Page 40

“You’re mine,” he snarled, his hand tightening on my throat, his thrusts brutal, his eyes locked on mine.
Obsidian’s coils slid over my stomach, her tongue flicking against my skin, and I screamed, the pleasure-pain overwhelming, my orgasm building like a tidal wave. Elias thrust harder, his cock hitting deep, his fingers squeezing my throat, and I was gone, shattering around him, my pussy clenching, my body shaking.
He didn’t stop, flipping me onto my back, his cock still buried inside me, Obsidian’s coils draping over my chest, her head near my shoulder. He fucked me harder, his thrusts punishing, his eyes blazing.
“Say it,” he growled, his hand still on my throat, his other gripping my thigh, marking me. “Say you’re mine.”
“I’m yours,” I gasped, my voice raw, my nails raking his back, drawing blood. Obsidian’s tongue flicked against my collarbone, her coils tightening, and I came again, screaming his name, my body convulsing under him.
He roared, his release hitting, filling me, marking me inside and out, his thrusts slowing but never stopping, like he wanted to stay inside me forever.
We collapsed, panting, Obsidian’s coils still draped over us, her head resting on my chest, her eyes glinting in the dark. Elias’s forehead pressed against mine, his breath ragged, his hands still on me, unwilling to let go.
“You’re fucking insane,” he said, voice hoarse, but there was awe in it, maybe even worship.
“You love it,” I whispered, my lips brushing his, my body still trembling from the aftershocks. Obsidian stirred, her coils sliding off me, slithering back to the floor, as if she knew her part was done. I laughed, low and warm, my fingers tracing the marks I’d left on his chest. “Told you she’d make it unforgettable.”
He kissed me, slow and deep, his tongue claiming mine, and I felt it—the shift, the moment we became something more than fire and chaos.
Here, in this bed, with Obsidian’s eyes watching us, we were untouchable. Together, we’d burn the world.
14
ELIAS
Vivi’s body was a warm anchor against mine, her red curls splayed across my chest like embers on a dark tide. The sheets clung to us, damp with sweat, Obsidian’s coils a silent shadow in the corner of my suite. We’d fucked like demons, her fire torching my control, but now, in the quiet, her breath soft against my skin, I felt a pull—not just to claim her but to let her see me, the parts I’d buried deep. The demon was there, pacing its cage, but it was hushed, lulled by her warmth, her presence.
She shifted, propping her chin on my chest, her green eyes glinting in the low light. “You’re quiet, Cipher,” she said, voice husky, a teasing edge slicing through. “Planning to chain me to your bedpost?”
I smirked, my fingers tracing the curve of her spine, slow and deliberate. “You’d burn the chains to ash, Red.”
Her laugh was soft, a sound that sank into me, thawing places I’d kept frozen. “Damn right. But you’d fan the flames.”
I didn’t answer, just held her gaze, her eyes probing mine like she could see the demon and didn’t flinch. She was chaos,a glitch in my code, but tonight, I didn’t want to debug her. I wanted her to know me, just a sliver, even if it felt like peeling back my own skin.
She rolled onto her side, her thigh brushing mine, her hand resting on my stomach, fingers grazing the scars I never explained. “Tell me something real,” she said, voice low, not a command but a dare. “Not the hacker shit. You. Who’s Elias Dane when he’s not chasing me?”
My jaw tightened, the instinct to shut down automatic. My career—military ops, black sites, bodies buried for Dominion Hall—was a vault I wouldn’t open, not yet. But her eyes, steady and unflinching, tugged at something raw. I exhaled, slow, my hand finding hers, lacing our fingers together.
“Grew up on Sullivan’s Island,” I said, voice rough, the words scraping out. “Salt air, sand in everything. Me and my brothers ran wild, building driftwood forts, swiping beers from tourists’ coolers.”
Her lips curved, a real smile, not her usual wicked grin. “Sounds like trouble.”
“We were,” I said, a faint smirk tugging at my mouth. “Marcus was the loudmouth, starting fights he couldn’t finish. Atlas watched, always planning. Charlie dreamed, sketching in the sand. Noah charmed his way out of everything.”
She tilted her head, her curls catching the light. “And you?”
I paused, the truth heavy. “I fixed shit. Broken toys, busted radios, anything I could take apart and put back together. Had to know how it worked, how to control it.”
Her fingers tightened around mine, her voice soft. “Sounds like you carried a lot.”
I snorted, but it didn’t hide the ache. “Wasn’t so bad. Had my brothers. Had my dad.” I hesitated, the memory of Byron Dane a weight, warm but shadowed. “Dad loved us, all of us. Good man, quiet, but he’d sit us down, tell stories about the sea, teach us toread the stars. We thought he was just a hard worker, scraping by. Then, when we were all deployed—me and my brothers scattered across the world in our respective units—we got word he was dead. Left us a letter and a fortune we didn’t know he had.”
Vivi’s breath caught, her hand stilling. “A fortune?”
I nodded, the truth still surreal. “Billions. Stashed in accounts, properties, shit we couldn’t fathom. We were soldiers, not tycoons. Found out he’d been playing some kind of game—deals, secrets, shit he never told us. Built an empire, and we inherited it overnight.”
Her eyes widened, but she didn’t push, just listened, her silence an invitation. I swallowed, the next part harder, the part that cut deepest.