Page 45 of Avenging Azalea (California Made Men #2)

Chapter

Thirty-Five

FAWN

So, I was officially depressed. I’d tried to fight it, but the sadness pressed in on me. Now here I was crying my eyes out and eating my emotions while the dogs stared at me like I’d lost my mind.

It was always the same when I felt like this and didn’t want to function or face the world.

The night would start with a hot bath, lots of bubbles, and music playing that made me cry.

Then it was time to torture myself by putting on a sappy movie, crying non-stop, and eating ice cream. Tonight was Ever After .

I had no clue why I did this to myself instead of going out and having fun.

I could’ve called Matt for a date or really anything that wasn’t wallowing in my self-pity.

Steph had tried to coax me away, but my comfy pajamas and bawling my eyes out over fictional characters while I avoided my own emotions was what I needed.

In some strange way, it was self-healing.

Pulling two more tissues free from the box, I dabbed at my eyes as Drew Barrymore’s world crumbled around her.

When she ran from the castle, my lower lip trembled harder.

I felt this story in my soul, and no matter how many times I watched it…

it shook me to my core. I was the girl with the torn wing that had pretended to be more than I was.

I hadn’t heard anyone come into the house, and the dogs hadn’t gotten up, so when Titus stepped into the doorway, I jumped and almost tossed my bowl of strawberry shortcake ice cream.

“Titus, oh my god, you scared me.” I quickly wiped away the tears running down my cheeks and then looked at the time. “What are you doing home so early?”

He didn’t say a word as he took off his coat and tossed it on the leather recliner. His tie was already gone, and the top three buttons of his dress shirt were open, showing off a triangle tease of his chest and the tattoos that I knew were hidden beneath.

I would never be able to stop myself from staring at him like he was my next scoop of ice cream. I wanted to lick him. My mouth literally drooled at the sight of him. My poor emotions and hormones were caught in a toxic waltz of self-destruction.

“Titus, is everything alright?”

He stalked toward me. There was no other way to classify it.

Everything suddenly felt different, and I froze, caught in his predatory stare.

I sucked in a ragged breath as Titus bent over and gripped the back of the couch by my head.

My heart thumped out of control. It was so loud that the rhythmical thud was all that I could hear.

“I fucking love it when you stare at me like that,” he said voice laden with the same lust in his eyes. What the hell was happening?

“Like what,” I asked stupidly, my brain unable to add one plus one with him this close.

“Like you’re able to see through my clothes and picture me naked,” he said, and the subtle burn in my gut erupted like a volcano. The heat raged through my body, making the once comfortable hoodie feel like I was melting inside of it.

Titus grabbed the bowl of ice cream that I’d completely forgotten about and set it aside. I watched his hand in a complete daze. Was this some really vivid fantasy? If so, please, dear Lord, let me stay in this alternate plane of reality.

“You have a little ice cream…right here,” he said and kissed the corner of my mouth.

My breath faltered as I tried to push the air out of my lungs.

“Mmm, that’s good,” Titus said, his voice low and gravelly.

He kissed the corner of my mouth again, and his tongue teased me gently. All I could do was blink at him. His fingers gripped my chin as he gazed at my face.

“Breathe, Fawn,” he commanded and then smirked.

“Breathe,” I repeated as the misfiring of all my brain cells continued.

I could almost picture them running around in circles and crashing into one another, not sure what the hell was happening.

Titus smiled, but it was unlike any smile he’d given me before. It was sexual and carnal, and my body shook as the hair stood on the back of my neck. Normally, the sensation would freak me out and send me running, but not with him. There was no fear.

“What’s happening? Am I dreaming,” I asked, not really wanting the response if he said yes.

Instead of answering me, Titus kissed me softly.

I moaned and opened for him as he took control and devoured my mouth.

Our tongues teased and danced together. My heart was full.

I’d wanted him for so long. For him to look at me with desire, to touch me like a lover, and to show me the love of a real man.

What was going on? I was caught between pulling him down onto the couch and pushing him away. I needed to do something before my already twisted emotions took a headfirst dive off a tall building. Before my mind could figure out what to do, Titus broke the kiss. But his lips remained touching mine.

“Fuck you taste sweet, Little Bird.”

His chest muscles flexed under my touch. My entire body ached for him, though the worst of it was centralized right between my thighs.

“I don’t understand what’s happening here,” I said. “What about V?—”

Titus crushed his lips to mine again, stopping me from saying Vera’s name. I moaned as he kissed me harder, more demanding than before. His hand snaked around to the back of my neck, and I shuddered as his grip tightened.

This time, when he pulled away, my willpower to say no teetered on the edge of the skyscraper with my rapidly fraying emotions.

He wrapped his other arm around me, and there was no denying the raw power he possessed as he stood up straight and brought me with him like I weighed no more than one of the couch’s decorative pillows.

With my arms around his neck and legs around his waist, I mentally clung to my disappearing morals. We were apparently walking, but I hadn’t registered the movement until his bedroom door closed with a bang behind him.

“Tell me now if you don’t want me,” Titus said.

I searched his amber eyes.

“Of course I do, but…”

Titus nipped at my bottom lip, sucking it slightly into his mouth and once more stopping my protest.

“The wedding is off,” he said, and the world stopped completely.

“What?” The single word came out in a hopeful gasp.

“It’s off.”

“How?”

“I don’t want to talk about it right now. There is only one thing I want. One thing I’ve been dreaming of. One thing that I crave more than my last breath. That’s you.” I licked my lips and tried to swallow past the shock lodged in my throat. “So, this is what will happen.”

Titus lowered me to my feet, but it was a good thing I kept hold of his shirt, or I would’ve been on the floor. My legs were so shaky.

“I’m going to make you mine, Little Bird.”

He’d ripped off the mask that had been hiding his emotions from me. Everything was laid bare in his eyes…love. Forbidden, imperfect, beautiful love.

I smiled, the corner of my mouth pulling up.

“And what do I get in return?” He matched my smirk as I teased him.

“In return, my heart is yours.” Titus rubbed his thumb over my bottom lip. “I’ll be anything you need, but you’re mine.”

There was a weight to what he’d said. A proclamation that if I went forward, he meant forever.

His life was dangerous, I knew that more now than even a month ago.

A life with him would be dark. I’d seen firsthand what his family could do.

Yet, I’d never feared him, not for a second.

The only question left was…could I tie myself to the chaos and death that came with a mafia family?

The answer was simple. Yes.

“Yes, I want you.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes. Surviving is all I’ve known, and I’m sick of it. I want to live the life I choose, and I choose you.”

Dark desire burned in his eyes. It felt like he could singe holes through my body. If that was true…I welcomed it. I wanted him.

TITUS

My Little Bird had the soul of a saint and the lips of a sinner. I couldn’t get enough of the addictive blend. Cupping her face, I kissed her until we were panting hard and gasping for air. Giving myself over and letting go for once was a slice of heaven.

Fawn’s fingers rested on my chest, but I wanted to feel them roaming my body and her nails digging into my skin.

Gripping the front of my dress shirt and giving it a hard tug, the two sides pulled open.

Buttons pinged off the floor, and I loved the shocked expression in Fawn’s wide eyes as she looked around at the falling bits of plastic.

“Eyes on me,” I ordered, and her gaze flicked back up to mine.

A rosy blush spread across her cheeks. Fuck she was beautiful.

“Arms up.”

Fawn did as I said and lifted her arms straight up for me to pull her hoodie off. I tossed it aside and grabbed her hands. Pressing them against my pecs, the feel of her touch was as intoxicating as her heated stare.

I slid my fingers under the tank top she was wearing, and she sucked in a deep breath. Fawn’s nipples were hard and poking at the material. Even if I hadn’t been able to see the excitement in her eyes, her body told me everything.

A groan left my mouth as she splayed her fingers on my chest and began to explore. The hunger in her stare was enough to make me hard for days, but her touch had my cock straining in my pants. But first…she needed to come on my tongue.

My thumbs ran over her nipples, and she shivered, goosebumps rising on her soft skin. Fawn sucked in a ragged breath, and her head fell back as I rolled the delicate little buds between my fingers. I smirked.

“You like that, my Little Bird?”

“Yes.” Her voice was barely audible with a yearning that had me peeling the tank top over her head.

The first sight of her breasts brought out a growl from deep in my chest. I’d wanted to take things slow, but that thought was quickly evaporating. Fawn arched her back, and I took the invitation, sucking her pert nipple into my mouth.