Page 43 of Hayes
His nostrils flare as he glares down at me with both hunger and fury. Deep, slow breaths burn through his lungs.
Want, so much fucking want for each other.
Love is what Hayes would call it.
I can’t think of a word that accurately describes this painful, controlling feeling that’s suffocating me into submission.
“Is it just your love for me that’s protecting me, or is there something else?” I ask as I stare up at Hayes with hooded eyes.
His eyes dart away for a split second. He loves me, but there’s something else he’s not telling me—some other reason.
I can never love him. He’s hiding too much, and I still don’t fully trust where his loyalties lie. To the Retribution Kings, to the Corsi mafia, or to me?
His breathing is fast and deep as his chest rises and falls in rapid succession. His eyes have turned into dark orbs, and pain is etched into his features.
I reach my hand up and stroke his cheek. Needing to comfort him, but also just needing him. His eyes squeeze shut at my touch, and he shudders.
“Kiss me,” I whisper. We need to kiss, to let our bodies decide our fate.
“Murderous one,” Hayes says with a warning in his tone, but I don’t heed it.
I press my lips to his, half expecting him to throw me off of him and tell me to go to bed. But the second my lips brush against his, he yields to me, as if he knew how this was going to end all along. He doesn’t touch me, but the hunger in his actions, as he splits my lips open and sweeps his tongue into my mouth, tells me he’s one second away from losing all control.
The kiss is torture for me. Even though I can sense him losing control, I’m not sure I can persuade him to take this any further. Something changed between the last time we made out and now, but what?
Hayes breaks away, sucking my bottom lip in his mouth until the very last second before releasing me.
“Please,” I whimper. “I want you, Hayes. I don’t care about the rest.”
Hayes studies me closely. Slowly, his sinister grin returns to his face, and I can finally take a breath. Whatever was controlling him before is gone from his mind.
“You’re going to regret begging me, murderous one.”
I shake my head, my chest rising and falling as I wait for him to strike. He will, and being with him will probably change my life. But it won’t change my goals, my future, or my fate—nor his.
We’re both doomed to sacrifice ourselves in the name of revenge. That much is clear, so we might as well enjoy ourselves before our end comes.
“I’ll regret nothing,” I purr back with a dark expression on my face.
I’m lifted into the air before I even register my next breath. My head and back slam onto the top of the memory foam bed.
Hayes’s green eyes swirl as he stares at my body. “I’ve wanted to do this since I saw you across that ballroom.”
“I hate to admit that I’ve only recently wanted this.”
His body hovers over mine as his teeth nip at my bottom lip. “I’m not.”
He sweeps my hair to one side as his lips travel down my jawline to my exposed neck. As he kisses the tender spots, flames fan through my body in a way I’ve never felt before.
His hand travels up my thigh as he pushes the shirt up my body, exposing my black panties. His touch overwhelms my senses, and for a moment, I’m frozen beneath him. He kisses the palm of my hand, relaxing my nerves and encouraging me to explore his body.
I tangle my hand in his hair, pulling him tightly to me. His eyes seer into me from beneath his glasses, and my cheeks pinken.
“You’re so gorgeous, Lilith. Everything I’m about to do is because we both want it. It’s not because I’m taking your firsts or you’re giving them. They’re not some property to be bartered away. This is all for pleasure.”
My nails dig a trail down the back of his neck, digging in slightly until he’s grinning at me again.
“Pleasure and maybe a little bit of pain,” I growl.
