Page 146 of Sinful Games

?Joseph Conrad

Alexsei

“So, how is it?” I asked eagerly, watching as she took another spoonful of my homemade chocolate mousse. I’d spent hours in the kitchen, following a YouTube video from a renowned French chef who claimed it was the best chocolate mousse recipe ever.

“It’s good, Lexi,” Caia replied, trying to stifle a giggle as she continued to eat. A tiny grimace flickered across her face beforedisappearing.

I couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow suspiciously. “You’re lying.”

She met my gaze with a playful glint in her eyes, her cheeks flushing slightly. “No, I’m not!”

Determined to prove her wrong, I grabbed the mousse from her hands and took a spoonful myself, expecting a heavenly taste. But to my shock, it was anything but.

What. The. Fuck.

I dashed to the sink, spitting out the mouthful in disbelief.

“I think you confused the salt with the sugar,” Caia said between fits of laughter.

As I rinsed my mouth, trying to wash away the disgusting taste of that failed dessert, Caia approached with a smirk on her lips. “Hey, at least it’s a one-of-a-kind dessert,” she teased, her laughter infectious as she wrapped me in her arms.

I couldn’t help but chuckle, despite the culinary disaster. “Yeah, one-of-a-kind is definitely the right word,” I admitted, drawing her closer.

I buried my face in the curve of her neck, inhaling her scent deeply. I never used to like being touched before I met her. Sure, I enjoyed a good fuck back then, but intimacy—hugging, kissing for hours, caressing my hair—none of that shit was ever my thing. But with Caia, it felt like being caught in the whirlwind of a desert sandstorm every day if I didn’t feel her hands on me. I was addicted to her touch, her smell, her kisses, her body—the whole fucking package.

“You know what else is one-of-a-kind?” I whispered slowly as my lips grazed her neck and reached her ear.

“What?” she breathed, her excitement evident as my hands slowly traveled down her back and gripped her ass.

“You, baby.”

She grabbed the back of my hair and tilted my head up, meeting my lips with hers. Her kiss was fierce andinsistent, as if she was trying to imprint herself onto me, as though she feared that if she let go, I would vanish into thin air.

“Happy anniversary,moya solnyshka,” I whispered against her lips.

She smiled, her emerald eyes sparkling with admiration as she caressed my cheek. “Happy anniversary, Alexsei.”

Suddenly, Lukyan’s cries cut through the moment, breaking the spell we were under. With a reluctant sigh, we pulled apart, our gazes locking in for a brief moment before we both hurried to tend to our little one.

“I guess it’s feeding time,” I chuckled, pushing open the door to his bedroom and flicking on the light switch.

But when I reached his crib, it was empty.

Confusion gripped me, but then I felt a cool droplet on my cheek.

Bringing my hand up, I saw it was red.

Blood.

Looking up, I saw dark, swirling clouds above, raining down crimson droplets.

"I'm sorry, Alexsei. I’m so, so, so sorry," Caia’s voice trembled from behind me, her hands clutching my blood-soaked shirt.

Turning slowly, I saw her standing there, completely drenched in blood, looking like a scene fromReady or Not. Then she started to scream. Her screams echoed, growing louder with every frantic shout for Lukyan. The terror in her voice was raw and chilling, sending icy shivers down my spine.

She clung to me, her body shaking violently as she wailed into the darkness. But then, her cries cut off abruptly, and she locked eyes with me, her gaze hollow and haunted.

In a voice barely above a whisper, she said the words that made me want to fucking die: “It’s all your fault, Alexsei.”

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