Page 39 of Until You Break

When I finally pull back, she gasps for air, her chest heaving, her lips glistening with a mix of spit and my cum. She looks wrecked; her face flushed, her hair a mess, her lips are swollen, glistening, and fuck if it isn’t the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.

“That’s my good little slut,” I murmur, brushing my thumb over her lips. “Now, go kiss Mason with that mouth and let him taste your sin.”

I chuckle low, pulling the belt free from where it’s looped around the metal slats of the headboard. The leather slides easily through my hands as I keep my gaze locked on hers, savoring every second of the storm brewing beneath her defiance.

Her wrists are red, faint marks left behind where the belt held her, and for a fleeting moment, I brush my fingers over the indentations, softer than I mean to. The contrast between her trembling and the fire in her glare is intoxicating.

I take a step back, letting the belt hang loosely in my hand before I buckle it back into place around my waist, the click of the metal loud in the silence between us.

“What’s wrong, baby?” I taunt. “You mad?”

Her feet hit the floor in a blur, and the sharp sting of her palm against my cheek catches me off guard. My head snaps to the side, the sound of the slap echoing in the quiet room. “How dare you!”

I can’t help but smile. She’s standing there, chest heaving, eyes blazing, that fire I love pouring out of her. Anger, shame, desire—it’s all written in the way she glares at me.

“How dare I?” I scoff. “How dare you, Aria. You’re standing here, all high and mighty, acting like you didn’t just moan around my fucking cock.”

Her fists clench, and she looks away, breathing hard, trying to pull herself together. But I can see her resolve slipping, see the way she’s fighting to keep up the walls I just shattered. “You’reobsessed!” she spits, the words full of venom, but it doesn’t hide the tremor in her voice.

“Am I?” I take a step closer, and she doesn’t move, doesn’t back down. Even though I can see the panic in her eyes, the way she’s trapped between wanting to fight me and wanting to give in all over again.

“Tell me why do you still keep my hoodie? Why did you moved to a fucking cabin in the woods and why do you drive a bike? Tell me, Aria, if I’m the one so obsessed with you, why have you been the one clinging to the memory of me?”

She opens her mouth, but nothing comes out. Her gaze drops, her lips pressing into a thin line as she struggles for words, for anything that’ll make me believe she’s as unaffected as she’s pretending to be.

“You can’t, can you? I mean, you can keep fighting, keep pretending you’ve moved on. But we both know you’ll be the one breaking first. Because every time you look at him, every time you feel that safe little life of yours closing in, you’ll think of me. You’ll remember how it felt, the way I make you feel alive. And you’ll come crawling back, just like you always do.”

“Then go,” she whispers, her voice trembling. “If you’re so sure of yourself, if you think I’ll come back, then go. Prove it.”

I smirk, letting my fingers brush along her cheek one last time, savoring the way her breath catches, the way she leans into my touch without realizing it.

“Careful what you wish for,” I murmur. “You might just find out that letting me go is a lot harder than you think.”

With that, I step back and watch her face as I move toward the door. There’s defiance there, sure, but also a flicker of something else. Something that tells me she’s already cracking, already starting to feel the weight of what she’s been running from.

I reach the door, glancing back, meeting her gaze one last time. “You know where to find me, Little Sinner,” I say, a slow smilespreading across my face. “And something tells me you’ll be the first one to call.”

I walk out, the thrill of control settling deep in my chest, because I know that tonight, I planted the seed. And sooner or later, she’ll come looking for me, craving the fire only I can give her.

Chapter twenty-eight

His Sinner

I sit on theedge of my bed, barely able to breathe and replaying everything that had just happened. My body still feels like it’s burning, every nerve on fire, every inch of me marked by his touch. I wrap my arms around myself, trying to chase away the shame creeping up my spine, but it’s not shame for what I let Dominic do to me.

It’s shame because Iwantedit. Because every second of it felt right.

I told him to leave, forced the words out even as every part of me screamed for him to stay. And now I’m left here alone, drowning in the mess I’ve made because I know the truth.

I cheated on Mason. I chose Dominic fully in that moment. I knew what I was doing, and I knew it wasn’t fair or right. But nothing with Dominic has ever been fair or right. And that’s exactly why I let myself fall into him again, why I don’t fight back.

I glance at my phone on the nightstand. I should call Mason, make up some excuse about why I didn’t answer hislast message, maybe even pretend nothing happened. But my stomach turns at the thought. I can’t lie to him. I might be able to tell myself that what Dominic just did to me was a one time thing, but the truth is staring me down.

I didn’t just cheat on Mason. I gave in. And I’d do it again if Dominic walked through that door right now.

I bury my face in my hands, fighting back the tears threatening to spill. How did it come to this? How did I end up here, wanting the very thing I should be running from?

The memory of Dominic’s touch, his lips, the taste of him—all of it floods back, crashing over me like a wave. He knows me better than anyone else ever has. He sees right through me; through the “safe” Aria who wants a quiet, uncomplicated life with Mason.

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