Page 113 of The Phantom's Vice

I chuckle, reaching up to the back of her neck and squeezing lightly in a warning. “Always so bratty.”

Brett giggles. Snuggles her face deeper into my side. We lie like that for a while, nothing but the steady beep of monitors in the background to break the comfortable silence between us. I’m so at ease, so blissfully peaceful, that I’m jerked from sleep as Brett’s tinkling voice fills the air.

“Hey, Ghost?”

“Hmm?” I murmur, lazily running my fingers through herhair. “What’s up?”

“I just wanted to tell you… You make this world a much less shitty place.”

I chuckle low in my chest, shaking my head gently. “I love you too, darling,” I whisper, pulling her up for a long, passionate kiss. “God, do I love you.”

I’m discharged that same afternoon—much to the dismay of the attending handling my case. But nothing will stop me from holding Brett the way I’ve wanted to since the moment I gained consciousness.

As soon as I step into the main room of my lair, Rupert throws himself onto me, nearly knocking me to the floor as he assaults me with slobbering kisses.

“I missed you too, buddy,” I murmur, my eyes stuck on Brett’s happy little smile as I run my fingers through Rupert's fur. Brett’s attack cat rounds the corner, greeting me with a disgruntled yowl, only to rub himself against my leg a moment later. “Yeah, I missed you too.”

I crouch to pet Venom, only to have him swat at me with his T-rex arms, his yellow eyes narrowed at my blatant disrespect. Brett giggles, swooping him into her arms and giving him a few forehead kisses.To my amazement, the angry little cat purrs, closing his eyes in contentment as Brett reaches up to scratch behind his ears.

“He’s been a little grouchy ever since I told him I was going to pick you up from the hospital.” Venom opens his eyes, staring at me with a look that screamsI was hoping you had died.

I chuckle under my breath as Orion rounds the corner, skidding across the tile in his socks in his haste to get to me. He pulls me into a bear hug, only to reach back and send a punch to my shoulder.

“The fuck was that for?”

“For not taking me with you to the Sanctum in the first place. Stubborn old bastard.”

I roll my eyes despite the smile tipping my lips. “I’m not even that old!”

“To me, you are.”

Brett’s giggle fills the halls, and I glance over to see her face spread in the most heart-stopping smile I’ve seen. She’s practically glowing—no, sheisglowing—and it’s the most perfect thing I’ve ever laid eyes on. Pulling from Orion’s embrace, I give him a brotherly slap on the shoulder and turn to Brett, my skin humming with the need to have her against me.

Sensing the change in the air, Orion rubs hishand on the back of his neck. “Hey, Rupert? Feel like going for a walk?”

Rupert woofs happily, his tongue lolling as his front legs spring off the ground in a couple of happy hops. Orion chuckles, leading Rupert toward the exit without so much as a glance over his shoulder. “Have fun, crazy kids!”

I roll my eyes in time with Brett, matching grins on our faces. “Are you thinking what I’m thinking?” she asks.

“God, I fucking hope so,” I murmur, pulling her flush against my chest. I trail my hand up her side, reveling in the gentle dip and flow of her natural curves. Electricity hums beneath every inch of my skin, drawing me to her like a moth to a fucking forest fire.

My head dips low, and I press my face into the crook of her neck as I inhale her intoxicating scent. “Brett… if I have to go another minute without being inside you, I think I’m going to die.”

She throws her head back in a laugh, which comes to a halt when she sees the deadly emotion swirling in my gaze. “Oh…”

“Ohis right, my darling,” I whisper, nipping gently at her delicate skin. Brett whimpers as a shiver runs through her, and I cup her ass with my palms, hoistingher up and binding her legs behind my waist. “I’m going to fuck you until you can’t breathe. Until you’re so consumed with me, there’s not another thought in your pretty little mind. I’m going toownyou, Brett.”

Her throat bobs in a swallow as I rush us to the bedroom. I toss her to the bed, and she lets out a little yelp as her head smacks lightly against the headboard. My concern quickly dissolves as her bright laughter fills the space, only to dissolve a moment later as I get on my hands and knees and crawl to her.

“You don’t realize what you do to me,” I growl, prowling closer at an excruciating speed. She looks deep into my eyes, and what she sees doesn’t scare her. It lights a new kind of fire in her, a fresh new spark of desire. And when I finally press my lips to her, she kisses me back with just as much fever.

“I’m drowning in you, Brett,” I murmur into her neck, not willing to break our bond just yet. “I’m drowning, and I don’t want any fucking air.Never again.”

Yanking her pants from her hips, I begin trailing kisses down her abdomen, over the peaks of her hip bones and down to the crease where her thigh meets her hip. Brett’s moans fill my chest withdesperation as I lash my tongue against her needy clit, fighting the urge to devour her.

I lap every drop of her arousal, moving against her like this might be the last meal I’ll ever have. And when her walls collapse and her body shudders with an earth-shattering release, I don’t give her any relief. Positioning my cock at her entrance, I push into her with one powerful movement, the feel of her walls tightening around me, drawing a strangled gasp from my lips.

“This fucking pussy,” I groan, moving in her with a vicious kind of desperation. “You’re so fucking perfect, Brett. The way you grip me. The way your pussy cries for me. All of it is so. Fucking. Perfect,” I growl, punctuating each word with a thrust.

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