Page 163 of The Harbinger

She turned her hand in mine, and I kissed her knuckles. “Anything else you wish to share? Parent’s names, home address, last name?”

Mia shook her head, then flicked her hair back from her face. “Sorry.” She sighed and turned on her back, taking the sheets with her to keep her breasts covered. “The man’s name that took me… it was Fuego. I’ve seen him a few times, but I first learned his name when you found me downstairs.”

Was he the cause of her fear? Not the nightmare itself, but the man who took her and did unspeakable things that left mental scars, rather than physical ones? Unmistakable anger curled my fist, and my plea to Asmodeus grew louder inside my mind.

“Do you know what he looks like?”

She shook her head, then turned back to her side, carefully avoiding her branding. “Just his voice. It has a soft accent I can’t place. I thought maybe Spanish because of his name, you know?”

Mia spun the silver ring on her finger, and we glanced down at it together. “And what about Jenny? Do you know why she had this ring?” I grabbed her hand and brought the ring closer to examine it.

“She never said anything except that it belonged to her daughter that I reminded her of.”

The silver ring was like all the rest, but something about it stood out… at least it did when she’d first boarded my plane. It was old, yet clean, almost newly cleaned for someone homeless, and that didn’t add up.

“What was her daughter’s name?”

Mia frowned, her brows furrowing as she thought. “I think she said it was Maria. But don’t quote me on that.”

“I’ll make sure I tell them all it was your fault if it was wrong.” I laughed, and Mia’s face fell as if fear swirled in her gray eyes.

“Are you okay?” She lurched forward and placed her hand on my forehead. “You must be dying… feverish?” A smile teased her lips as I pulled her hand off me and held it, then she laughed, her chuckle like music to my ears. I followed in turn, her joy contagious.

We sat for a moment laughing, and a damning silence befell us when we’d tired.

“I like when you’re like that.”

“Like what?”

“Carefree. Happy. You don’t seem happy most of the time. It makes me sad.”

My throat constricted, and my smile fell like a ball tumbling downstairs. What was happiness in her eyes, anyway?

“Don’t do that.” She moved closer, pressing her warm body against mine, her hand cupping my cheek, my dick jumping to attention. “Don’t shut down. I don’t get to see this side of you.”

I wet my lips, placed my hand over hers, and then rubbed her scrapes against my beard until she winced and tried to pull away.

“What is it about my other side you don’t like?” Her lower lip slipped between her teeth as she whimpered, and my cock solidified against her belly. My hand gripped her tighter as she tugged.

“You can be cruel sometimes.”

“I can be cruelalways,malishka. You don’t like all of me?“ I pressed harder against my beard and drew her hand down to my chin.

Her eyes closed as she exhaled. “You can be hurtful.”

“I thought you enjoyed the pain I brought you,” I said, tossing off her hand and rolling on top of her, the silk sheet sliding against my bare skin as I settled between her thighs, my weeping cock pressed against her cunt.

Her eyes shot open. “I…”

Before another word slipped past her vulnerable lips, I slammed home and nearly lost the battle I’d just begun. Her tight heat sheathed me in warmth and flexing muscle, her groan like the first bite of honey cake. “I cause you pain, yet you come back for more.”

“Yes,” she whispered, a tear trailing down her cheek as I filled her. “I want your pain, pleasure, and promise of forever.”

“And you have it,” I growled, before slamming my mouth down on hers as I thrust inside her over and over, my hips grinding against her clit. Her nails scraped down my arms as her head tipped back, breaking off our soul-sucking kiss, the sweet vibration of her orgasm caressing me. Shivers ruptured down my spine, and a cold sweat beaded along with it. My legs tingled as the last wave of her orgasm squeezed my cock, and I exploded with a strangled grunt.

My legs shook with exhaustion, yet I steadied myself above her and sucked a nipple into my mouth, swirling the puckered flesh with my tongue. She groaned, her fingers threading through my hair, before I popped it from my lips and rolled off her.

Her and my sticky residue stuck to my leg as I vanished into the bathroom and cleaned myself off then slid back into bed.

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