Page 67 of The Heart of a Villain

A man who could be a statue for he is so perfectly carved.

He kisses me hard and then licks my lips while we breathe heavily with thunder still shaking the sky. “Give us a chance, Rush,” I whisper and he freezes, watching me, his cock still pulsing inside me.

And although he rolls to the side, still inside me, allowing me to rest on his chest and listen to his heartbeat, we both know that underneath the request to gives us a chance lies another one.

To give my father a chance.

Because only then anything between us will be possible.

I close my eyes and let myself drift away, lullabied by thunder and his heart beating, deciding to believe in the best.

Hope, after all, is the only thing humans have left when they see no way out of the corner they’ve put themselves in.

And I hope with all my heart.

Rush

Aileen burrows her head into my chest as she hikes her leg over my stomach, her silky-smooth skin warm from our earlier encounter, and she almost purrs when I run my hand over her back. She welcomes my touch even in her sleep, arching a little toward me, her breasts brushing over me, and I can’t help but give her a kiss on the neck, enjoying the beating of her pulse under my tongue.

The possessive creature in me roars in satisfaction at the sight of my marks on her, telling everyone she belongs to me and hurting her would bring my absolute wrath.

She purrs once again, and I smile. She’s my little kitten, after all.

However, as the rain continues to pour outside, the candle flames swaying back and forth from the wind slipping through the old cracks, my smile slips because reality once again settles in.

Lachlan is near; I can feel it.

A hunter always knows when another hunter enters his territory, which means any minute now, he’ll come and try to take her away.

Back to the castle where she belongs, instead of here in my darkness, where she’s the only light in my lonely existence.

My arm flexes around her, pressing her tighter to me, and she groans, adjusting her head better before settling in again.

After she surrendered her body and heart so willingly to me in her youthful naivety that loves cures all, I cannot imagine ever giving up on her or letting her go.

I can’t help hoping there is atonement for the likes of me.

For she speaks, in ways I never expected, to the darkest part of me and soothes the rage and agony always present in my soul.

My heart, if it exists, is no longer my own, as it cares about her well-being more than my revenge, common sense, and the vow to my mother.

It belongs to her.

And I will do anything to protect her.

Even if it means letting her go so she won’t be caught in the crossfire between me and her father.

CHAPTER SEVEN

“My weapon became my undoing.

For only she has the power to make me question everything I know and search for atonement where there should be none.”

Rush

Rush, 24 years old

The steam rises as I get out of the shower and wrap the towel around my hips, running my fingers through my wet hair before wiping the fogged mirror.

---