Page 49 of Dove

It was intimate. Soft.

A contrast to the brutality of the night. To the thorough claiming. My body might crave his pain, but my heart craved this. The way he made me feel special. Precious.

I let out a soft whimper as he pulled from my body. Maddox groaned as if he was just as reluctant to leave me. I watched his perfect body move as he walked into the bathroom, shaking my head at how gorgeous he was.

Tears sprung to my eyes as he came back and knelt between my legs. I tried to hold them back as he tenderly wiped away the dried blood on my chest. Applying a bandage before he skimmed a clean cloth along the rest of my skin. Spending time cleaning his cum from between my legs. He tossed the rags aside but didn’t join me back on the bed.

Maddox lingered there, placing soft kisses along my skin. I gripped his hair lightly as he pressed his lips to both knees, my inner leg, my stomach. He worked his way up my body. Kissing both breasts. My neck. By the time he reached my lips, I felt like my heart was going to burst. How could he be crazy one minute, a murderer, a psychopath, and then so sweet the next?

“Let me hear it again.” His lips brushed mine as he spoke.

I smiled softly at him as I threaded my fingers through his hair. His fingers traced my features as he waited for the words. He was so gentle. Adoring. Loving. I wondered what he was thinking when he looked at me like that. How a demon could find anything interesting in a normal girl?

“I’m yours.” I pressed my lips to his briefly. “Forever.”

24

Maddox

Istilled my hand where it had been ghosting down Kincaid’s spine. I listened for the sounds of her even breathing. For the steady rise and fall of her chest to know she was in a deep sleep. Her eyes fluttered under her lids as I kissed her and slipped away. I cracked my neck from side to side as I fought the urge to stay beside her. To curl around her warm body and pull her close. But business needed to be taken care of.

Kincaid was mine. Truly mine. She had stopped fighting her own desires. She’d let go. She was giving herself to me entirely. The constriction in my chest that I’d felt since she’d been kidnapped finally loosened. I had my little dove back.

I dressed in the dark, donning a white button-up shirt and slacks. I stepped into my shoes as I opened the panic room. My fingers skimmed over the knives, putting one in my pocket on my way to pick up a small handgun. A knife would take too long tonight. I wanted to get back to bed. I screwed on the silencer as I made my way back to the bedroom and out the door. Kincaid continued to sleep as I shut it behind me.

Bash appeared as if out of thin air as I started down the stairs. “Where is he?”

“Your office.” His tone was clipped. He didn’t approve, and I didn’t care. “We should move him to the warehouse.”

“No.” I barked. “I want all the men here. It seems I haven’t made my point clear enough.”

I practically ripped the door off its hinges in my rage. It slammed loudly as it smacked against the wall. Henry had the strength not to flinch, unlike some of the other men. A dozen of them stood shoulder to shoulder, leaning against the walls of the room as Henry knelt in front of my desk.

His suit was rumpled, and his long blonde hair had escaped the band he usually kept it in. My blood boiled as I looked at him. I thought he could be something. Thought he’d grow and evolve at my side. Instead, he betrayed me.

I placed the gun on the desk, letting its presence in his line of sight be a threat. I pulled a knife from my pocket, skimming it along his jaw. The blade was sharp enough that it took off the stubble on his face.

“Was touching her your only betrayal, or did you also sell us out to the Gallos?” My voice was cool even as I burned to see his blood spilled. To see him pay for daring to touch what was mine. I knew it was faked, but it didn’t matter. He’d either been fooled by her or played along to her demands. Neither was acceptable.

“I would never betray you. I know the price I’d pay.” He said as his head tilted back to look at me. Tristan flinched at his side as if to attack. I pierced him in place with a glare. Henry was mine to deal with.

“Touching what isn’t yours is a betrayal of my trust.” I crouched before him, using the dull edge of the blade to keep his face focused on me. “It’s a violation of my loyalty. My kindness in bringing you into my home. My world.”

He swallowed thickly as he held my gaze. “I didn’t touch her. I would never touch her.”

He was good. Even seeing it myself, I believed him. There was no hint of a lie in his eyes. I stood again. “Place your hand on the desk.” Henry complied without hesitation. “Let this be an example. No one touches her. In pain or pleasure. No one looks at her. If I found out anyone has harmed her in any way, there will be nowhere you can hide from me. I’ll not only destroy you. I’ll destroy everything you’ve ever loved. I’ll wipe your entire family from this earth until not a drop of your blood remains.”

I gripped his forearm to keep him in place as I dug the blade of my knife into the back of Henry’s hand. A twisted combination of anger and elation pumping through my veins, making my heart beat faster.

Smartly he didn’t try to pull away. He grit his teeth and hissed in a breath as I carved into his flesh. He would be scarred for life. Branded for his betrayal.

I smiled as the letter formed on his skin, blood dripping onto the smooth surface of the wood. I glanced around the room, looking each man in the eyes to confirm they were adequately fearful of my wrath. “Do we understand?”

No one dared to answer. I let out a deep breath through my nose as my finger tightened around the handle of the knife. Maybe I would need to leave a larger mark. Perhaps carving into his face. I pressed the tip of the blade into his cheek just as my office door flew open. I could feel her presence before she spoke. My soulless demon pulled to her light.

“This is cozy.” She said as she sauntered past me and sat on the corner of my desk. Her ass inches from Henry’s bloody hand. I didn’t even glance in her direction, not wanting to be distracted from my mission.

“Kincaid.” I growled. “Go back to bed.”

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