Page 219 of Tempting Little Thief

I follow his line of sight to Kylo, finding his tense gaze on his brother, but Kenex only grins, urging him forward, and my father’s omission comes back.

His blood. Hisson.

My brother …

My emotions grow thick as I watch him come to stand beside us and—

Wait.

My eyes snap to Bastian’s. “Where’s Boston?”

Bastian’s smile doubles, and I narrow my eyes.

Fuck. Here we go again …

Epilogue

Rocklin

One Month Later

He’s glaring at the cuffs of his jacket when I walk in, so I lean against the frame to admire him a moment.

His staple leather jacket hangs over the edge of his bed, retired for the day … and he didn’t have too much of a fit about it. Probably because this time, the suit he wears is one of the many he now owns. And goddamn, my man looks good wrapped in a sleek sheet of darkness, his hand and neck art … and the watch he was resolute about keeping—a good reminder to all, he said—only adding to the whole look at me wrong and die thing he’s got going on.

He’s downright mouthwatering.

“Keep looking at me like that, and we won’t be making it to the car.”

Smiling, I cross my arms. “Is that supposed to make me want to make it to the car … because now I’m not so sure I care if we go or not?”

“Liar.” He spins, his marble-like eyes finding mine. He waits, silently demanding I come to him.

Eager to oblige, I push off the frame, my heels clicking along the floor and not stopping until I’m right before him. My eyes instantly seek out my mark on his skin, and he knows it, his head tipping so I can see it even more.

The double-walledGis slightly raised against his skin, and while it already was a bold marking on his flesh, it wasn’tenough for him. He went and added his own little touch, intensifying it with ink and lacing script into it.

Hers, even in death.

Those words alone stir something deep inside me and when the rough pads of his fingertips brush along my jaw, his other hand skimming across the bare skin of my thighs, I realize my eyes have closed.

Opening them, I lock on to his gaze as he drags my skirt up to my hips, palming my ass before bending slightly for a better look. I glance back as well, heat flooding me as my gaze lands on the spot he traces smack-dab in the middle of my left ass cheek.

He shifts then, dropping to one knee at my side.

His lips brush over the still-sensitive flesh and I drag my fingernails through his thick, black hair. “It’s almost healed,” he murmurs against my skin, eyes popping up to meet mine. “Does it hurt still, baby?”

Warmth spreads through me as I stare down at him, the man I never saw coming, who was working his way to me all along without our knowledge.

Slowly, I shake my head and we look back to the spot.

To his branding, fresh and proud on my skin.

The double-walledB, identical to the marking on his neck in design, the words woven in his very own handwritten script within it.

His, even in death.

Bastian pushes to his feet, his hand wrapping around my throat ever so lightly to guide my lips to his own. He waits, and I give him what he wants, a little nip to his lip ring.

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