Page 31 of Bound By Ruin

I swallow the lump in my throat and match her sweet smile with my own. “Yeah, me too.” I kiss her again to keep myself from saying something evenmorestupid, like how she not only makes me feel alive, but how perfect I think she is for our family… and forme.

Rebel.

Emil.

Whoever I am when we’re together.

That’swhat I love.

The person I become when she’s around…

…andthe person who makes it so easy to become him.

She slips out of the bathroom to go find Rage, and it’s only then that I’m able to say the words that have been running through my head.

“I love you.”

Chapter13

Celia

When I stepout of Rebel’s bedroom to look for Rage, I don’t find him.

I find a dress.

Crimson petals cascade down a satin bodice, falling like autumn leaves onto the floor-length skirt, dyed in a gorgeous deep scarlet. Tiny jewels dangle from the petals like dewdrops, adding a sparkling overlay that makes me giddy with excitement as I play with the fabric in my hands, twisting it in the light to catch the dazzling indigo glimmers. Movement to my right catches my eye, and I quickly drop the dress to turn toward him. “Rage, did you?—”

My eyes focus on a tall, muscular man thatalmostlooks like Rage from a glance, but isn’t.

“Thanatos,” I breathe, brushing a strand of hair behind my ear. I clear my throat. “Have you seen Rage?”

It takes a second for him to respond, his gaze hovering below my navel. “Left with Ruin,” he rasps, mimicking me by clearing his throat. Averting his gaze, he runs a hand down his face and curses under his breath. “You should get dressed, Princess. You’ve got—” His ears turn red, the pop of color quickly trailing down his neck, then across his cheeks. “Ten minutes left.” Like the others, he’s dressed to the nines in a well-pressed suit, skipping the jacket for a dashing gunmetal gray vest and silver tie that matches the streaks in his hair. Although I helped apply makeup to cover his tattoos, I haven’t seen him over the past hour or two while he got dressed, and the difference between the man I’ve sparred with on and off for days and the one standing before me is striking. But there are a few things that a suit can’t cover up, the most prominent being the eternal sense of brooding that hovers around him like an aura, with the second being the short scar cutting through his upper lip.

He’s drop-dead gorgeous, the little hints of danger amplifying my sudden attraction.

I suck in a breath and quickly look away, focusing on the dress again. “I was planning to wear a black evening gown to match everyone.” That’s why I chose black underwear. So that everything would match— “Ohmygod!”

My underwear.

Cum gushes out of my pussy as I clench every muscle in my body in a panic, hastily pulling the dress from the hanger to cover myself. Rebel still has my panties. I’m fucking naked in front of Thanatos.

“Why thefuckdidn’t you say anything!”

“It’s your house!” he snaps, his eyes sparking as he glares at me from across the room. “So what if you’re naked! Get fucking dressed, like I told you to!”

Groaning, flailing,dying, I clutch the dress to my chest and make a run for Rebel’s bedroom, reaching for the door?—

There is no door.

“For fucking sake!”

Rebel bursts from the bathroom, his hair as wild as his eyes. Half of his shirt is tucked in, and a cigarette dangles from his lips. A silver ring wraps around his bottom lip, an obvious show of defiance toward his older brother’s orders for being clean-cut tonight. “What? What happened?” Spotting me, he looks between me and Thanatos through the doorway. “Did he finally bite?”

“What?” I jump back behind the wall, out of Thanatos’s view. “No, I just—I went out there looking for Rage, and I—I’m naked! I didn’t think he’d be here!”

Smirking mischievously, Rebel slinks toward me. “He’s our driver, baby. Of course he’s here. Did Rage and Ruin leave already?”

Thanatos barks out a harsh “yes!”

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