeth. “I can’t control my dreams.”

“You have a guilty conscience.”

“I don’t.”

“Then what was it about? Steven? Your father?” He cocked his head when she didn’t speak. “My father?”

Her heart wriggled uncomfortably. “It doesn’t matter now, does it?”

He cupped her chin. “Was it Dad?”

She swallowed hard. “I don’t want to talk about it.”

His thumb glided over her bottom lip. “Don’t let the past overshadow the present. We’re still here.”

Her eyes filled with tears. “I know.”

“We’ve been through too much to let any of that hold us back. You don’t pull away from me. I won’t tolerate it.”

“I noticed,” she muttered and searched his face. “You don’t ever dream about … anything?”

“Rarely and when I do, it’s satisfying. I’m the one doing the killing.”

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