Page 55 of Theirs to Rule

"I'm going to kill him," I spat out, the words tasting like venom on my tongue.

Camille flushed and her hand fluttered to her throat, but she shook her head. "Don't. We were just fooling around, and it went too far."

"Since when do you and Ty fool around?" Oh, I wasn't a fool. I knew that with the kind of past they had, and with the kind of sexual tension that crackled between them whenever they were together, it was only a matter of time before they gave in to their desire for one another. But I wasn't going to let her feed me a load of bullshit that those marks on her neck called for a laissez faire attitude either. Not with the energy they’d both given off.

“Fuck, Camille. He hurt you?”

"Dante, can we not...talk about it. Please?"

When she stopped in front of me, I reached out, gently stroking her neck. She winced and caught my hand. "I'm okay, Dante. Honestly."

"Peaches, that kind of play... It should be with someone you trust. There should be parameters. A safe word."

She glanced away. "It's not like that. We were...experimenting. It was just...a one-time thing."

"Why are you protecting him?"

"Because I could have stopped him," she said loudly, her gaze meeting mine. "Because I... I liked it." She dropped her face into her hands. "God, I'm a freak."

The last thing I wanted was for her to feel ashamed about her kinks. I gathered her into my arms. "You're not a freak. Mixing pain and pleasure, or fear and pleasure, can be intoxicating. You just have to be careful."

She hugged me back before stepping away. "Like I said, he's not touching me again."

"Good. Because unless he does things right, unless you're fully on board, the next time he marks you, I will end him."

Chapter 25

Dante

Camille led me downstairs. "What are you doing here, Dante? I thought you had something urgent to attend to?"

"I just had a feeling you needed me," I admitted, trying to keep my voice even. It was our thing, this unspoken connection that seemed to pull me to her whenever she was in trouble.

She smiled at that, a genuine warmth reaching her eyes. "That's becoming a habit, isn't it?"

"I don't mind. Do you?"

"No. Not at all," she said quietly. "What I mind is you ditched the werewolf costume. Except for the fact that I couldn't see your face, it was super hot."

I chuckled then reached for her hand, glad her expression had lightened up a little. "I didn't get a chance to tell you -- I loved your costume and the way you decorated your room. Literary Haunts. I could tell it was yours right away. You've already won in my book."

"Thanks, Dante. That means a lot, really."

We moved to the living room, settling onto the couch. She leaned against my chest, and I wrapped my arms around her, wishing I could shield her from every bad thing out there—as ifIwasn't one of those bad things. I kissed the top of her head, and she looked up at me, her eyes flicking to my lips.

Dammit. I couldn't resist her. My fingers gently slid up her throat, grazing over the marks there. She didn’t flinch and her lips parted slightly. Whatever Ty had done to her, it hadn’t left her traumatized. No, it had left her wanting.

"You’re such a good girl, Peaches," I whispered.

Camille tilted her head back then pressed her lips against mine. A part of me wanted to keep it to just a kiss after what had happened between her and Ty, but my cock didn’t like that idea.

"Peaches, if you need to stop--"

"No," she said, pulling my lips back to hers and swinging her leg over my lap. My hands flew to her hips, finding that under Kage's monster shirt, she had nothing else on.

"You feel so good, Camille," I murmured against her mouth. I felt her smile before she grabbed the back of my head, pulling me in closer, her tongue slipping past my lips. My heart pounded in my chest.

Was this about me, or was this about what had happened with Ty? Did it matter? Did I even care? If she was this close to me, that was all I should have given a damn about.

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