Page 18 of Make Me Your Hitta

“We’ll finish this conversation tomorrow, Adonis. I’m flying back into New York in the morning,” my father announced before ending the call.

I slowly retreated to my room, the taste of copper on my tongue. I knew sleep wouldn’t come easy after everything that transpired. I heard the heavy tread of footsteps coming up the stairs behind me. My heart hammered against my ribs like it was trying to break free. I knew those steps. Adonis. I backpedaled from the door. Part of me wanted to hide, but I couldn’t look away.

The door creaked open, and there he was. Adonis looked like he’d been to hell and back. His shirt was ripped with dark stains that I knew weren’t oil splattered across the fabric. A nasty gash ran above his beard along his cheekbone, still oozing blood.

“Xenobia,” he said, his voice rough. “Are you alright?”

I couldn’t speak. My throat felt like it was closing up. All I could do was stare at him, this man who’d just killed Lord knows how many people for me. To keep me safe. My protector. The one person in this fucked-up world who made me feel… everything.

“I’m… you’re hurt,” I finally choked out.

Adonis’s lips twitched in what might’ve been a smile on anyone else. “It’s nothing. I’ll be fine.”

I wanted to laugh. Nothing? He looked like a walking nightmare. But underneath the blood and the bruises, his eyes were the same. Steady. Intense. Fixed on me like I was the only thing in the world that mattered. My body moved before my brain had the chance to catch up. One second, I was frozen; the next, my hand was hovering inches from his face. I wanted to touch him, to make sure he was real, to feel his skin under my fingertips and know that he was alive.

His shoulder was inches from my lips, his skin a temptation I could no longer resist. I sighed, wanting him to take me but afraid he’d turn me down. Would finding out he didn’t want me hurt more than the overwhelming longing that filled me? I reminded myself I had to be careful. But we almost died tonight. I couldn’t let the moment pass by. Could I?

“Xenobia,” Adonis said again, softer, almost like a warning.

I should’ve stepped back. I should’ve remembered all the reasons why it was wrong. Instead, I met his gaze, my heart pounding so hard I was sure he could hear it.

“Thank you,” I whispered, “for keeping me safe.”

Underneath the moonlight shining through the room, I felt his gaze like a physical touch, igniting my skin where it lingered. The air between us crackled with tension. I could see the muscle in Adonis’s jaw working as he clenched his teeth. Fighting for control. Always in control. I’d never wanted to break that control so bad in my life. To see what lay beneath the surface of The Guardian, the perfect, emotionless soldier. But I didn’t. I couldn’t. I stood there, trembling, caught between fear and something far more dangerous until I couldn’t take it anymore. The tension, the fear, the fucking longing that’d been eating me up inside for years. I threw my arms around Adonis, pressing myface into his blood-stained chest. He stiffened for a second, and then his arms came up, wrapping around me tight.

“I thought—” My voice cracked. “I thought they might’ve killed you.”

Adonis’s hand came up to cradle the back of my head. “It’ll take more than that to get rid of me, Nobi.”

I pulled back just enough to look at him. His face was so close I could see every tiny scar, every line of worry etched into his skin. “Don’t call me that.”

“What should I call you then?”

My heart pounded so hard I thought it might explode. “Yours,” I whispered, letting the word hang between us—an invitation, a challenge.

The brush of my lips against the smooth skin of his cheek felt like the first drop of rain after a drought, soothing yet not nearly enough. For a second, neither of us moved. The faint scent of his cologne mixed with something undeniably male made my head spin.

“Adonis,” I whispered again, softer this time, like a plea laced with the raw edge of need.

Would he continue to torment us both with his stillness, or would he finally give in to the desire I knew we both felt? My heart pounded in my chest, each beat a drumroll of anticipation for the moment he decided to end the pretense and take what we both craved.

“Fuck, Xenobia. You’re going to fuckin’ kill me.”

His low growl vibrated through the darkness, stirring something primal within me as the weight of his hard body slid against mine. It sent a jolt of electricity through every nerve ending, sparking alive areas I had only dared explore alone since he left.

Then Adonis’s lips crashed into mine, hungry and desperate. It was a deep and consuming kiss that eclipsed every fantasyI’d conjured from the forbidden pages of books I’d devoured in the library. I pushed my body into his, kissing him back with the same intensity as my fingers dug into his broad shoulders. They were a landscape of taut muscle beneath my fingertips, a testament to the strength that had always protected me.

It was wrong. So fucking wrong. But at that moment, I didn’t care. All I knew was the taste of him, the feel of his hands on my skin as he lifted me, pressing me against the wall.

“We shouldn’t.” Adonis growled against my neck, even as his hands slid under the hem of my satin pajama shorts.

His voice was strained with a restraint that seemed to crackle and fray with each passing second. I refused to let that restraint hold us back, not tonight. Not when every breath could be our last.

“I don’t care.” I gasped, wrapping my legs around his waist. “I need you. Please, Adonis.”

He groaned, his forehead resting against mine. “If your father finds out—”

“He won’t,” I promised, though we both knew it was a lie. “Just for tonight. Just us. When he’s back tomorrow, we can go back to hating each other.”

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