Page 55 of Devoted
“I am. I want a tattoo I can take pride in showing, not one that was only created to hide the sins of my father,” I utter, fighting against my body as I feel my muscles begin to tense, speaking of the past. “He… was not a kind man, and even at a young age, he had high expectations of me that I could not fill. My dyslexia was more severe when I was younger, and it was a point of shame for him, as was my defiant attitude, in his words.” Gulping, I force myself to keep talking and looking at Vivian. “I was only seven when he died, but all I remember feeling is relief for myself and my mother.”
Tears begin to fall from Vivian’s beautiful eyes, and I rush around the desk to hold her. Hugging me tightly, she sobs into my shoulder. I’ve not cried in decades over my mistreatment, but the sight of seeing her face wrench with worry might make me join her.
“You were just a kid,” she murmurs, and then I notice she’s not crying out of pity for me.She’s angry.“I’d kill him if he were still alive.” I know better than to assume she says those words just to say them.
My queen is vengeance.
A strange comfort washes over me, hearing her words. Obsessive couldn’t begin to cover how we feel about each other, I know that now. I feel it profusely.
Our love is transcendent, and it’s nothing to hide. It never was.
CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
VIVIAN
Love in this Club
Every angry tear has left my eyes by the time it hits midnight. We’ve sunk to a spot on the floor, Knight still holding me in his arms as my breathing evens.
He kept sharing his story as I listened. It didn’t seem like the time to comment, nor did I want to. It was a sacred confession for him, and I would never interrupt.
Knight and Harriett were alone with that monster for years until he died one day of a heart attack. Not long after, Harriett’s brother-in-law and his wife—Ezekiel’s parents—died in a car crash, and Ezekiel came to live with them. They were close growing up, acting like brothers. Ezekiel helped Knight with school, and Knight would protect him from their peers who picked on the small kid who was mute.
In his late teens, Knight became attached to and dated a girl in secret, marrying her once they both turned eighteen. He fell for her attention when he hadn’t received that type of love before, only to discover she had used him for an inheritanceclause and never really loved him. As he recalled, I thought about how that affects him now, and why he was resisting being together.
I’m angry for all that’s happened to him and how he’s been forced to carry those demons all his life alone, except with the two people who suffered with him. The more I learn about the Adlers, the more I think there’s no other family out there that deserves more happiness than them.
“My love,” Knight murmurs into my hair. “As much as I enjoy holding you, my back isn’t what it used to be, and this floor is cold.” Kissing my temple, he pulls at my shoulder softly until I sit up on my own. He scans my face with a look of concern, brow furrowed.
“Sorry, I must have mascara and boogers everywhere,” I joke, attempting to clean myself off with my dress. His large hand covers mine to stop me.
“Don’t soil your dress.” Unbuttoning his vest and then his shirt, Knight slides it off his shoulders and offers it to me like it’s a paper napkin and not a $300 piece of clothing. “Here.”
I don’t argue, because he wouldn’t listen anyway, but I also love how he isn’t being shy about taking off his clothes around me anymore.
Wiping at my face, I wince once I see all the makeup that’s rubbed off on it. Once again, Knight reassures me it’s not a big deal to him. Standing up, he offers his hand so I can do the same.
He doesn’t let go of my hand even as I stand. His thumb rubs soothing circles on my wrist as he asks, “Do you still love me, even with all the darkness uncovered?”
“I’m not afraid of the dark.” My lips press against his hand, tickled by the fine hair there. Looking down, I notice how there’s no trace of my lipstick left. I must have cried it all off. Knight seems to notice, too.
“Pity it’s gone,” he laments. “I was hoping to see the color smeared all over my body tonight.” My eyes roll at his statement, but I appreciate the levity it brings to this situation. Someone’s past shouldn’t dictate their future or their worth, and I think Knight understands that now.
“I have more in my purse…” I lick my bottom lip, side-eyeing my purse lying on the desk by his stunning sketch.
“You have ten seconds to put it on before I proceed without it.”
Freshly red-lipped and with a leg hooked over Knight’s shoulder, I’m grasping at the coat racks for life. I shake as my orgasm approaches. He’s on his knees for me again, despite complaining about his back a few minutes ago. He must be a fan of the pain, I guess.
“Oh,fuck, Knight,” I moan, grabbing onto his silver-streaked hair as he continues to devour my pussy. Not even a minute in, and I feel undone by this man. It’s got to be the mustache sprinkling a little magic right above my clit while he tongues me.
Squeezing at my ass and pulling me closer, Knight groans, the rumble of it shooting pleasure into my core. “That’s it, pet. So good,” I whine, and with a few more grinds of my hips against him, I fall apart on his mouth.
Staying between my legs, Knight rests his head on my inner thigh, keeping close enough to breathe me in. “I needed something to mark you with as well,” he comments casually, bending down to kiss my ankles and work his way up my exposed thighs. With every kiss and nibble up my legs, I feel the coolness of my cum dry across my skin.
“The red lipstick looks amazing on you, butthis,” he pauses, swiping at my overly sensitive clit. “This is more my color.” His dirty grin does unexplainable things to me, and I’m aching to feel him fill me.
Bringing my hands to brace against his shoulders, I look down at him with a playfully annoyed expression. “Are you planning on just eating my pussy all night, or are you going to fuck me?”
