Page 52 of Atone

My face screws, and I tense around him.

“Fuck.” His gaze falls to where we connect, and his shoulders puff as he admires my desire streaking his cock. “You really should have stayed away, Mila.”

His hips thrust forward again, and something untethers. Wild need courses, and even if I was teasing him earlier, I wonder how long it really has been since Alex had sex. Because he looks at me like he wants to devour me.

His nails are short, but they bite into my skin with hisrough grip. And as he starts to pull out, his shoulders shudder.

When he thrusts in again, he’s lost all sense of hesitation. He’s no longer gentle as he grabs my jaw and pulls my mouth to his. The kiss is teeth and fight, fusing us together. He fucks me with his tongue like he fucks me with his cock. Needy and brutal.

And I need more.

His thumb finds my clit again, and he plays in those torturous circles that drive me mad. I’m barely keeping my composure at the first sweeps of his touch.

His thrusts are strong and deep, and nearly impossible to take.

Alex forces it anyway. Grabbing my ass and holding me to meet his pulsing hips. Striking me where my vision becomes colorless, and the world loses all sound.

He’s my air, and he holds me like I’m his earth.

He becomes every inhale.

Vital for my existence.

My insides shatter, and I’m one with the air as I clench around him and fall apart. It’s almost too much as he moves faster, drawing out every pulse of my orgasm. And he sounds almost in pain as he chases his own. As his pace quickens and his teeth clench. As his body shakes. Only then does he break the kiss and bury his face in the side of my neck, filling me with his cum.

One needy pulse after another claims me.

Shivers still rack through both of us as he slows. But he doesn’t pull out or back up immediately. He keeps me sealed to him. Out of breath and fight. His release dripping onto the floor beneath us.

If I thought there was any getting over this man, I was wrong.

This is my end.

Or is he my beginning?

Alex presses his forehead to mine, and it hurts to look into his eyes because I’m not ready for what I’ll find there. Darkness. Fear. Uncertainty.

He closes them and takes a breath. “You want to know why I avoided you?”

“Mm-hmm.” I hum, still catching my breath.

“Because you are—” He pauses—his voice catching—his breath uneven. “You are my only relief, Mila Bianchi. My only relief.”

17

WHAT DID YOU DO?

ALEX

“Alex, don’t,”Patience screams.

The pitch pierces through the air as tears make rivers down her porcelain cheeks. Her white-blonde hair shines with the flickering candlelight, but all I see is red.

All I see is blood.

My sister’s plea is drowned in my heartbeat rushing in my ears.

My fist finds his face.