Page 30 of Vengeful Rotten Casualties

I release her skull and grasp her jaw, holding her face in front of mine as I stare down at her. “Look at me,” I command. Her wet lashes flutter and her gaze meets mine. “Say my name, Micki. Tell me who’s fucking you.”

“Y-you are,” she breathes. “Luc—oh,Luc.”

Her eyes widen and when her pussy clamps down on my cock, rippling up and down the shaft, I know she’s found her precipice. I groan as my own release comes shooting up my spine. Holding myself over her, I press my dick as far into the recesses of her until I’m sure nothing will leave her. She said something about not being able to get pregnant. That’s fine. I don’t care. I still want to mark her.

And as my arms close around her and I drop her leg back to my waist, I suck in breath after breath, soaking in the sensation of her against my chest. Her sweat slicked body cold and warm all at once. Her fingers tracing my chest.

I lift up and look down at her once more and she blinks up at me, an enigmatic expression on her face. There are no words. No words of love. No words of assurance. Just her and me. Our gazes colliding and a whole hell of a past between us marred in secrets I want to uncover.

Reaching up, I stroke back a strand of hair from her face.

“No more lies, Micki,” I whisper. “It’s time to tell me everything. Why did you come back?”

She stiffens and jerks her head back. For a moment, I feel guilt for ruining such a perfect moment, but it’s not real if there’s still a darkness between us and I have every intention of ridding the two of us of that darkness. To do that, I need the real reason she’s here.

Pushing me away, she sits up and scoots up the mattress until her back hits the headboard. I don’t think. I just reach down and pull up the sheet, offering it to her. She eyes it cautiously before taking it from my grasp and covering herself. My chest aches at watching her hide her body from my gaze, but I won’t take away the feeling of safety from her. I want to be the one she runs to for everything and obviously I wasn’t the first time. I need to do what I can to make sure she’ll never want to leave again.

“You want to know why else I came back,” she repeats.

I nod, waiting.

Micki sucks in a breath and then lifts her gaze back to mine. I watch as the emotion leeches away from her expression. It’s both startling and uncomfortable to watch. One moment, she’s this languid sexual being in my arms and the next, she’s colder than I’ve ever seen. Devoid of any human warmth.

Then, she speaks—telling me what I’d expected all along.

“I came back to kill your father, Luc,” she tells me, “and I won’t stop until I do.”

I don’t hesitate in my response. “You won’t have to stop,” I say. I reach for her, touching her cheek. Her skin is cold but alive. I never thought I’d be here again. I’m grateful for it. This chance that the universe is giving me, giving us. “He deserves all of your wrath, pretty girl. Let’s make it fucking hurt.”

14

MICKI

Steaminghot water falls over the top of my head, soaking through my hair and making the darkening strands stick to the sides of my face and throat. I gather them all together and push them back, scrubbing the palms of my hands over my skull and slicking the heavy fall of it back. My shoulders curve inward as I hang my head and stare at the tiled floor of Luc’s shower.

Explosiveis far too tame a word for what I experienced last night. Deep down, I’d known it’d be like that between us. He’d been possessive as a teenager. Protective. Hell on my hormones with all of the heavy petting and groping we’d done. Half a decade doesn’t seem like a long time, but for me, it’s a fucking lifetime. Even now, I’m craving more. More of him, more of his touch, because for the first time in forever, it makes mefeelsomething more than disgust and numbness.

A knock sounds across the room and the door pops open. Luc steps inside and then lets the door swing inward as he rocks back on his heels. I turn my head and meet his gaze through the smudged and blurry glass covered in water and condensation. He leans against the doorframe and crosses his arms over his bare chest. The hip hugging jeans he’s wearing sag against his Adonis belt, making my mouth water.

“Need some company in there?” he asks lightly.

I’d love nothing more than to invite him in and lose myself in him again. Last night had been … a revelation to say the least, but I’ve already wasted enough time on our reunions. With him and Avalon. I need to get back to work. The longer it takes to find our sister, the more likely she’ll be hurt by the very man who killed her mother.

I quickly shut off the shower and swipe a hand down the glass door so I can see clearly out of it. Crystal blue eyes stare back at me, darkening as they sweep downward over my naked frame. I gather my hair into my hands and twist the strands, wringing them dry. Luc doesn’t move as I open the door and step out, reaching for a towel hanging on the nearby rack.

“I can’t tell if that’s a no, or an invitation,” he comments as I dry myself.

“It’s a ‘maybe another time,’” I answer with a small smile. It’s nice, this casualness between us, but I’m sure I’m about to fuck it all up so I don’t want to get too used to it.

Luc continues watching me with a small curve to his lips, but he doesn’t say anything more. Not even when I finish and reach for the clothes sitting on the bathroom counter. There are no clothes here that’ll fit me so the old set of boxers and the jersey I found in his closet will have to do for now while we eat and have the conversation I’d meant to have yesterday.

As I finish up and try to pass by him on my way to the hallway, Luc reaches out and stops me. His arm curls around my side and he drags me against him. His heat is enthralling, almost heady—like a drug, something far more addictive than weed or anything I’ve ever had. My whole body clenches with the desire to stay close to it, to soak it in like a lifeline.

“Why do I have the feeling that the second I let you walk out of this bathroom, things will change between us again?” he asks.

I swallow roughly. “Do you want them to change?”

He arches a brow. “Dumb question,” he calls me out as he leans down and nuzzles against the side of my throat. I close my eyes against the feeling. His warm breath brushes over my collarbone as his lips part and he bites down on the place between my shoulder and neck. A shiver skates up my spine. Something undeniable coils in my lower belly. A breath hisses out of my lips.

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