Page 34 of Last Breath

As we start down the road, the shock of it hits me. I killed someone. I killed someone who deserved it. Sure, I’d killed rabbits invading my garden. I’dconsideredending my grandmother. I’d seen the death of Salem’s father—but I justify that because the piece of shit deserved everything he got. Killing someone in cold blood, even if I knew in my heart it was right, it opened the flood gates that held back my darkness. I acted upon instinct.

The shock of the act isn’t because I did something dangerous, but because it felt…good. It felt right.

Everything that has happened recently caused my darkness to increase—to match theirs.

Both dark and light, Salem and Malachi are exactly what I need in my life. I could no more ask them to change the men they are than to change the woman I’ve become. I am who I am now because of Salem and Malachi.

Yes, they’re both dangerous men, but if anyone were to harm them, I’d defend them with deadly force. They’re mine to have, hold, and spill blood with.

After that first meeting—as shocking as it was—Malachi wasn’t what I expected. He’s soft, caring, attentive and bold. When I met him, I thought he’d be what the outside portrayed—dark, dangerous, and full of hatred. The scars that run deep across his cheeks tell of a beauty that once was and a hardened man that has lived through much more than those scars can express.

“You hungry, Joy?” Salem asks from the driver’s seat.

Shaking my head, I toy with the blood on my shirt.

Malachi pipes up, “I’m hungry,” with a light in his eyes. I know what he’s hungry for, and it’s not bought in a store.

Leaning forward from the rear, Mal pulls my shoulder length hair. Yanking my head back against the headrest, he growls low. Making my head turn his way, he scrapes his fingernails through my scalp.

Light and dark, dark and light.

The differences between Malachi and Salem are exponential when you look at them, but their monsters complement each other. Mal’s more in control of his dark, but when it rises, I don't fight him. I've learned and learned fast.

He drags me to the back seat. “I know how to occupy you.” Grinning that dark smile I love, his smile is true, reaching his eyes. Salem, not so much. His is for show.

Shifting his thick frame to the side, pulling me through the tight space between the seats, I right myself on the worn leather bench. Taking a seat beside Mal, I know that arguing is futile. I like rough too much to fight it.

My monster is happy.

“Leave Joy alone, she—” Salem protests, but his breath is wasted.

“Drive on, Sal.” Turning to me, Malachi smiles. The scar at the corners of his mouth, nearing the middle of his cheeks, creates a leering, sinister vision of the man beneath. Is he as dangerous as the smile indicates? Yes and no.

Do I enjoy it? So much.

Neither of them have to state something with an undertone of malice because I enjoy what they offer.

Unhitching the button on his jeans, pulling the zipper down slowly, the glare from Mal expresses his pleasure. Reaching inside, I stroke and grip his hot length tightly, causing his smile to turn up a sick notch. “Now,” Malachi orders, motioning for me to suck him off. I’m sure his balls are so blue they’re black. Leaving Tress and the historic fuck up of a childhood behind, Salem and I both found a release. Malachi, not so much.

He deserves it too.

Leaning toward him as I lick my lips, Ialmostwant to tease him. Bending forward at the hips, covering his hard head with my mouth, I swirl my tongue around the edges as a lone hum escapes his throat. The need to swallow him deep now overrides the need to tease.

Pushing on the back of my head, holding me deep, his now engorged member widens out my jaw. I gladly accept the slight burn at the back of my throat as I struggle for air. Placing both of my hands around his hips and squeezing, the sound thatonlyMal can make escapes.

Growling his satisfaction and leaning back, Malachi gives me room to rise slightly for air. Pulling it in through my nose as I dip low on his cock, I relish the way it makes me feel. Pulling it between my teeth, then licking quick, a burning need to be filled up is holding my core hostage. But Salem is driving so that will have to wait.

After the death of my gran and the ensuing sex on the floor, a deal had been struck. Mal owns the outside, Salem my core. I may not have agreed to it, but I haven’t argued the point either.

Malachi, a man who’d never been with a woman, knew his way around my clit. A brilliant professional, a consummate pro.

And Salem?

Salem.

He knows how to hit every surface within that sends me reeling for more.

Gathering my thoughts and concentrating on the task at hand, sucking in time to a swift song on the radio, I move Malachi closer and closer to his end.

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