Page 85 of Severed By Vengeance

She sucked a sharp breath when I leaned forward and slid my tongue up her inner thigh, lapping at the wetness until reaching her slit and growling as I gripped her ass cheeks so hard her skin blanched beneath my fingers.

“Shit.”

I tore myself away, knowing I was on the verge of taking her completely. Restraining myself when I was so close to everything I wanted, from what was mine and only mine, was the hardest thing I’d ever done. I wasn’t the type of man who thought of others before himself. But there I was, at her mercy.

I climbed back into bed and lifted my chin, beckoning her to me.

“Derek,” she whispered, crawling toward me and looking like a goddamn goddess. I knew what her intention was as she reached for my dick, but I grabbed her wrist and tugged her to my chest instead.

“Go to bed, angel. Get some sleep,” I said, clearing my throat and kissing her forehead.

Evangelina remained quiet and blew air against my neck, sending shivers down my spine and a zap straight to my aching balls.

“How are you feeling? And I’m not talking about what just happened,” I said, skimming over the pod on her arm with a light touch.

“I’m okay.”

Her phone was already docked on the nightstand beside me. “Your cell, it’ll alert us if something is off?”

She nodded with a slight yawn. “It will. Goodnight, Derek.”

“Goodnight.”

It didn’t take long for the arm over my abdomen to slacken and her quiet breaths to slow. Staring up at the white ceiling, one arm behind my head, still sporting a semi, and this beautiful, sated woman tucked securely on the other, I came to a stark realization.

I was officially fucked.

CHAPTERTWENTY-SIX

EVANGELINA

Ilooked like utter shit.

But I couldn’t bring myself to care. I was too fucking high on what happened last night to dwell on trivial things such as my appearance.

Smoothing my fingers through my hair, still wet from a shower, I stared at my reflection in the mirror. Despite the bandage on my neck, the bruises, and the small dark circles beneath my eyes, something was different. A glow, maybe. My body’s reaction to the explosive orgasm Derek had brought me to with just his skilled fingers and hand. I wondered what I’d look like once I was properly fucked.

He was already gone by the time I’d woken up, though he hadn’t left a note this time or a text.

Memories of the night before, the siege at the hospital, that large man attempting to assault me—all of it—slammed into me at once, as did the nightmares that followed. There were moments I’d cried out in my sleep, waves of grief heavy on my heart, but Derek’s soothing arms were there as he kissed my temple and whispered words of comfort until the fog of sleep pulled me back under.

I’d wanted to question his involvement further, but everything he’d said made sense.

Hadn’t it?

He was fiercely protective of me and was a tactical instructor like his brother Kai. And Helena…

Helena was armed like she was part of the very mafia trying to kill us.

Fuck. It was so much easier to believe what he’d said.

That man was doing things to me, slowly burying himself inside my heart. His sweet gestures, the hunger in his eyes. Part of me knew he held secrets and trauma from his past. Red flags I knew I shouldn’t ignore. But damn it all.

Couldn’t I just be reckless for once?

A knock at the door saw me pulling on one of Derek’s shirts.

Panties be damned.