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MAEL

I opened the door to the bedroom and walked inside.

At least she wasn’t trying to keep me out by locking the door or pushing the dresser in front of it to block my way.

As if that could have kept me away from her.

As if there was anything in this world that would have ever kept me away from her.

It was okay because she would learn soon enough that I meant what I said about keeping her. That the only way she would ever escape me was if I stopped breathing.

Given what I did and all the enemies I’d made so far, that was likely to happen sooner rather than later, but that didn’t mean I wasn’t going to hold on to her for as long as I could.

She was asleep when I got into the room. All the other times, she hadn’t been. She forced herself to stay awake, waiting for me. But that must have taken a toll on her because now, she was fast asleep. I walked over to her side of the bed and took in her small form on the huge king-size bed, feeling something like a fucking fist around my chest, squeezing and squeezing until it was fucking painful.

How was it that she could make me feel like this simply by existing?

It had never been like this with anyone else.

And I had been with other women. I wasn’t exactly celibate over the years. But this?

I climbed into the bed with her, feeling almost angry.

I fucking hated the way she made me feel. I hated how weak I felt under her gaze, as if one look from her and I would simply disintegrate. I hated how she could so easily affect me with a single glance. And I fucking hated how I couldn’t possibly exist in this world if she wasn’t in it.

That time she ran away from me already proved that.

Had Leo done something to her, had something happened, I wouldn’t have been able to move forward.

And she ran from me.

She fucking left.

I fucking hated all these weak feelings she was able to bring out of me, but I didn’t hate her.

Never her.

I wrapped my arms around her middle and pulled her in closer to me, burying my face in her hair and taking in her familiar scent.

My heart calmed.

The anger was pushed away, and all that was left was me and her in this small little bubble, and that was all there was to it.

I held onto her tightly. She didn’t wake up through the night. She must have been more tired than I thought.

I didn’t sleep. I couldn’t.

My nights were already hit with bouts of insomnia, but tonight, I didn’t want to sleep.

I wanted to stay like this with her, even if I knew it wasn’t possible. We had to leave this cabin, and soon.

Leo hadn’t made a move to come here and see her, and I didn’t think he would do it soon, considering he thought the two Sicilians were having fun with her. My insides burned with rage from the thought.

I leaned in closer to her and pressed my lips against the back of her neck. I won’t let anything happen to you.

She melted further into me. Even in sleep, her body knew who it belonged to. She could deny it all she wanted, but that didn’t make it any less true.

She was mine in every sense of the word.

I watched her as the sky turned color, from pitch black to a twilight blue, giving me a good view of her face.

I kissed her cheek, taking in the softness of her skin and the fullness of her form against me.

Her face twitched.

I knew she was only moments from waking up.

My hands moved without thinking, going beneath the sleep shirt she wore. I pressed my palm over her soft belly.

She let out a small sigh, her lips opening a bit and making my dick stir.

Mine.

She was fucking mine.

Mine.

Her eyes fluttered open, her gaze still soft with sleep. She took in my face, not showing any reaction. She was still trying to figure out what was going on. But fuck if I didn’t miss that softness on her face when she looked at me. Perhaps Theo was right. Perhaps I had gone about it the wrong way.

I fucked up, but I was going to rectify the situation. And the only way to do that was to prevent her from putting any more distance between us.

“Mael.”

Fuck. My name coming from her lips was like a fucking balm, soothing over my rough soul.

I inched my hand up and down her stomach.

She gasped when she finally realized my hand was there. She pressed her hand on top of mine over her shirt. “What are you doing?”

“What does it look like I’m doing?” I asked gruffly.

“Being creepy,” she answered, trying to keep her reaction from showing through when I pushed my hand up and cupped her left tit.

Fuck.

I missed this. I missed her. And I fucking missed these.

“Mael,” she breathed out, half in protest, half in pleading.

Her mind was telling her she shouldn’t want this, but her body…

I plucked at her nipple, fucking loving the way her back bowed in response, instinctively moving herself in closer to me.

“We… We shouldn’t be doing this,” she said as I rolled her hardened nipple around between my thumb and my forefinger.

“Why not?” I asked, pinching the hardened nub.

“Because.” She shook her head, dragging her hand up to stop my movements. I moved away from her reach, gliding down until my fingers felt the hem of her sleep shorts.

She shook her head.

I shot her a wink and pushed my hand down inside them, beneath her panties, and cupped her drenched cunt.

“Fuck,” she gritted out. “No.”

“Yes,” I said, moving my fingers over her fat clit, rubbing around it over and over and over again, driving her crazy.

“Mael!”

“That’s right. Look at how wet you are?. Such a good girl for me,” I praised. And she was… always such a good girl. She squeezed her legs together as if that would stop me from playing with her. I squeezed her pussy roughly. “Ride my hand, kitten.”

“What?” she asked, turning to the side. I moved in closer to her, pressing my front against her back and moving my hand up and down her slit.

“Ride my hand,” I repeated, knowing she heard me the first time.

“No. We can’t.”

“Why not? It’s just the two of us here, is it not?” And even if it wasn’t, she was going to learn to trust me and do as I asked when I asked it.

She shook her head slightly as I moved my fingers down between her pussy lips, pushing my finger inside her wet heat and feeling her clench down around me, driving me crazy.

“Ride my hand, baby girl. Show how desperate you are for this. For me.”

She made a small sound in the back of her throat, her hips moving in tandem with my hand. I didn’t even think she was aware of doing that.

“Mael!”

“That’s it, baby. You’re so fucking sexy like this, you know that?” I asked, pushing another finger inside her, stretching her out. She let out a small cry, her hips moving faster, trying to find that friction.

“Do you know what it does to me, seeing you like this? Taking the pleasure you need.”

“Fuck, Mael.” Her eyes turned desperate as her nails raked down my forearm. The sharp pain only spurred me on. My cock was so fucking hard it wouldn’t take me long to blow my load, and all I was doing was playing with her sweet pussy.

Fuck.

“That’s it, baby. Why don’t you be a good girl for me and come,” I demanded.

She shook her head, tears pooling in her eyes.

“Yes,” I said, helping her out by increasing the pace of my fingers, pushing harshly back inside her, ensuring she could feel everything.

She squirmed against me as if she were afraid of reaching her peak. She should know I would be here to catch her once she fell.

I pulled my hand out and gave her pussy a few hard taps.

She cried out, her legs jolting from the movements before I focused on her clit.

“Mael!” She came apart in my arms.

I turned her around until she faced me.

“That’s it, kitten,” I cooed, taking in her face filled with pleasure, feeling a sense of satisfaction from knowing I was the one who caused that. Only me. “You’re so fucking beautiful.”

And she was that. The most beautiful girl in the world for me—who I had coveted as my own—and I would never let her go.

She would never be able to escape me.

Never.

Her eyes stayed half-lidded for a good while, her chest pushing in and out with every harsh breath she took, and her skin was flushed. If I could, I would keep her looking like this for the rest of her life.

It took her a moment to get her bearings straight.

When she did, a burning inferno took over the depths of her light-brown eyes.

“What was that?” she asked.

She pressed her palms against my chest, making a move to push me away. I stayed where I was and took her in.

“You sure look angry for someone who just came,” I said. The fire flared brighter in her eyes.

“You can’t just do that to me!” she screeched.

“Why not? Did it not feel good?” I asked, bringing my head down until there was no more than an inch or so separating our faces.

“That… That’s not the point!”

I smirked. “I believe that is the entire point.”

She let out a frustrated scream and pounded her fists on my chest. I was sure it would only anger her to know her hits felt more like a kitten doing biscuits on me.

I let her hit me for a moment before I covered her hands with my own, stilling her movements.

“You can’t just sneak into my room at night and… and…”

“Touch you?” I supplied. “You’re mine. And I’m yours. Why wouldn’t I touch you?”

Her eyes twitched. “How would you like it if I touched you in your sleep?”

I grinned. She looked like she wanted to take her words back, but it was too late.

“Touch away, kitten,” I said. “I am yours to do with as you wish.”

Her eyes darkened with hunger at my words, even if she was trying to resist. She shook her head. “You’re fucking unbelievable.”

“And you’re fucking mine,” I said, closing the gap between us and kissing her.

She tensed against me. I kissed her harder, deeper, wanting more of her, savoring her taste. She melted into me for a few seconds before she seemed to remember her anger.

She pulled back and slammed her forehead against my lip, letting out a small gasp of pain from the contact. She reached her hand up to touch the tender spot, glaring over at me.

A metallic taste touched my tongue. I knew I was bleeding without looking in a mirror.

I laughed, showing her my teeth. Something like fear and anger warred in her eyes. I didn’t give her a chance to think. I slammed my lips against hers once more, kissing her with everything inside me and letting her taste my blood.

She tried to pull away, but I didn’t let her. I pressed her back down on the bed and crawled on top of her body, in between her legs. I pressed my hips down until she could feel my hard-on, my hand gathering up her wrists and pushing them up above her head.

I thrust my hips against her once more, becoming more and more frenzied with every contact I made between my dick and her softness.

She hummed against my lips, the vibration driving me even crazier.

I pulled away.

My blood was smeared all over her skin, her lips.

She still looked furious. And needy. And fuckable. And mine.

She looked like mine.

I kissed her once more. She didn’t resist, then angrily kissed me back.

I let my other hand roam down her body, getting to the hem of her shirt as I pushed it up. We broke from the kiss briefly so I could remove her shirt, and then I was back to kissing her, letting my tongue glide against hers.

How fucking addictive.

She was addictive.

I palmed her bare tit, playing with it, weighing the globe in my hand before I used my fingers and worked over her nipple.

She moaned against me, her wrists flexing in my grasp. I let her go, feeling her hands roam down my body. She hooked her arms under my armpits and pulled me in close to her, her body squirming beneath me.

Her hands found the hem of my shirt, and she helped me pull it off.

I kept my eyes on her as I pulled her sleep shorts down her legs. She kicked them off when they fell to her ankles, and I spread her legs apart, taking in her dripping pussy.

I licked my lip. “Fuck, but look at you. Look at how wet you are for me.”

I shifted my finger in between her wet lips, and she closed her eyes, her legs trembling from the contact. I moved my hand faster against her, and faster still, until her sweet little cunt was crying for me. Her legs shook from the sensation, and I knew it was becoming too much for her, but I pushed on.

“Come for me,” I gritted out roughly.

She shook her head, her hand moving down and grabbing my wrist, trying to stop me. I didn’t stop. I kept going, keeping that friction on her swollen clit.

Her back bowed, and she threw her head to the side, letting out a scream that just about shook the entire cabin to its core, coming all over my hand. More wetness gushed out of her, nearly undoing me.

Fuck, but she was beautiful.

I quickly removed my pants, pushing them down my legs and grabbing my hard cock, stroking up and down the length and squeezing the tip to keep myself from coming too soon.

She watched me, still looking like she hadn’t come back down from her peak.

I grinned wickedly at her, and she shook her head, already knowing where I was going with this.

“Mael, please?—”

Her words were cut off with a cry as I plunged deep inside her. I didn’t give her time to adjust. I fucked her.

I fucked her hard and fast. I fucked her with every savage feeling I had been experiencing since the moment I realized she was gone.

I pushed her legs further apart, hitting her deeper.

She convulsed beneath me. “Please, Mael. I don’t think I can?—”

“You can,” I bit out. “You’re made for me. You can take all I give you, won’t you, sweet girl?”

“Fuck,” she said, her jaw clenching. She dug her nails into my shoulder, clawing in deeper and deeper with every harsh thrust.

The pain did nothing but drive me further into oblivion. I palmed her tit with one hand and played with her, loving the way they bounced with my every movement.

“Look at you,” I said, plucking at her nipple until the surrounding skin turned red. “Look at what a good slut you’re being, how good you are at taking my cock.”

She mumbled something under her breath that I didn’t hear.

“Come for me, baby,” I said, slapping over the center of her nipple.

She let out a pained moan, her chest heaving from the sensation.

“Mael,” she breathed out, opening her eyes and looking at me. I didn’t look away. I couldn’t.

She wrapped her arms around my neck and pulled me down for a searing kiss. I could still taste my own blood mingling in between us, and I knew she could taste it too.

I drove into her with three more violent thrusts until she came apart in my arms. Her cries of pleasure were quieted with my lips, and it didn’t take me long to fall after her, my cum spilling inside and feeling as if I no longer belonged to myself.

Feeling as if I never did. That even when I didn’t know of her existence, I still belonged to her.

And this feeling had only cemented each and every moment I spent inside of her.

And that was all.

* * *

I watched her sleep.

She went back to sleep as soon as I pulled out of her and didn’t even stir when I cleaned her up.

Now the sun was up, and I still wasn’t tired.

I wanted to take in this moment with her and not miss anything. Lia was still distrustful of me, as she should be. It didn’t matter that she didn’t look as scared as she did when she witnessed me killing those men. I was sure the image would stay with her for a long while.

It didn’t matter that those fuckers were hurting her or that they deserved every ounce of pain I had inflicted on them. She would still see that as wrong and that I was the monster who had taken their lives.

People were funny like that, and my girl wasn’t an exception.

And there was a part of her that didn’t want to believe Leo was behind this. It would make it easier for me to bring her back home with me when she realized the kind of monster Leo Briggs was. The kind her father was.

That meant hurting her. As much as I didn’t want that, there was no way around it.

She mumbled something in her sleep and turned toward me, her face pressed up against my chest and stirring something inside me that I had thought long ago was dead.

I wrapped my arms tightly around her, kissing her on the top of her head and vowing I was going to make it all better for her.

No matter what.