Page 127 of Thorns of Lust
Her lips tugged up and I wrapped my arms around her, pulling her to my chest. Right under the heart that beat only for her, knowing that the moment she remembers it all, I might lose her.
A dark obsession took hold of me and roamed through my chest. I had kept it under reins for years but now, the beast was out.
This time she’d be mine. This time the beast refused to let her go.
FORTY
TATIANA
The early morning light cast shadows over the bedroom.
I lay still, staring at the ceiling and aware of the warm, strong arms that held me. I listened to Illias’ strong breaths, the rise and fall of his chest against my back. The ache still pulled on my bones. Illias wrenched so many orgasms out of me last night that I lost count.
The fear that maybe I’d traded one addiction for another crept under my skin.
A strange rush of emotions overwhelmed me until it stole my breath. I didn't know what those emotions were. I had never felt them like this.
Maybe Illias literally fucked my brains out.
My skin flamed remembering all the times he’d made me come. After he’d fucked me into oblivion, he ran a shower and washed me, taking special care of my hair. Then he patted me dry, fed me in bed, only to start ravishing my body all over again.
I shifted my body slowly, turning my head to watch Illias’ sleeping face.
He struck me differently like this. Less intense. Less overwhelming. But not any less handsome.
My fingers slowly reached for his lips but stopped right above them. I wanted to trace them, kiss them but a ding of his cell phone stopped me.
I froze, my finger lingering in the air, waiting for his eyes to snap open. They didn’t.
Maybe last night’s activities exhausted him too, I thought slightly amused.
Another ding of the phone. But this time a voice came through it.
My brows furrowed, hearing the recording coming from it, and I reached for his phone, wanting to silence it. It was never my intent to snoop, but drawn by invisible need, my eyes latched on to the screen and the world as I’ve known it ceased to exist.
I held my breath as the video played.
A young woman with vibrant red hair and dull green eyes sat on her knees. Her stare was blank. Her face was pale. Something about her expression hit home.
Hopelessness. Despair.
Like she no longer wanted to live. But that wasn’t the worst part. It was Illias, standing next to her and his gun pointed at her skull. My heart drummed with fear for her. I held my breath, praying and hoping he wouldn’t.
He wouldn’t pull that trigger, right?
My brothers were part of the underworld, but they’d never hurt a woman. Women and children were off limits.
A dull ‘bang’sounded off. It wasn’t loud, but it might as well have been. It echoed through my brain and I dropped the phone. I shifted backwards inch by inch, away from it andhim.
The man who’d touched every inch of my body. The man whose hands were drenched with blood - innocent and guilty.
A tremble crept up my spine.
“Tatiana.” The rough, sleepy rumble of Illias’ voice touched me. His eyes flickered to the phone, video still playing. It restarted and surprise flashed in his expression.
As he watched the video, I inched my way off the mattress and slid off the bed, my feet touching the cold hardwood. The cool air swept over my naked body, goosebumps breaking over my skin. I pulled the sheet and gripped it to my chest, my knuckles protesting with an ache.
“Tatiana-” he started but I shook my head.
