Page 81 of Of Desire And Deception

“Uh-uh,” I chastised softly when her muscles pushed some of my come out. “Keep that all where it belongs.”

I used my fingers to press it back inside, then couldn’t resist licking her clit again. Soon, I was tasting myself in her, driving her over the edge into another shaking release.

“No more,” Remi begged, tears streaming down her face from the intensity of what we’d just done. “Please… hold me.”

I wanted to keep her hips propped up to maximize the chances of my swimmers finding one of her eggs, but it was the first time she’d asked me to touch her. To be intimate outside of sex. I couldn’t turn down her request.

So I released her bonds and curled up beside her, our naked bodies pressed together. I cradled her head to my chest and threw one of my thick thighs over hers, cocooning her close.

Remi’s breathing evened out, and I kissed the top of her head, breathing in the scent of sex and satiation. Her presence in my life was like a firestorm, raging through my body and mind, destroying the voices that had mocked me for so long. Settling my mind to silence after a life of carnage. She was my everything.

“I love you,” I whispered to my sleeping wife.

Chapter Twenty-Six

Relief washed over me as I stared down at the red stain on my nightgown that signaled Cosimo’s failed attempt to impregnate me. I pointedly ignored the part of me that felt disappointed his seed hadn’t found fertile ground. That would mean I’d gone insane, right?

A month ago, I might have willingly fallen into his arms and agreed to nearly anything he asked of me. The black diamond on my left ring finger caught the light as I scrubbed the crimson stain out of the white cotton fabric in the bathroom sink. I would have accepted Cosimo’s proposal and sacrificed my life’s goals for a chance to be happy with him.

Frantically, I worked the cold water and soap into the garment. Blood reminded me of Cosimo, of his fascination with it. I’d developed a taste for his over the last few weeks, which should have terrified me. But it didn’t. Even the thought of biting and scratching until I drew his blood had me pressing my thighs together. My arousal brought on a rolling wave of pain as a cramp tightened deep inside, and I groaned, leaning against the bathroom counter.

“What’s wrong, Remi?” Cosimo’s smooth voice held a tinge of concern. I hadn’t heard him enter over the sound of the water running in the sink.

“Nothing,” I muttered. I looked over my shoulder, finding him leaning against the doorframe in his black jeans and t-shirt. His leather jacket pulled tight across his arms, where he folded them over his chest.

Cosimo frowned at my dismissiveness, pushing away from the frame and crowding me against the counter. The zipper on his jacket scraped across my bare back, sending shivers down my spine.

“I wouldn’t have asked if I thought it was nothing.” His arm snaked around my waist, stroking my stomach. “I thought we talked about lying.”

“We did,” I agreed, leaning back into his chest, letting him take my weight.

“What’s this?” A smile tugged at his lips as his hand drifted down, batting my hands away when I tried to keep him from moving south. His fingers found blood on my thighs, smearing it and lifting his hand in front of us.

Embarrassed, I flushed. “My period.”

“I see,” he said thoughtfully. “And your nightgown?”

“Stained.”

He lifted it from the sink, the blood on his fingers adding to the mess.

“I tried to clean it,” I said uselessly, rubbing the stains again.

“Don’t.” Cosimo’s hands covered mine, halting my actions. “Fuck. Come with me.”

He lifted me into his arms, and I wrapped my hands around his neck as he carried me back to the bed and laid me down. I clamped my legs together, but Cosimo growled, prying them apart.

“Never be ashamed to show yourself to me.” He stared, and I looked away, uncomfortable. “I love everything about you. Mind, body.”

He reached out, running his hands up the inside of my thighs until he covered my mound. “Especially this. I’m obsessed with you, Remi. Have been since the moment I saw you in that club. I knew then that there was something different about you. We were meant for each other.”

His words were sweet for somebody so psychotic. “It was a planned meeting. Not fate.”

“Fate is an illusion,” he countered, pressing two fingers inside me. I sucked in a breath, trying to relax. “We make our own destiny. Here and now.”

I waved my hand, motioning to the surrounding room. “In a dungeon.”

“In a bed,” he corrected me, working his fingers inside me, tapping, stretching, curling. “Just us. Only pleasure. Together.”

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