Page 4 of Eternally Bound

I took her face between my palms and lowered my head down, our lips inches apart. It was the first time we were this close to a kiss. My friends would die laughing if they knew it was all platonic between Ainslee and me, but I refused to rush her. I was fine with it till she was a grown woman. She was barely eighteen, for Pete’s sake. But now, I found myself to be too weak. Goddamn it, I didn’t want to be weak.

“Thank you for the offer, Ainslee. It means the world to me. But this is for the best. Maxim and I already signed up. We leave for training tomorrow.”

She gasped, her soft breath brushing against my lips. She smelled of cinnamon, flowers, and light beer. And I fucking loved it.

Her stunning eyes shone with tears, watching me, and the weakness in me prevailed. My gaze slid down to her parted lips. There was pure, innocent desire in her eyes. She tilted her chin up to meet me, and I knew I was doomed.

I lowered my lips to hers, just for a little taste. At least that was what I told myself. One little taste, before I was gone out of her life forever.

I pressed a gentle, hesitant kiss to her soft lips and desire roared loudly through my body and straight to my cock. I meant to stop right away, but her body pressed harder against mine, her lips moving softly against mine, cautious and testing.

It was the best kiss ever. I felt all the emotions swimming through my head and my veins as she opened her mouth, welcoming my seeking tongue. Drawing a sharp breath, I went full attack mode, like a starving man. I deepened the kiss, my hands pulling her into me, and my grip on her face firm. I had never felt such desperation for a woman.

Her lush tongue slid against mine, exploring. Cupping her face, I tilted her head to one side, breaking the kiss. But I couldn’t peel my mouth away from her skin. I slid my lips over her cheekbones, streaming down the side of her slim neck. She tasted amazing and her moans drove me insane.

My mind warned me that I should stop. Ihadto stop. For Ainslee. I barely had strength to peel myself an inch, but she followed.

“Don’t stop, Daniel,” she murmured against my lips, and I knew the battle was lost. My flimsy strength dissipated into thin air. Her fingers threaded into my hair, holding onto me, pulling me closer. I groaned into her mouth, nipping at her bottom lip.

The taste of her would be seared into my brain and my heart forever.

My hands snaked under her blouse, following the trail of her spine, and I felt her shudder under my touch.

“Tell me to stop,” I rasped, taking a shallow breath against her lips. “Please. Or I’ll keep going.”

Her answer was unwavering, just like her affection had been from the moment we met.

“Stay with me tonight,” she pleaded against my lips. “Please.”

Chapter One

Daniel - Twelve years later

Winter was fast approaching in London. The gloomy weather and constant rain were a sure indication. Not that it mattered much to me whether it was sunny or rainy. My mood has been dark more often than not. Especially lately, seeing Maxim and Layla’s connection grow. It reminded me of someone that hasn’t been part of my life for a very long time.

Pushing it all out of my mind, I strode into my club, Nightingale.

It was considered one of the most exclusive clubs in the world. It was a massive nightclub with the footprint of several buildings merged into one. It attracted a lot of clientele. There were individuals that could walk straight in, because they paid astronomical monthly fees to be able to do that. Then there were others that waited in lines that wrapped around the building outside the nightclub, hoping tonight their luck would change and they’d be allowed in.

Music blared from the inside and my eyes skimmed the area. I continued towards the back of the building where the music wasn’t as loud. This area was sectioned for gambling and a few private rooms with tables for those that wished to splurge on a game.

It was the reason the club lured such a rich variety of wealthy people - the rich, the incredibly rich, and the disgustingly rich - to our tables. And they always wanted to gamble. You’d think they learned their lesson the first time they parted with some of their fortune. But they kept coming back.

No complaints here.

Their eyes were dazzled by the glamour, hiding the rotten disease underneath it all. The rich rubbed shoulders with the highest of high rollers; there was no discrimination. From the social elites to the mobsters of the underworld. I belonged to the latter.

Club Nightingale was as prestigious as it was deceiving. On the outside, its plain exterior blended into the residential street but the interior was lush and exclusive, a mixture of cigars and expensive women’s fragrances perfuming the air. The chandeliers shimmered all around the room, throwing shadows across the silks and velvets throughout. The glitter concealed the disease lingering throughout this building.

It wasn’t my intention to be here tonight, but with the restlessness brimming inside me, I knew I wouldn’t find any sleep. It was a little past ten at night and the high rollers were just strolling in wearing their rumpled tuxedos escorting young women on their arms, women who were most decidedly not their wives.

“Ah, Daniel, my boy.” A familiar voice reached me, causing me to stiffen. My uncle’s voice, the last man on this earth I wanted to see. I quickly blanked my expression, revealing nothing. I fucking hated when he called me his boy. It reminded me of his twisted, psycho son. Luckily for the human race, he was dead! I had rid this Earth of one sick bastard.

Unluckily, it made me the focus of my uncle’s world - in all the wrong ways. He wanted a front row seat to my information extraction and torture methods. The sick bastard relished in it, just as my old man used to.

My father, very much like my uncle, had a fondness for cruelty. The hunger for violence was part of our family legacy. He’d relieve his rage by beating the shit out of my mother and me. My mother tried to protect me, but she couldn’t even protect herself. So, she turned to numbing her pain with white powder.

She tried to shelter me for as long as she could, but it wasn’t long enough. Maybe it was the realization that her son would turn into her husband that finally tipped the scales and pushed her into the world of drugs. I was the legacy of my father and his family. Cruelty was ingrained into me from an early age. And it was thanks to those two bastards.

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