Page 16 of Vicious Hearts

Withher.

The girl with the full, fuckable lips, and the innocent baby blues that made me want to destroy something beautiful.

To feel the gift of her submission. To taste the whimper from her lips as I meted out her punishment.

My mind glitches, flashes of the private room in the club coming back in manic staccato. The curves of her body. The creaminess of her skin. The gasp from her delicate throat. The incorruptible defiance in her eyes, mixed with fragility.

That was the most fucking intoxicating of all.

It’s what pulled me in at the bar, as I watched that motherfucker with the goatee put his filthy hands on her.

The car jerks to the side, and my brow furrows deeply at the memory of that unexpectedfeelingI had, watching him near her. Talking to her. Touching her.

Snarling rage.

Fierce possessiveness.

Vicious jealousy, as if he was trying to take what was alreadymine.

My vision clouds as the memories swirl in and out of focus. As the world blurs.

“Cillian.”

Everything darkens and fades.

“CILLIAN!”

* * *

“Glad to haveyou back with us, Mr. Kildare.”

Groggily, I blink. Slowly, the stark back room of the veterinary clinic comes into focus. So do the peering, anxious faces of Castle, Dr. Blythe, and Hades—younger brother to Ares, and Neve’s brother-in-law.

Hades and I butted heads at the beginning when the Irish and Greek families first came together to merge into one united front. Now that some months have passed, I have to admit, he’s grown on me. I can appreciate his particularviciousnessbecause it’s not altogether dissimilar from my own.

But currently, and I can’t state this enough…

“What the fuck are you doing here?”

Hades raises a brow, eyeing me. He shoves his fingers through is longish dark hair, his blue eyes incredulous and narrowed slightly as he turns to Castle, then back to me.

“Are you fucking serious? Do you really not remember me helping you out the back door of the club and into Castle’s car?”

Truth be told, there’s not a whole fucking lot I remember between getting shanked in the side by that little bitch and waking up in a surgical room usually reserved for cats, dogs, and the occasional hamster.

“Not exactly.”

“Well…” Hades frowns. “You’re welcome.”

“You were at the club?”

He shrugs. “Yes. And?”

“Why?”

Hades smirks, raking his fingers up and down his chiseled jaw.

“I go for the wings and two-for-one beer specials. The fuck do youthinkI was there for?”

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