Page 54 of Cruel Crown

I bit my lip and closed my eyes because everything was becoming too much. He pulled back enough that I felt his loss.

“Look at me, Daphne,” he said, sounding annoyed. When I opened my eyes, he had my nightgown fisted in his hands. “Don’t fucking hide from me anymore.”

He pulled the material, ripping it in half, and pulled it away from me. “You’re fucking beautiful and you’re mine.”

I knew he asked me to keep my eyes open, but I couldn’t—it was too much for me to process without getting overwhelmed. His mouth came to my neck, and he licked and kissed all the scars and wounds until he made his way to my breast. He licked and sucked, and my hands went to his head as he brought one of his thumbs down to my clit.

“Please,” I begged, and he laughed. His hand roamed my body, curving to my ass. His finger traced over the puckered skin.

“Have you ever been fucked here?” His eyes were shining brightly, waiting for my answer.

When I nodded, he held his breath for a second before he asked his second question.

“Did you want it?” His voice came out gruff.

When I shook my head, I saw the way his eyes burned with anger, and then that’s when he slammed into me. His hands held on to my hips like a vice, and he thrust violently into me.

The noises coming out of my mouth should have embarrassed me, but I was at a point where I didn’t care anymore. It was just him and I.

“I’m—” I started to say, but Gideon cut me off when he began to choke me. He thrust in me three more times before I felt my body break out in hives from lack of oxygen. Then like a rubber band retracting, I went off.

He let go of my neck the moment my orgasm hit me. My scream pierced the air as Gideon kept fucking me. It broke down the remainder of the walls I had guarded against everyone. And the only two people left standing were us .

The piercing ringing in my ears was the only tether I had to remind me that I was still here and very much alive.

When I opened my eyes, Gideon was breathing heavily. Sweat dripped down his forehead, and when our eyes met, a smile full of male satisfaction spread across his face.

“You passed out on me, Petal,” he said victoriously before he bent and kissed me.

It was at that moment that my chest finished breaking open, and my heart that was barely beating began to pump a new type of life force in me—one not built on hate, but something more.

***

The moment I became conscious, I had to stop myself from jumping off my bed. Part of me felt the other part somewhat intrigued. This was what it felt like to wake up with a man?

As I became more aware of my surroundings, I felt a presence in the room. My body stilled, my hand curled against Gideon’s chest. There was timing for everything, and killing someone in the art of revenge had to be planned to the very last detail, and I didn’t want to kill anyone—not yet.

“Relax, it’s just Bas,” Gideon said in a sleepy voice.

“You shouldn’t be here,” I said as I sat, bringing the sheet with me.

Bastian was seated on the chair across the bed. He had an obsidian blade he kept throwing in the air and then catching it. “Relax, Damian is out hunting. I just wanted to tell you that Alexis is awake, and for G to get going before anyone sees him.”

“Thank you.” I nodded in acknowledgment.

Bas threw the knife in the air one more time before throwing it our way, and it landed by Gideon’s lap. He started to walk away, and he smirked at us—at me. “So it’s me, right? I have the bigger dick?”

I groaned and fell down on my bed with my blankets covering my face, and at the same time, I heard something hit the door and then metal hitting the floor.

“Did you just throw a knife at him?”

“Why did you fuck him?”

Gideon’s voice wasn’t playful nor post-orgasmic. Guess our honeymoon phase was over. I sat up, and as soon as I moved my legs, I winced.

“You have no right to ask me that,” I told him as I turned to face him. He leaned against the headboard shirtless, his hair somewhat messy, those whiskey eyes I was so fond of warm and unguarded. This was not the first time he had mentioned this, and I had a feeling it had bothered him more than he cared to admit.

I wasn’t sure what was going on, but I did know that if we didn’t address a few things, then everything we’d done to make it to this point would have been pointless.

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