Page 186 of A Smile Full of Lies
“You really said all that,” I whispered.
He nodded once.
“I meant every word.”
“The whole fucking world knows you’re Nox Obscura now.”
“Good.”
I crossed the room slowly. Like I was walking into a cage. Like I already knew what lived inside it, and I still wanted to be devoured.
When I reached him, I slid my hand up his chest and felt the tight coil of tension just under his skin.
“You sure you’re okay?” I asked.
He didn’t answer at first.
Then he spoke, his voice quiet and rough, “I was terrified.”
I blinked.
“Of what?”
He looked down at me, the emotion in his eyes raw.
“Of losing you to theideaof me.”
I swallowed hard.
“You think I love you for the mask?”
He shrugged.
“It’s easier to want the fantasy.”
“Maybe,” I said. “But I married the man underneath it. And I wanted you back when we were just two teenagers watching masked slasher flicks together on my Gran’s couch every Wednesday night, even after my asshole boyfriend at the time stopped bothering to show up and hang out with us like he was supposed to.”
That cracked something. His jaw twitched. His hands moved — clenched at his sides like he didn’t trust them. Like if he touched me now, he wouldn’t stop.
“You’re sure you still want me?” he asked, voice shredded.
I reached up and gripped his jaw.
“I live and breathe for you, Knox. You. Not your MaskTok persona.”
His control snapped.
He grabbed me — lifted me — pinned me to the wall in one smooth motion. His mouth crashed into mine like punishment, like a prayer, like a man unhinged.
I gasped, fingers digging into his shoulders, thighs parting automatically as he caged me in.
“You’re mine,” he growled, biting my bottom lip. “You’vealwaysbeen mine.”
“Yes,” I breathed. “Show me.”
He spun us. Carried me to the bed. Dropped me on the mattress like I was both sacred and sinful.
And then he stripped. Slow. Not a performance. A reckoning.
