Page 177 of Bake the Town Red

I don’t have to.

He attacks my mouth. He’s never kissed me like this before. Hunger and need are there, sure. But this, it’s something else.

Desperation. Adoration. Boundless love that stretches for miles and miles on end. Crosses oceans, leaps into the depths of hell, and climbs back stronger than ever.

This is how much Tyler loves me. This is how happy he is.

“Over the goddamn moon, little savage.” Sweet pain shoots through me from the harsh tug of his teeth on my lip. “Even if you’re not, I’m still happy. Just by having you in my life. Now this. God. Fuck. I’ve never been happier in my life.”

I gulp. Blink. No words come out. They’re all lodged in my throat.

I’m choking.

“You want to help me wrap this up?” Tyler jerks his head back, gesturing to Johnathan. “So I can eat your pretty pussy out, then fuck a sibling into that womb?”

“Then we’ll do it all over at home?”

“I’ll spoil you rotten, that’s what we’ll do at home.”

“Mmm!”

“Want to sit this one out, love?” His gaze slides to my stomach. “Get some rest?”

I want to help him. I do. We’re such a great team. The best. Except, there’s something else. “Can I do this one thing while you dunk him in hot chocolate?”

Tyler pauses. Silence overtakes the room. Well, we’re silent. Johnathan makes these gross, unattractive noises.

“You sure you’re up for it?”

“Absolutely.” I open my palm, facing up.

Tyler doesn’t have to look down to know I’m asking for the ice cream scoop.

He just does.

He places it in my hand, adjusts the mask back on my face, and lowers his. “Go crazy, little one.”

The wordsThank youare too small. Too silly. They’re unnecessary between us.

I don’t say them. I fold my arms around Ty. Hold him tight. Purr when he strokes my hair. He waits for me while I heat the ice cream scoop, then grabs the silver bowl and carries the chocolate to Johnathan. I follow close behind.

“Sorry to have kept you waiting.” Tyler isn’t sorry in the slightest. He adjusts the bowl over the bleeding circle he carved into Johnathan’s stomach. “My future wife could be pregnant. I had to kiss her. Speaking of Dahlia.”

Tyler gazes at me. The look in his eyes heats up every inch of me. From the tips of my toes up to my eyeballs.

“Here’s a piece ofher. Not the piece you’ve been meaning to steal—you can’t get her pussy or her life.” Hot, liquid chocolate pours out of the bowl and into Johnathan’s body. “But she did make this hot chocolate. Enjoy, fucker.”

Johnathan’s agony is evident. I give him less than a minute to seize, faint, then die.

“Time’s running out,” I sing-song in a cheery voice as I dig the ice cream scoop into Johnathan’s cheek. “You’ll be dead soon. Still, I have to try this. You understand, don’t you?”

Understanding seems to be beyond Johnathan at the moment. Tyler’s still pouring hot chocolate onto the man’s open wound. I’m carving out his cheek to see how fast I can get to his teeth. And he’s in the middle, taking and taking and taking until he’s gone.

Johnathan’s chin dips, his head lulling down. Lifeless.

“At least I got to see his teeth.” I rip off my mask, smiling brilliantly at Tyler. I don’t mind the puke that’s leaking from Johnathan’s hollowed cheek. Of course, I don’t. I’ve been expecting it.

“I’m into seeing something else.” The empty silver bowl drops in a clatter on the floor. “Oh, and Dahlia?”

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