Page 29 of Darkest Game (The Dark Mafia #3)

My body gets excited at the thought. When Liam kissed me before, it lit my entire world on fire. I need more. I need to feel like a woman. I need to become my own person away from my family.

I decide to go out a side window near the back of the house.

There’s no guard on this side. Even though it was only my throat that got hurt, the rest of my body is still fairly weak from everything I’ve been through in the past week.

My strong ballerina body is gone from my years in captivity. I’m tired of people breaking me down.

I want to be strong again. I want to have my own voice. I want to be powerful.

And I believe with Liam, I can be.

I run over to the fence and jump to reach the top. My body still remembers jumping as high as I could when I would practice dance forever. It’s muscle memory.

I manage to get myself over the wooden fence and onto the other side without any of the guards seeing me. I run down the street until Mikhail’s house disappears from view.

It takes around twenty minutes of walking before I find a cab I can flag down. I give him the address to Liam’s safehouse.

When the house comes into view, my body hums with excitement.

“I don’t have any money on me,” I say. “But my husband does. Just give me a minute. I’ll be right back.” I rush out of the cab before he can object and run up to the door. I pound away at it until the door rips open.

And there he is. My handsome husband who makes me feel more alive than I’ve ever felt before.

“You need to pay the cab,” I say breathless.

He’s silent as he walks over to the cab, pays my fee, and comes back to me. “You shouldn’t be here, Irina. The deal was you stay with your family.”

“I had to see you again. I don’t want to be away from you.”

“You shouldn’t say those things to me,” he growls.

I shiver from the darkness in his eyes. “Why not?”

“Because it makes me want you more.”

I tell myself to be brave as I speak again. “I want more.”

There’s a silent intake of both of our breath… right before he grabs the back of my head and brings my lips to his. The kiss is even better than our first one. More passionate. More desire. More… love? No. I can’t love Liam. Not in such a short amount of time.

But as I kiss him back with everything inside of me, it feels like I love him.

He pulls me into the house and slams the door behind us, making me smile. He wants this as much as I do, maybe even more, because he knows how to do this, whereas for me, it’s all brand new.

Liam grabs the back of my thighs and lifts me up around his waist. Our lips never break apart. I could kiss him forever. Now I know why people are obsessed with kissing. It’s a miraculous feeling.

He brings me into the bedroom and gently lowers me to the bed. “How is your throat?” he asks after pulling back.

“It’s still achy but the rest of my body is good.”

His eyes darken even more. “That’s good.” And then he rips my shirt right over my head and takes my bra off without asking. “I need you so fucking much,” he says into my ear before kissing down to my chest and placing his lips over my breasts.

I don’t stop him. We both know what I came here for. There’s been a tension between us for days now.

I gasp when his lips cover one of my nipples. It’s so sensitive. I clutch at his arms to steady myself.

“I got you,” he murmurs, kissing down to my stomach. “I don’t want to let you go. Fuck, Irina. What have you done to me? I wasn’t supposed to care about you.”

“I never thought I would care for someone like you either. But I do. And I don’t want to pretend I don’t.”

“Your family is going to kill me if they find out about this.”

“We’re married. I think we’re allowed to do this.”

His hands splay over my stomach, sending goosebumps all over my body. “I know you’ve been sheltered your whole life. But you know what’s going to happen here.”

“Yes. I know. Just teach me. Show me how to do it.”

“Fuck,” he practically hisses before he kisses me all over again.

The kiss is even more consuming than the others.

He lets out a low groan before he sits up and takes his shirt off.

The sight of his bare chest makes me weak in the head and the knees.

I can’t stop myself from reaching out to place my hand over his abdomen. He sucks in a sharp breath.

“If you keep looking at me like that,” he says, “then I’m not going to be gentle with you. And I want to be gentle with you. It’s what you deserve. I want you to enjoy this.”

I love that Liam wants to protect me and show me care. It only makes me care for him more.

“I want you to be real with me,” I say. “Take me how you want. I want this, Liam.”

“You don’t even fully know what you’re getting yourself into.”

“No. But I do know I trust you and I know you won’t cause me pain. If you had wanted to hurt me, you would have done it already. Make me yours. I want to be with my husband. I want to feel alive. I want to feel safe in your arms. I need this.”

He sighs before kissing me again. This time, it’s somehow both gentle and rough. The combination of the two is making me lightheaded.

Liam kisses back down to my stomach before sitting up and grabbing my ankle. So slowly, he takes my shoe off and places a kiss to my ankle before doing it to my other foot. I never knew I was so sensitive there. I’m learning so much with him.

Then he pulls my pants down, leaving me in nothing but my underwear. My heart is pounding but I’m not afraid. Only excitement fills me.

Liam gives me a dark look as he stands up and shoves his pants down. Only his underwear stops me from seeing all of him.

He leans back over me and gazes down with a sexy and tender look that makes me lose my breath.

“You are mine,” he says. “And I’m not letting you go.”

Tonight, I seal my fate with Liam.