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The stranger pulled Mairi closer to him, and this time the side of her breasts pressed against the side of his chest.
And yet Mairi did not say a word, did not move an inch, did not give Damen anything to cling to so that he could believe he had not completely lost her.
Finally, he dragged his gaze away from where Mairi’s body was connected with another man. Finally, Damen found the strength to look into her eyes, those wondrously expressive eyes that could never lie to him.
And in those eyes, he saw the truth.
Mairi had given herself to another man.
No. No. No.He wanted to deny the reality he saw in Mairi’s eyes, but he had never been one to lie to himself. He had a feeling he would never want to sleep again. If he did, he was damn sure he would have nightmares about this, and there would come a day when the pain would eat him alive and he would never wake again.
He did not think he would even dare close his eyes.
If he did—-
If he did—-
Goddammit, if he did, his sick and twisted mind would not have any difficulty picturing Mairi, his lovely Mairi, in another man’s bed. Her naked form, once a sight that was exclusively his, being feasted upon by another man’s hungry eyes. Her generous curves, once familiar only with his touch, being caressed by another man’s hands. Her silken limbs, those gorgeous long legs of hers, wrapped around another man’s hips, her tender and sensitive flesh that had only ever known his cock welcoming another man’s possession——
Goddammit, he would die of jealousy.
And he only had himself to blame because he had forced her into this.
“Mairi.” Damen wanted to say so many things, so many damn things, but his voice broke at the end.
The way Damen suddenly blanched, a sick look falling on his face, made Mairi cry out.
Never. Never. Never would she forget that look on his face the moment Damen Leventis realized that she no longer belonged to him.
Mairi felt herself drowning under a powerful flood of guilt, resentment, and pain – so much pain that she wondered how it could have all fit inside without her body exploding. That look on his face made her feel so cheap. Would this feeling ever stop? Did it mean she was never meant to be with Damen Leventis because she would always feel like she didn’t deserve to be with him?
Maybe, she thought hysterically,maybe that really was how this was supposed to end.
“His name is Drake,” she heard herself saying.
Damen stiffened.
At her side, Drake’s head snapped towards her.
“He’s been living with me for a week.”
A sound of raw agony spilled out of Damen’s throat, and she knew that he was imagining the worst, knew that he was thinking she had spent every second of that week in Drake’s arms, allowing the other man all the liberties that only Damen had once possessed.
He was imagining exactly what she wanted him to think. Mairineededhim to think it was like that because she knew now that she would never be able to leave him, not even when she knew that she hadn’t been the one to betray him. He was the one who betrayed her with Alina, but her heart didn’t care – wouldn’t ever care.
Because she loved him.
Her love for him was an ugly and unbreakable chain that she would never be free from.
But there was still hope.
All she had to do was destroy Damen, and he would destroy them both.
“And when he asked if I wanted him...” She swallowed hard, and then she raised her chin and said hoarsely, “When Drake asked me if I wanted him to make me come——”
“DON’T SAY ANOTHER WORD.” Pain so great it was indescribable crossed Damen’s face.
“I told him—-”