Page 113 of Hymns of the Broken
But I will if I have to.
And if Jasper walks in? Let him. I want him to see.
Hell, maybe that’s sick. Maybe that’s fucked up. But the truth?
I don’tcare. I don’t care what he thinks. She’s not just a game to me. Not some trophy to toss around between us. She’s the first thing in a long time that has made me want more than chaos.
And yeah, I’m cocky enough to stay in her bed.Cocky enough to let the sheets tangle around our bodies, to breathe her in until the world outside this room doesn’t exist. To fall asleep with her still on my skin, her nails scored down my back, my cum leaking from between her thighs—a mark, a memory, a fucking warning for anyone who thinks they can have her without going through me first.
To be here when she opens those beautiful blue eyes in the morning.
And I hope she knows. I hope she feels it—that I’m not going anywhere. That I want every piece of her, broken and beautiful, twisted up with mine.
I lean in, brush a kiss against her temple, soft as a prayer, and whisper against her skin—
“Sweet dreams, baby. I’ve got you.”
Then I close my eyes and wait for the sunrise.
Chapter 19
RIOT
Sawyer looks even more like temptation in the morning.
Sprawled across my chest, hair a mess, cheeks still pink from the way I wrecked her last night. She’s mine. All of her. For one night, at least. And, fuck if that doesn’t stir something ugly and hungry in me.
I’ve been awake for an hour. Maybe more, just watchingher.
Watching the way her lashes twitch in her sleep, how her lips part with these little breathy sighs like she’s still dreaming of my hands on her.
I could get used to this.
She stirs, nose scrunching like she already knows I’m up to something. I smirk, brushing a knuckle down the curve of her jaw.
“Thought about waking you up the way demons do… real slow. Real dirty.”
Her lashes lift, eyes locking with mine—and goddamn, I swear the sun got jealous.
“Look who finally crawled out of the underworld,” I tease, voice gravel-thick.
She groans and buries her face in the pillow. “Are you seriously already awake?”
“I’ve been awake. You drool, by the way.” I smirk and tap my shoulder where she’d been using me as a pillow. “Kinda hot though.”
She swats at me, but I catch her wrist, twisting our fingers together because I can and because I want to. Her skin’s still warm, and my body’s still buzzing like I never came down.
“Jasper didn’t come in,” she says after a moment, quieter.
My jaw ticks, just for a second.
“Yeah. Shame,” I say lightly, even though I was hopinghewould. Not for a fight. But to see what he missed. “Thought he might want to compare notes.”
Her cheeks flush, and I grin wider, loving how she squirms a little but doesn’t pull away.
“I meant what I said last night,” I add, voice serious, the weight creeping back into my chest. “You’re not a prize. Not a possession. But I’ll still fight like hell to keep you. Even if it’s from him.”
Her eyes go wide, caught between disbelief and something fragile that makes me want to protect and ruin her all at once.
