Page 95

This isn’t soft.It’s not sweet.

It’s anger and want, betrayal and need, all twisted together into something dangerous.

I spin her around before she can catch her breath, pressing her hands to the back of the couch.Her body arches, instinctively knowing what I want, what I need.My fingers drag up her thighs, bunching her dress at her waist, exposing the curve of her ass.She doesn’t resist.Doesn’t flinch.

She’s waiting for it.

“Is this what you wanted?”I rasp, my voice rough, barely human.“To make me lose control?”

She doesn’t answer, not with words.She pushes back against me, a silent demand that makes something primal snap inside my chest.“Always pushing,” I growl, pressing her back against the marble, pinning her beneath me.

I tear at the thin scrap of lace keeping her from me, my fingers sliding against her slick heat.Aoife lets out a strangled sound, her body jerking, but I don’t give her time to adjust.I slide two fingers inside her, thrusting deep and fast, my thumb pressing against her clit as her body tightens.

“Tell me,” I demand.“Tell me who you belong to.”

“You,” she breathes.“I belong to you.”

My belt hits the floor with a hiss, the zipper a sharp rasp that cuts through the thick air between us.I shove my pants down just far enough, then grip her hips, grounding myself in the feel of her beneath me.

I enter her in one hard stroke, burying myself deep.

She cries out, raw, wrecked, but doesn’t pull away.Her body welcomes the punishment, the depth, the fury in every motion.I move with a rhythm that has nothing to do with grace.It’s a claiming.A warning.A confession I’m too fucked up to say aloud.

I fuck her hard, relentless, chasing every moan, every sharp inhale, until she shatters around me.Her body trembles, clenching tight.I drive into her twice more, then I’m gone, a guttural sound ripping from my throat as I empty myself inside her.

For a moment, the only sound is our ragged breathing.

Then Aoife lifts her head, that wicked little smirk back in place.“Guess I won that round.”

I let out a low chuckle, fingers tracing lazy patterns on her bare thigh."You really think this is a game,mo chroí?"

Her smirk deepens."Isn’t it?"

“Games have rules."I press a slow kiss to her throat before pulling away.“And eventually, someone loses.”

Aoife

After Eamon fuckedme over the arm of the sofa, he carried me to bed and ruined me all over again until my limbs were weak and my body trembled.Until I was too spent to do anything but cling to him.Even now, I can still feel him on my skin, the bruises his hands left, the ache between my legs, and the delicious exhaustion that threatens to pull me back under.

The bed shifts slightly, a hand trailing lazily down my spine."I didn't think you'd wake up," Eamon murmurs, his voice rough with sleep, but there’s amusement laced in it."I almost had you convinced to stay unconscious."

I hum, stretching slowly, wincing at the soreness in my limbs."You tried."

His chuckle is low, pleased.He presses a kiss to my bare shoulder before pulling away and getting out of bed.

By the time I open my eyes again, he’s near the window, already dressed, buttoning the cuffs of his sleeves.He moves with easy efficiency, but there’s tension in his shoulders.“I have to go out of town,” he says, glancing at me.

I push up onto my elbows, my voice still thick with sleep.“Why?”

He meets my gaze, unreadable.“Business.”

I sit up, keeping my expression neutral.“Can you be any more vague?”

He doesn’t take the bait.“Seamus and a few of my men will be here while I’m gone.”

“To keep me safe or to keep me in line?”

“Both,” he answers, stepping closer.