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SLINGING A TOWEL around my waist, I exited my steamy bathroom and stalked across my bedroom to get the first aid kit.
My knuckles were torn, I could barely see out of my right eye, my lip was split, and countless bruises mottled my torso. But fuck, I felt better than I had in months.
I shook like a damn junkie needing another fix, but I relished the win and adrenaline of playing God over someone else for a change.
Passing the full-length mirror, I cringed at my reflection. It didn’t look like I’d been the victor, but I was still here and they weren’t.
Suck on that, arseholes.
Grabbing the first aid kit from the 17th century dresser, I returned to my bed to begin repairs.
I didn’t need stitches or serious medical care, but I did need antibacterial cream and a few butterfly strips to hold the cut on my forehead together while it healed.
Damn Cannibal cunts—thinking they could kill me when I was alone. Their president would have a nasty surprise tomorrow when the local farmer inspected his potato field and found three new varieties sprouting instead.
I’d left a calling card on each—a single worthless diamond. Courtesy of my family and our power over immortality.
There would be no retaliation. They were on our turf—fair and fucking simple.
My muscles ached, my head pounded, but my mind was blessedly clear. I could think straight—free from emotions and pressure. I hadn’t run into anyone since my arrival.
A new prescription for pills rested on my bedside table. As much as I loved this clarity, I couldn’t stomach it come morning. I made a note to take one the moment I’d finished patching myself up.
Sitting on the edge of the bed, I popped the lid of the first aid kit and selected a tube of antiseptic.
My door flung wide.
Shit, I forgot to lock the damn thing.
I looked up, expecting to see Kes, my father, or even Daniel popping in for a three a.m. chat. Instead...Nila fucking Weaver stood frozen on the threshold.
I dropped the tube of cream.
She brandished her stolen dirk and a brass candlestick from one of the tables lining the halls. Her hair was untethered—a curtain of midnight—and her black camisole and shorts made my mouth instantly dry up.
Fuck, fuck, fuck.
What the hell?
I stood up instantly.
The first aid kit slammed to the floor, spewing its gauze and bandages to all corners of the room.
“What the hell are you doing in here?” I stormed forward, ready to slam the door in her face. She couldn’t be here. Not with my appearance or condition.
“Oh, my God. I found you.”
I grabbed the doorknob. “Go back to your room, Ms. Weaver.”
“No, wait!” She darted inside before I could block her. Dashing to my bed, she ran around the large mattress, placing it between us and brandishing her weapons. “I’ve been looking for hours. I’ve tried every room on the ground floor. I almost gave up when I found a secret door in the parlour.”
She’d been running around all night? Alone? Shit, didn’t she know how dangerous that was?
Daniel wouldn’t hesitate. My father wouldn’t, either.
“You’re a reckless, naïve little girl.” Slamming the door, I stalked toward her. “Do you have any idea what might’ve happened if you’d been seen?”
Her eyes skittered around my space, taking in the soaring high ceilings, old-fashioned priceless toys and artifacts, and Chinese woven carpets. “I have an idea.” She raised her chin. “But it was a risk I was prepared to take. After all, what else could I do?”
Tossing the candlestick onto the bed, she rolled her wrist from the weight. “You avoid me for days after telling me something cryptic about black diamonds and absorbing light. You tell me to stop feeling around you. You shut me out all while swallowing a drug you never took before. All of that brings me to one conclusion, Mr. Hawk.”
“Oh? And what conclusion is that?”
So, she did understand my half-assed attempt to make her understand.
Why couldn’t I just come out and tell her?
Why did I have to continue to hide?
“A conclusion that needs testing.” She sighed softly, “I have a theory, you see. And if I’m right...well, it means things are going to change between you and me.”
My heart tap-danced a crazy step.
You have no idea how much I want that.
“That will never happen.”
“You don’t even know my theory.”
“I know enough to ask you to leave.”
Before you destroy your own life and get me fucking killed in the process.
Having her here, in my space, with no fog to protect me, I tasted everything she felt like fine wine, expensive truffles, rich desserts. Anger, desire, fear...and most of all, love. Beneath her temper, she glowed with it. Vibrated with it.
It was all I could do to remain standing and not buckle under the waves of unconditional acceptance.
I groaned, “Nila, you have to leave.”
“No. Not until I find out what you are.”
I shivered, forgetting my bodily aches and pains and suffering emotional ones instead. She was breaking me—smashing the rules Cut had fashioned. If she could be so strong, why couldn’t I?
Couldn’t I indulge for just one night?
“You don’t understand.” I moved forward. “You can’t be here.”
“Tell me, then.” Placing the dirk on my bedside table, she dropped her hands. In a single move, she went from warrior to sacrifice, inviting me to take her. “Make me understand, Jethro.”
My head swam. I needed time to decide if I was stupid enough to put us both in danger. If I was going to give into her, it could only be for one night.
Inching closer, I murmured, “To find my room, you must’ve gone through my entire quarters.”
Her eyes narrowed at my subject change, but she nodded. “I did. Your room is the last one along the corridor.” Her body softened. “You have so many spaces. Game grottos, offices, a gym. I must’ve peeked into a dozen rooms after slipping through that secret door.”
A lot of space for a man who needed a lot of distance.
It looked like luxury; in reality, it was a gilded cage.
“And doesn’t that tell you something?”
She frowned. “Tell me what?”
“That this part of the Hall is private. I don’t want guests. I don’t want company. I keep my life removed from my family, even though we live in the same house.”
She trembled as I continued to close the distance between us. Each step I took, I fought to be strong enough to send her away. She would remain unhurt as long as I could fake the perfect heir.
The longer she stood in my quarters, the more I struggled to deny her.
Almost as if she followed my thoughts, she whispered, “It doesn’t matter. I’ve found you. Now I know where to come when you disappear and avoid me.”
My hands fisted as delectable thoughts filled my head: sneaking her into my quarters, sleeping beside her, fucking her without cameras reporting to Cut just how disobedient I was.
My jaw clenched. “There won’t be a next time, Nila.” Pointing at the door, I growled, “You have to leave.”
“Why? Give me one good reason and I might consider it.” Abandoning her position by my bed, she came toward me.
I sucked in a breath as her gaze danced over my body. Her fingers twitched as she took in my bleeding forehead and knuckles. “You’re hurt.”
“I’m fine.”
She lingered over my split lip before her eyes drifted down my still-damp torso to the towel around my waist.
An image of us walking back from the springs dressed only in towels came swift and strong.
I’d never been so free. Never been so happy at the thought of telling her everything and finally admitting that Nila was it for me. That I might have a chance.
It was a pipe dream. And one that got us both into this mess.
“Fuck.” I couldn’t have her in here, and I definitely couldn’t have those thoughts.
I tried to grab her, but she darted away. Jumping onto my bed like fleeing prey, her tiny feet disappeared in the feather duvet as she pranced across the mattress. She leapt down, once again placing the bed between us.
A headache throbbed and the bruises on my ribcage smarted as I ran a hand through my wet hair. “I don’t want to play any more games.”
Never taking her eyes from mine, she placed her palms on my bed. “Neither do I. We’ve both established that.” Her voice lowered. “You’re hurt, Jethro. Let me help you.”
“No. You need to go.”
How many times do I need to tell you?
My eyes flashed to the pills on my bedside. If I took one, the numbness might give me enough reprieve to kick her out.
“Who did this to you?” she murmured, inching closer again, forgetting that her intention was to stay away from me, not comfort me.
Her concern was like a mink blanket, soothingly warm and so, so soft.
I wished she would stay away. Her concern might be a blanket, but her love.... Shit, her love was a blade slicing me into pieces.
She kept coming closer, no longer trying to flee.
I held up my hand. “Stay right there.”
“Jethro...don’t do this.”
“No, you don’t do this,” I snarled. “You don’t know what you’re risking.”
Nila didn’t reply, and she didn’t stop.
My throat dried up. I was stuck between the wall my father had erected and the chasm she created. I need help. My hands shook as I charged toward my bedside and scooped up the bottle of pills.
My body blared from the fight, but it was nothing to the way my mind bled being around her. It was like claws on a blackboard, forcing me to listen—regardless if I wanted to or not.
The tablets offered quietness. Peace.
I needed that.
“No!” Nila sprinted forward, knocking the bottle from my hand. The tablets spewed all over the carpet.
“What the fuck?”
“Whatever they are—don’t take any more.”
My temper bubbled. “They’re painkillers!” I held up my torn knuckles, shoving the evidence in her face. “See.”
She scowled. “No, they aren’t.” Rummaging in the first aid kit, she brought out some anti-inflammatories and paracetamol. “These are painkillers.” Snatching my hand, she dumped the blister packet into my palm. “Whatever those others are—they’re hurting you, not helping you.”
Throwing away the pills, I ran a hand over my face. Being this awake after a month of listlessness, my old concerns came back. I missed Jasmine. I missed Kes. And fuck, I missed Nila. So damn much.
I looked at her beneath my brow, unable to fight anymore.
She wanted to talk? Fine. I’d talk.
We’d played cat and mouse too many times. The trap had sprung, and if death was the reward, then I sure as hell would make it worthwhile.
Capturing her hips, I dragged her closer. She gasped as I circled my thumbs on the cool satin of her night-shorts. “You came here for a reason. What was it?”
Nila blinked, lust blazing in her black eyes. “Eh...I came to...”
I tugged her closer, fitting her small frame against mine. “Yes?”
My heartbeat raced. My cock thickened. Giving in was an ultimate aphrodisiac, and the pain dissolved in favour of my intense need to fuck her.
I cocked an eyebrow, dragging my gaze down her body.
She had magic. I didn’t deny that. Magic that we hadn’t managed to take even though we’d treated her like a witch with the ducking stool.
Swallowing hard, I slinked my fingers into her hair, curling them around her nape. She bit her lip as I pressed my thickening erection on her belly. “You didn’t come to talk, did you? You came for this.” I rocked again.
Her eyes snapped closed.
“Admit it,” I purred. “Admit that all of this is our version of foreplay. We argue. We fight. And then...” My fingers tightened around her neck. “We fuck.”
She made a breathy noise that made my heart crack and bleed. “You’re right...” Her hand disappeared between us, latching around my cock through the towel.
I bit back a growl as her thumb pressed the crown, shooting electric bolts into my balls.
Her nipples peaked beneath the black satin. The lust she’d conjured in my office at Diamond Alley came back in full force.
“Goddammit, you test me.” Fisting her hair, I jerked her backward, supporting her spine as I ducked to suck her nipple.
She cried out, her hand releasing my cock to tug on the knot in the towel. “Yes...Jethro.”
“You truly are the worst kind of punishment,” I panted, sucking, grazing her with my teeth.
She squirmed. She was as fucked as I was—sex-hazed and drunk. Lust infused the very air—desire became oxygen and hunger became life.
We were both destroyed. And the only cure was to give in.
“I’ll give you what you’re looking for.” I walked her backward to the bed.
She looped her arms over my shoulders, leaping into my embrace. “Give me everything. I beg you.”
I caught her, holding her weight as her legs wrapped around my hips. She thrust against me.
“Fuck, Nila.”
A few more steps and I’d have her on the bed. If I could fucking walk. My entire body vibrated with need. “Why did you come here?”
Her lips parted. Her black hair shimmered in the lowlights of my bedside lamps. “You want the truth?”
I nodded.
Pressing her breasts against my chest, she whispered in my ear, “I came here to be filled, taken, ridden. I came to find you again. I came to remind you of what we have. I came for so many reasons, Jethro, but most of all, I came to save you.”
My soul swelled as the mattress hit my knees. I folded her backward, drinking in her flushed skin and sparkling eyes. I couldn’t speak. What was there to say to that?
I don’t need fucking saving?
I don’t want you to come for me?
Of course, I wanted that. Anyone after a lifetime of loneliness would dream of someone accepting them unconditionally.
All I wanted to do was crash to my knees and beg—fucking beg for her to finally understand—to see the only way to exist was to let me be who I was born to be. I had to take her life. I had to stay alive. One of us would die—if not both.
She wanted hope—the belief that this could have a happy ending.
But it can’t.
And that was too much to bear.
She scooted toward my pillows, spreading her legs. With sexy boldness, she hooked her fingers into the waistband of her shorts and shimmied out of them.
I swallowed. Hard.
I prowled toward her on hands and knees, unable to tear my eyes away from the dampness between her legs. “You want to be ridden? Let me make your wishes come true.”
I reached out to touch her, but she rolled away.
I blinked; the urge to chase her hammered at my skull. “Come here.”
She sat up, tugging the hem of her top, wrenching it over her head.
Naked.
Gloriously fucking naked.
I reached for her again, but she scrambled over my sheets.
A fleeting thought came. That quote to Vanity Fair about miscarrying. Was it true? Could she have been pregnant with my child? My heart fisted. I couldn’t unscramble how that made me feel.
“Come here,” I growled again.
“Come and get me.”
I trembled with the idea of her becoming more than just a woman I’d fallen for but family. If she carried my baby, we would be joined forever.
And you know what Cut would do.
My heart shut down.
I focused on sex—trying to separate emotional from physical gratification. I lied to myself, but it was better than asking her what truly happened while she was free.
“You want to play? Fine, I can play.”
She’d upset me without even trying. I wanted payback.
With a vicious yank, I untied the towel and hurled myself across the bed. I snagged her waist, slamming her onto her back.
Naked skin against naked skin.
I’d never felt anything so delicious.
She cried out as we bounced and collided, coming to rest on top of the blankets. Instantly, sharp unbridled lust laced around us. She smelled so good. Felt so good.
So warm.
So right.
Her chest rose and fell, teasing her nipples against my skin, twining her legs with mine.
I swooped down and bit her throat below her collar. “See what happens when you run?” Her incredible smell punched me harder than any of the bastards on the side of the road.
“You’re crushing me,” she breathed, her stomach fluttering against mine. Her fingernails dragged along my naked arse. “It’s not enough.”
Her talons sent shivers up my spine. I was so close to diving inside her. I snagged her wrists, pinning them above her head.
“Do you enjoy being spread-eagled beneath me?” I nuzzled her neck. “You’re my prisoner, yet you keep thinking you can win.”
She stiffened. “I think it’s time we agree we’re on the same side.” Her gaze darkened, a mask slipping into place. “I don’t want to win or lose anymore.” Struggling in my hold, she pressed a kiss on my jaw. “I just want you.”
My cock twitched, agreeing wholeheartedly.
I no longer wanted to be on anyone’s side but hers. That included my own.
Fuck, what a mess this has become.
When she’d left, I’d been willing to sacrifice my life to save hers. I would’ve died if it meant the Debt Inheritance had been void. But now—now I had to stay alive to ensure the Final Debt was paid.
I rocked against her pussy. “I agree...” Adjusting my hold on her wrists, I locked both with one hand and trailed the other over the delectable lines of her body. “Same team.”
She shuddered beneath my touch. “You mean it?”
I grabbed her breast, pinching her nipple. “I mean it.”
Her lips fell wide. A sigh escaped. And I took full advantage.
I kissed her.
She moaned, her mouth submitting to mine. Within a moment, the kiss went from a connection of lips to something deep and ravenous.
A kiss was a disaster.
A kiss was power.
A kiss was love and togetherness and faith.
It was so many, many things.
But this...this was something so much more.
More.
I want more.
I want everything.
She moaned again as her tongue dove into my mouth, taking control of the kiss and rocking her hips, seeking more just like me.
I kissed her deep. I kissed her hard.
Her knees fell wide, welcoming my body to claim hers. We both needed to join. Become one.
My fingers skated down her hip to her inner thigh. She bucked, trying to free her wrists as I dipped further with questing traces.
“Jethro...let me touch you.”
“No. I’m touching you.” With no hesitation, I thrust a finger inside her, mirroring the action with my tongue.
She groaned, her back flying off the bed.
Our lips never unglued, driving each other to galaxies beckoning with freedom and sanctuary.
“Oh, God.” She rode my finger, her body wet and wanting. “More. Give me more.”
I bit her bottom lip. “Your wish is my command.” I inserted another finger, driving deep, stretching wide. She was wet but so damn tight.
I wanted to fuck her so badly, but it wasn’t a simple matter of climbing on top. It never was for me. I had to prepare—had to make sure she was ready—even when it drove me to agony.
I wanted her hard and ruthless. This wasn’t making love. This wasn’t even a battle—this was a ceasefire. An admittance that we couldn’t keep fighting, but it didn’t mean we were dead.
“Kite...please, fuck me. I need you,” Nila begged between kisses.
Shit, she called me Kite again.
Every time she did, goosebumps scattered down my spine. All those nights of messaging her, getting into her head and heart—playing a game I never should’ve started—all crescendoed.
She’d slept with me as Jethro, but she hadn’t slept with me as Kite.
I lost all sense of self as I tore my fingers from her wet heat and shifted my body higher. Our eyes locked as the tip of my cock found her heat. The world stopped spinning.
There was so much to say and no words in which to speak.
Gritting my teeth, I nudged inside her.
The second I entered her, all decorum went out the fucking window.
I let go of her wrists and her hands flew downward, digging her nails into my arse and dragging me forward. Her knees came up, opening wide. “Yes. Oh, God, yes.” Her cheeks were rosy red, eyes wild.
Clutching the sheets, I thrust without warning, driving too fast and deep inside her.
She screamed.
“Shit!” I clamped a hand over her mouth, pulling out. “Be quiet.”
She vibrated in my arms, eyes glassy and lust-stricken. Dropping my hold, I growled, “No one must know you’re here.” Finding her wetness again, I climbed inside—slower this time, pushing, pressing, invading.
The tight unforgiving muscles of her body resisted me, but I was too far gone to care.
“Feel that?” I grunted as I slowly conquered her.
She moaned, her breath coming in short pants. Her eyes squeezed tight as I relentlessly filled her. “Yes.”
“Does it feel good?”
“Yes...so good.”
“You want more?”
“I want everything.”
I thrust hard and fast, sliding all the way inside. I’m home. I’m never fucking leaving again.
I’d killed three bikers tonight with no second thoughts. I was a killer, defender. So why couldn’t I be the same for Nila? Could I become a traitor to my family? Could I kill my father and Daniel in order to save the woman I loved?
I drove again, rocking her body deeper into my mattress.
Do I have a choice?
She threw her head back, hair fanning over my pillow. “You belong inside me, Jethro.” Her hand cupped my cheek, transfixing my soul to hers with irremovable super glue. “Never forget that.”
I just got my answer.
Pills and debts and empires.
Utterly worthless compared to this creature who’d stolen my heart.
Sighing, I gave up. I surrendered to the inevitable. I have to kill to protect. She was mine. It was my duty.
“I ache when you’re not inside me,” she murmured, dragging my mind back to her.
I smiled sadly, consumed with a gruesome future I didn’t want. Her face was in shadow from my body suffocating hers. She looked like she might vanish any second.
Tilting my head, I licked the seam of her lips. She opened, welcoming me inside. She was silk and sugar. Despair and happiness.
How could I be so happy yet so shredded at the same time?
Her hands fell to my hips, pulling me into her with every thrust. Our chests stuck together, our bellies glued. Her legs wrapped around the back of my thighs, using her ankles to push up and meet me thrust for thrust. “Harder, Kite. Harder.”
Once again, that tiny voice filled my head. Would you be so rough with her if she was pregnant? Shouldn’t you ask?
But the fear of the unknown and what it would mean silenced me. I obeyed instead, driving hard.
Her head fell back as I fucked under her command.
“I missed you.” Her voice broke. A single tear rolled down her cheek.
And that was it for me. I knew there was no going back.
Never again.
“Nila.” My voice was lost.
She opened her eyes, anchoring me to her.
“I need you to know that I feel what you feel. This—” I never broke my rhythm, diving inside her over and over. Loving, fucking, claiming. “—this, it’s right. I see that now.”
Anger blossomed in her eyes. “How long will you see it? Tomorrow? The day after? Or once tonight is over, you’ll cut me back out and leave me stranded all over again?”
My pacing stuttered, my cock twitched. “You’re right. To you it must seem as if I’m schizophrenic.”
Insane.
Just like everyone said.
She was silent for a moment, before brushing her thumb over my lips. “You seem troubled. That’s all.” Wrapping her arms around me, she sandwiched our bodies together.
I am troubled. More than you know.
The urge to be close—as close as humanly possible—forced my arms to wrap around her and thrust hard. I rode her like that. Arms locked, bodies merged into one. My balls slapped against her as my cock rubbed against her clit.
Pleasure supernovaed into a raging black hole, waiting to consume us.
I picked up speed, chasing the finale.
“Oh, don’t stop,” she moaned.
Her body bucked beneath mine, jousting and submitting in equal measure. I felt her pleasure as surely as my own. I drank her bliss like nectar.
“Am I hurting you?” I fisted the pillow behind her, rocking faster.
Her forehead furrowed. She nodded a little. “It’s a beautiful pain, though. A belonging sort of pain. Don’t stop.”
“I can’t take you without hurting you,” I said into her hair. “In a way, it’s only fair.”
Her fingernails dug into my lower back. “Why...why is it fair?”
I groaned. I didn’t want to answer that.
Because you hurt me when you take me, too. When you give me no choice but to let you inside me.
She rolled her hips, rubbing against me. “I’m angry with you. So damn angry at the way you treated me.”
I kissed her, forcing her to drink my words. “I know.”
Speaking through our kiss, she groaned, “I can’t control myself around you, but it doesn’t mean everything is fixed between us.”
“I know that, too.” I rocked harder, driving us to insanity. “But no matter how angry you are, your feelings won’t stop you from coming.”
I pinned her delicate frame with mine and let loose.
No more talking. No more thinking or feeling or planning.
Just fucking.
She gave in, moulding her body to mine, sighing heavily as my groan echoed around the room like a serrated blade.
She tormented me. But by God, I fucking loved her.
I didn’t understand her. I didn’t trust her. But my instincts plaited with hers and we fed off one another.
My balls cramped, desperately needing to come.
“Please, Kite. Give me what you’re hiding.”
Needing this over, craving silence from her all-consuming emotions, I drove faster.
Nila moaned as I reached between her legs, rubbing her clit while fucking her with no mercy.
It took two seconds for her to detonate.
Her eyes rolled back, she stopped breathing, and every molecule of her body exploded.
“Fuuuuck,” I grunted as her pussy contracted hard and strong around my cock.
I didn’t stand a chance.
I came.
Bliss and pleasure hurtled me into the stratosphere where no thought existed. Together we unravelled, spiralling deeper into chaos.
I didn’t care about anything. We journeyed to fucking utopia in each other’s arms.
Our hearts thundered against each other, speaking in Morse code just how precious this was. However, beneath the blistering contentment, I cursed myself to hell.
As my seed splashed inside her, all I could think about was the way I’d stolen her right to be a mother. I’d injected her to save her. But now it felt like a coward’s actions.
The Grim Reaper himself danced over my spine as another thought came to me.
If she had been pregnant, her child—my child—would’ve been murdered.
And nothing on earth could ever make that okay.
This has to end.
When our orgasms faded, I fisted her hair, forcing her to open her eyes. “Look at me.”
She breathed hard, staring into my gaze with melted heaven and sweetest satisfaction. “I’m looking, Jethro. And despite everything you do...I see you.”
“I know you see; that’s why I need you to promise me something.”
“Anything.”
Familiar ice filled me at the thought of what I had to do. I had to be smart. I had to win. Because there would be no second chance—for either of us.
“Outside of this room, I will continue to be cruel. I will continue to do what is expected of me. You have to trust me.”
She stiffened. “You’re saying after what just happened, things are going to go back to the way they were?”
I nodded. “They have to. Until I can do what’s needed.”
Her eyes narrowed. “And what are you going to do?”
I kissed the tip of her nose and hoped to God I’d made the right choice.
Please, give me strength.
“I’m going to do what I should’ve done a long time ago.”
Kill my motherfucking father.
