Page 69 of Hostile King

“Did they touch you?” The words burn my throat, but the mental torture of such a possibility almost blinds me with rage. “Are you okay?”

“No.” Her eyes catch halos of light. She shakes her head slowly. “It’s okay.” Her sweet voice, although bold in its delivery, wavers slightly. “We’re safe here.”

I notice the verbal tremor when no one else would and how she pats her upper lip and then quickly stops.

“I’ve missed you so much,” she whispers.

Saturated material hides the glorious parts of her no other man will ever see. Yet while I stand here for a silent heartbeat, I imagine tearing the cotton free to reveal her fine breasts and marked alabaster skin. Time spent away from this woman has been a journey I never want to travel again. I’ll ensure it never happens again.

A silky tongue peeks free, and she captures her fleshy lower lip between her teeth, inhaling quickly. Liquid fire swirls in her blazing stare, a gaze so hungry it lights me up from within.

Her desire for me matches the need I have for her. The thrust of it in my core only makes me snarl. I try to contain it. But the carnal noise scrapes from my throat, its roughness competing with the wolfish dog at the feet of a bare-chested on-looker.

His watchful turquoise gaze is nothing short of chilling and the older guy beside him narrows his eyes on our reunion, his expression twisted with disgust.

I slide my hand to her nape and press my forehead to hers. “Tell me you’re okay.”

She nods. Then for the longest moment, none of us speak. A clock ticks out the seconds and a balmy breeze blows in on us from an open window, unable to cool the heat of my burning skin. I’m liquid fire and shivery at the same time.

Blinking away dizziness, my hands jump to her biceps, to hold her, and drag her closer—to feel her thrumming pulse full of life. Our closeness does exactly what I’d hoped, it feeds my hemorrhaging energy while simultaneously stoking the unbearable impulse to take care of her.

My heart pounds hearing her gasp, not out of fear, but from the sheer satisfaction of my control.

Inky pupils flare as our chests collide. Her exhales tingle over me in a squall of satisfaction. The immediate contact is my ruin—she’s my weakness, now and forever. I struggle with dissolving self-restraint, so relieved to see her and thirsty for that pretty mouth of hers.

The more I think about claiming her in front of our audience, the more my dick suffers a rush of blood so extreme that I sway. Concentrated emotions of love, lust, and vexation crack my strained countenance as beads of sweat roll the length of my spine.

How dare those motherfuckers sniff around my woman.

With a surge of strength, I push off the doorjamb to stand unaided, exerting the adrenaline pumping through my veins. Somehow, they feel thicker, robust—unbreakable. Her lips part, the grip on her arm growing more ruthless as my temper builds.

“Where the hell are we?” I mutter, the sound of my voice hoarse and gravelly as if I’ve swallowed grains of time without water and choked on the hours spent fighting off the Reaper.

She looks me square in the eyes, controlled, queenly, and astounding in her tenacity.

“We’re at a safe place outside of Mexico City.” Her fingers graze the broad dressing tight to my gut, the corners of her eyes creasing as if she’s recalling a nightmare. “Enrique is a local veterinarian.” She angles her shoulders and nods to the older guy. “He saved your life, Tomás.”

A tremor in her voice punches the air from my lungs. My pulse becomes chaotic as she tells me how we had ended up in this cabin, and I discover the extent of what she did for me. Even the predatory dog in the background takes a break from threatening me when its watchful owner settles a hand upon its skull.

“I thought I was going to lose you.”

Salty tears glitter in her wide gaze, but they don't extinguish the raging flames of courage and fortitude. The very qualities I love most about this woman. Her fighting spirit against all odds.

“I brought you here instead of taking you to a hospital where the Mexicans would find you. Your brothers are safe; they reached the private jet. No one knows we’re out here in the forest. I listened to my gut like you taught me and brought you here. Shane’s outside on the deck.” She lifts to her tiptoes, her lips so close that my sanity stretches to capacity. “It took a while to get here. Enrique had to operate, and…” She hesitates a beat before whispering. “You needed a blood transfusion.”

My entire body braces, horror slashing through my composure until I’m gripping her fragile bones in her wrist with so much force they could easily break.

“I gave you my blood, Tomás. I’m sorry—”

I can’t inhale. My lungs capsize and a surge of dots scatter my vision. I close my eyes and focus on the soft caress of her breath, the arousing scent of her skin, and the wild rhythm of her heartbeat next to mine. I feel the power running through my veins, getting stronger, hotter, and energetic.

It’s not disgust, or a cataclysmic clash of revulsion. We bleed the same. It’s like an explosion of starlight in a night sky, brightening my tortured mind.

Her admission pacifies the insufferable drive to murder and maim the men who are still staring at the woman I love. She’s the one who’d saved me. We’ve blended blood and connected on a deeper level.

I don’t hold back, shoving my possessive hands into her wet hair and stealing her lips with a kiss so full of appreciation it welds our broken pieces together and solidifies my claim on her.

There’s no denying it.

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