Page 32 of Duke of Ruin

“I’m real,” I say quickly. “I’m real, I’m here, and I love you, Eli.” I pull him toward me and he melts into my arms. “I promise I love you, and I’ll spend the rest of my life proving it if I need to.”

“Just stay with me,” Eli whispers. I pull him into a tight embrace and hold him until he stops trembling. His long arms stay wrapped around my shoulders as I stroke his back. He smells like rain and soap, and his hair tickles my forehead where my face is tucked into his shoulder. I don’t ever want to move.

Slowly, he disentangles himself from me and I pull back to look at his face. His eyes are shining and the lines on his forehead are deep and concentrated. I reach up and touch his brow, and he closes those sharp green eyes at my touch. Eli’s brow relaxes slightly as I run my fingers down his jaw. He leans his cheek into my palm with a soft sigh, and I force myself to stay still, except for my hand. His brow tightens again and he presses his lips together, and I run my thumb over them.

Eli rolls his head back, and I can’t help myself. I press my lips to his cheek, his jaw, the soft spot beneath his ear. He moans and tightens his grip on me. I lean back and look at him again, but he still hasn’t opened his eyes. I trace my thumbs along his cheeks, and his pained expression relaxes slightly. Slowly, his eyes flutter open and he turns his piercing gaze on me. My blood instantly heats to boiling at the intensity of his gaze as he takes my face in his hands.

“Tell me you love me, Noah.” His voice is raw and full of emotion. “Tell me you mean it. Show me.”

“I love you, Eli,” I say quickly. “I love you. I had no idea how much I could love you until I thought I lost you.”

“Show me,” Eli whispers, his pained expression breaking me into pieces.

“Anything,” I say. “Anything you want.”

His lips find mine, and my heart feels like it’s going to explode. He pushes his tongue through my lips and I lick and suck on it until he moans into my mouth. He grabs me and pulls me against him. His hard cock strains against his pants and mine responds in kind, painfully pushing against my jeans. I start to direct him toward the bed, but he pulls back suddenly. My eyes search his, and then he turns me quickly and shoves me backward onto the mattress. Before I can blink, he’s on top of me and pulling my shirt over my head. I grab at his until he leans up enough for me to pull it off of him. His weight settles over me, and he grinds against me as I fumble for his belt.

He spreads my legs open and sits up between them. My heart races as I look at his chiseled frame, at his long limbs surrounding me and his dick straining against his pants. He makes quick work of taking mine off before removing his, and I have to hold back a moan as his cock springs free of his boxers.

“Turn over,” he growls at me, and my eyes grow wide. My blood pulses in my ears as I do what he says, lying face down on the bed. His hands trace over my back and my shoulders, and I can feel the wet tip of his cock as he flexes over me. I turn my head, but he shoves my face back into the pillow and I go still. Warm oil drips across my lower back and my ass before I feel his hands spreading me open. He lifts my hips to meet him as he gently begins to tongue my opening. Running his tongue around it, before pushing it deep inside. It isn’t long before I feel him push a slick finger into my ass. I cry out into the pillow as he adds a second finger, stretching me open for him.

“You want me to fuck you, Noah?” he asks, and I fight the urge to come all over the bed. “You want me to fuck you like you fucked me?”

“Please, Eli,” I beg into the pillow. I settle my weight onto my knees, my ass open and ready for him. The tip of his dick presses against me, and I cry out in anticipation. In a slow and excruciating movement he slides into me, stretching me open, pain and pleasure blending into exquisite euphoria. He pushes into me until I can feel his hips against mine and he holds still, flexing inside me.

“Yes, Eli,” I moan. He pulls back and thrusts against me.Hard. The pain is almost blinding, but I accept it. He grabs my hips as he pulls back and thrusts again. I cry out into the pillow. He reaches one hand up and grabs my shoulder, yanking my whole body backward as he thrusts again and again, filling me up, stretching me, driving into me with his cock. When he reaches his other hand around and grabs my shaft, I cry out again.

“Tell me you love me, Noah,” Eli growls into my ear as he fucks me. My mind is so blown I can’t even form the words. He thrusts again. “Say it!”

“Fuck! I love you!” I shout at him. I fight with all I have to hold back, to wait for him. The anger, the betrayal, every emotion from the past few days flows through him, tearing me up from the inside as he fucks me so hard I can’t hold back. My orgasm rips through me with more intensity than I’ve ever known as Eli fucks my ass harder and harder. I cry out again, and Eli shoves my head into the pillow and thrusts into me. I feel him release inside me, spurting deep within me while I come against his hand. The yell he releases is feral as he slams into me, riding out his orgasm and prolonging my own. As the waves finally subside, he collapses next to me, gasping for breath.

I lift myself onto my elbow and reach for his face. He leans into my touch. “I hate this, Noah,” he whispers against my palm. My blood turns to ice, but I don’t move. “I hate how much I love you.”

It feels like a gut punch, but I deserve it. I deserve his hate and I definitely don’t deserve his love, but I still want it. I want it more than anything.

“I’m so sorry, Eli,” I say, fighting to keep my voice even. “I never meant to hurt you.”

“Bullshit,” he responds with a defeated chuckle. He falls onto his back and throws an arm over his eyes. “You had every intention of hurting me.”

Another gut punch, but he’s not wrong. When I took the job I knew it was going to hurt everyone in his family, including him. I just didn’t know him yet.

“It was stupid,” I say, but I know it sounds hollow.

“No it wasn’t,” he says. “My family’s full of horrible people, and I’m part of it.”

“But you’re not, Eli,” I say quickly. “You’re not like them. You’re perfect.”

“Don’t, Noah.” He turns away from me. I wrap my arm around him and pull his back against my chest. We’re still slick and hot, but I clamp down against him, not allowing him to move.

“Don’t what?” I murmur into his ear. I see his cheek dimple into a smile.

“Don’t try to convince me I’m good, or that I’m different than the rest of my family,” he says. “It’s bullshit, and you know it.”

“Eli, you came back to me,” I murmur, closing my eyes. I have to find a way to make him believe me.

“Like I had a choice.”

“Yeah, you could have killed me,” I say. “Many times over you could’ve killed me, and I would have let you. I deserve it. I deserve every bit of your anger and your hate. I made assumptions about you based on police reports of your father and uncle. I didn’t even try to figure out who you were before jumping into a situation where you would get hurt. What does that make me?” I bury my face in his back. All of these words are rushing out, and I’m realizing more than ever just how true they all are.

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