close my eyes, unwilling to pretend that I’m anything more than damaged and angry and dangerous.
“Open your eyes, X,” she says firmly. “I want you to see what you do to me. I want you to see what I see.”
I can’t deny her, but I can’t hide the truth. She can’t heal me because some scars run deeper than the skin. She can see the ones on my flesh, but not the ones that twist my soul. I stare at her, wondering when she’ll realize how fucked up I am. She pushes her hips back into me. She might as well wave a red flag. Doesn’t she see how she’s provoking me? She thinks she wants it rough, but she has no idea what she’s asking of me—or herself. I have to show her before it’s too late. I grab a handful of her hair and jerk her up, so she’s forced to really look at me. She wants to see me. She needs to see the beast. She can’t look away, and I reveal my true self, pounding into her so hard I know it hurts. She gasps and grunts, her face wrenching with the sudden violence of my cock. But instead of begging me to stop, she tightens around me.
“Don’t stop,” she urges, breathless. “All of you. Give me all of you.”
I come with a violent surge that blasts from me so hard that she has to hold onto the counter.
She enjoyed it.
I have to make her see. I keep going, my cock remaining hard as it moves into her soaked cunt. I ignore how impossibly good it feels to fuck her when she’s full of me.
“Alexander,” she calls, discomfort running through her voice.
“Need…need…” But she needs to see—see the real me, the real danger of freeing me. She still has time to put me back in my cage because once I’m fully released, I’ll take her captive and never let her go. I’ll use her. I’ll control her. I’ll ruin her. Or my world will.
Clara manages to free herself and turns around, leaving my cock pulsing with unfinished business. As soon as she’s gone, I realize my mistake. I can’t punish her for my past. I have to protect her, and now I’ve pushed her too far. I need to show her that I can be gentle, that I can keep the dangerous part of me locked away.
“Brimstone,” she whispers.
No. Not now. I need her too much. “I need to be inside you.”
She shakes her head. Not like this. Not taking.
Together.
I wrap my arms around her and lift her to the counter. The pause gives me time to gather myself. I find my control. I find her. My cock is still hard, still desperate to be inside her. I tenderly move it across her swollen sex and watch her, hoping she understands this is about something else. She stares for a moment before wiggling her hips to slide herself over my cock.
I let her take the lead. I can’t help feeling like I’m coming home as I join with her. This isn’t about fucking. This is connection. She clings to me, her eyes locked with mine, and I know neither of us can deny everything between us has changed again. There’s no longer a path without her—there’s no future that exists outside of her and me. I don’t know how to do this. She has to show me how.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Things are very normal. It’s the only word I can think of, even though I don’t have much experience with it. After last night, I might have thought things would be tense between us. Instead, I’m watching her get ready in the mirror, wondering why she bothers with even a drop of bloody make-up. She doesn’t need it. Her eyes flit to mine in the mirror and rake down my body. There’s not an ounce of reservation or disgust as she takes in my scars. If anything, she looks like she’s thinking about the same thing I am.
“If you keep looking at me like that, I’m going to have to take you back to bed,” I warn her.
“Yes, please,” she whispers before sighing. “Don’t even think about it, X. I’m going to be late already.”
As if she could say no to me. “I warned you that I’m a man who takes what he wants.”
I prove my point by throwing her over my shoulder and carrying her to her bedroom.
“Put me down!” Her palm smacks me. “I’m late.”
“Stop fighting