Page 10 of Vengeful Valentine

They were at a house-party in the middle of the woods. It was one thrown by a classmate of hers for their graduation. Silas hadn’t wanted her to go, but she had insisted.

Both Hawk and Ace were downstairs, but Ashmine had dragged Silas up here under the guise of a secret she needed to share.

“Silas, I’m in love with you. I know what you have done for me. I know about the fire. I don’t care.”

Silas’s heart pitter-pattered in his chest, anxiety scraping across his skin. He froze before pushing her back on the bed. “Oh, you think you know everything? Do you, little girl?”

Ashmine landed flat on the bed, her hair was blonde now—she had changed the color recently—and it fluttered around her: a misshapen halo.

“Do you know what love even is? What it is to be in love with someone?” He pounced on top of her, his knees landing on each side of the mattress and his hard cock pressed down againsther. His hands found her wrists, holding them above her head. “What it is to be taken by a man? To be fucked senseless?”

He expected her to cry out, to tell him off.

Not to buck up into him. Her cunt pushed into his cock.

He met her eyes. They were the same shade as the sky the night he had set the fire.

Black with just the smallest hint of light creeping through.

Ashmine was an enigma. Wrapped in the package of a small fragile teenager but tougher than he experienced most men to be.

“You think you know me,” she gritted out. “You all deem to protect me. But what if I don’t need it? What if I can hold my own if you just gave me the chance?”

She broke one of her wrists free from his hold, and in an impressive move, she yanked him by the hair, pulling his head downwards, his lips to hers.

Soft, warmth, comfort.

Home.

Family.

He wanted to rip away, but she was addicting. She opened for him and he plunged his tongue into her mouth. He attempted to retake control, but she fought him.

They were animals, hedonistic, vitriol.

As they devoured each other.

He poured years of pining, frustration, andneedinto her.

And she accepted every single drop.

Eventually he disconnected from her, both panting to catch their breaths. He used his free hand to stroke her cheek. It was flushed pink and hot to the touch, her silky skin smooth against the rough pads of his fingers.

“You are the most beautiful woman I have ever met. You aren’t a diamond in the rough, but an opal that shines brightest in the moonlight. You never let your pain devour you. Neverallowed the world’s cruelties to intimidate you. Can’t you see why we tried to protect you? Why I don’t want to corrupt you?” Silas tampered his feelings.

Hawk and Ace swirled through his mind.

He couldn’t do this to his family. Not to them.

“I choose you,” Ashmine murmured up at him through her eyelashes.

How did she know the only words that could possibly change his mind?

“Please Silas, I want you. I can handle you. I promise. Please.”

She rolled her hips against him again.

Shechosehim?

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