Page 116 of Conjure

“Just leave, Camryn.”

My chest tightens at his harsh words. Everything feels hopeless. Our friends are dead, and we’re nowhere closer to figuring out how to beat this thing.

I should leave—it’s what he wants. Instead, I pull my tank top over my head and wiggle out of my skirt before reaching behind me to unclip my bra. Steam from the shower obscures my reflection in the mirror.

I pull the curtain back to reveal Dominic’s carved, wet physique. Water from the showerhead runs in rivulets over his tense muscles and tattoos, and my pulse quickens as I enter the bathtub. With his hands on the wall, he hangs his head low in defeat. I’ve never seen Dominic so…tormented. He barely acknowledges me as I press my lips to the space below his shoulder blade.

“I could hurt you.” The vulnerability in his voice cuts my heart in two.

“You won’t.” I kiss a path over the expanse of his muscled back, tasting the shower water on him. “I know you won’t.”

“The demon entered me, Camryn, and I was powerless to stop it. What if it had caught you? What then?” He fists his hands on the wall, his muscles rippling, then rams his palm into the tiles. “I would have had to watch it hurt you.”

I wrap my arms around his trim waist and press my cheek to his back. “You’d have found a way to stop it. I know you would have.”

His breathing increases, and his chest expands in my arms with every ragged inhale. “Fuck, Camryn…”

“Shhh.”

“It’ll come back.”

“But it’s not here now.”

Dominic turns in my arms, gazing down at me with his haunted eyes that remind me of the forest. If only I could unearth some of those secrets staring at me as he strokes my damp hair away from my brow.

His lips descend on mine, hesitant at first, and I melt into him, dragging my nails up his back. “I won’t break, Dom,” I say as he trails kisses down my neck and then back to my mouth.

“Trust me”—he grabs my ass and lifts me—“I know. You’re the fiercest woman I’ve ever met.”

My back collides with the tiles, and I wrap my thighs around his waist. Dominic’s dominant lips devour mine in a violent and destructive kiss, unlike anything I’ve experienced before. I moan into his mouth, gripping the short strands of his soaked hair while his calloused hands explore my quivering body. I want more. So much more.

“If I ever hurt you…” His deep voice rumbles against the curve of my neck. “I need you to promise that you’ll kill me.”

I open my mouth, but before I can tell him that I will die before I ever hurt him, he claims another savage, toe-curling kiss. Whatever thought, whatever argument I prepared, flies out the window. Fuck, Dominic knows how to kiss. Caressing my tongue with his, he dips his hand between my legs, and I break away from his swollen lips when he presses down on my throbbing clit.

“Eyes on me,” he orders in a breathy, husky voice, sliding the tip of his finger inside me. “Promise, baby.”

I shake my head, clenching around him. “I can’t promise you that.”

“Fuck,” he groans, his touch becoming rougher and more frenzied as he dives down to bite my jaw. “Why are you so fucking stubborn? Listen to me for once.”

My lips part as he stretches me with two fingers, pleasure tingling my spine. I cling to his wet hair and broad shoulders, clawing and pulling and moaning his name.

He drives his fingers deep, sucking my lip between his teeth, then bites down hard until the taste of copper fills my mouth.

“I need you to do the right thing.” His fingers disappear, and I whimper at the emptiness. “It will use me to hurt you. I saw it.”

Circling my arms around his neck, I press my aching tits to his chest and kiss him hard and deep. “Don’t ruin this moment, Dom.” I nip his lip, licking at his mouth and tasting his heated breath. “Fuck me.”

I admire his striking beauty as he locks his heated gaze on mine—like a fallen angel carved by God, with a sharp jawline and cheekbones. Dark strands of his damp hair lie plastered to his forehead, while water droplets decorate his swollen lips. More drip precariously from the tip of his nose.

With one hand on the tiles, he tucks my hair behind my ear and leans in to kiss me again. I wiggle my hips, trying to guide him inside me. But he holds himself back, tormenting me with teasing swipes of his tongue. Laughter bubbles from my chest as I try to pull him closer, but he traps my wrists in one hand over my head against the wall and smiles into the kiss.

Is this what happiness feels like? Amid horror and despair, it shines through heavy clouds like a seed that survived the drought.

“You want my dick, baby?” he taunts, nipping at my lip and tickling my waist, which makes me squeal and laugh in his grip.

He dives in to kiss me deeper, and I melt into him, barely noticing when he releases my wrists to trail the backs of his fingers down my cheek, jaw, and the sensitive curve of my neck. A smile touches my lips as I palm his cheeks, feeling his scruff beneath my touch, his cock nestled at my entrance.