Page 53 of Tear Me Down (Descent to Darkness Trilogy #2)
“They’re dead.” He jerks his gaze back at Carter, and he looks almost as ravenous as Damien, like he’s about to tear this room apart just from the sight of them.
Mr. Hartley is always so calm and stoic, the sight of him with so much anger is startling, and it actually sends a line of ice down my spine.
“I assure you, sir. They’re not dead.” Carter then puts the photos up from the Dust party next to their mugshots. “Interpol lost track of them some time after your retirement, but they’re not dead. They’re right here in town, and that only verifies that the grooming house was real.”
Mr. Hartley turns and grips the edge of the conference table so harshly that his forearms shake. His eyes are clenched shut and there’s so much underlying emotion that it cascades across the room, affecting us all.
“Who are they, Dad?” Damien asks, his anger rising to match his father’s.
“Alessio Saconne and Gianna DeLuca, they ran the most intricate human trafficking ring in the world, not to mention they started experimenting with human genome modifications…”
“As well as biochemistry, specializing in poisons and mass attacks,” Carter finishes for him.
“My Sergeant finally let me handle them. It was my job to take them out. I searched for months for them,” Mr. Hartley begins, his voice heavy with restraint.
“Then I had a direct order to return home for a month—take some time off. That’s when Emma…
” He swallows hard. “That’s when Emma died, and I re tired and allowed for someone else to take the operation over.
They swore they got them…” He hits the desk so harshly that the ‘bang’ echoes off the walls.
“So, these two are most likely responsible for providing the poison, as well as upping the crime rates by starting the human trafficking here. Hugo manufactures the drugs, Popov supplies…what?” Alex asks.
“Fedor Popov is a gun’s dealer. He smuggles foreign weaponry into the country and either sells it or trades it for American weapons. Which is probably why we caught his involvement with Hugo much earlier,” Carter answers.
“So he’s just getting them better guns?”
“With them being foreign, when they’re cataloged, it’s a different crime. It just raises another flag, alerting the government that there’s an escalation in crime. Minimal compared to everything else, but with gun violence on the rise regardless, it definitely raises concerns.”
“So, all of this to gain the presidency?” I ask, rubbing Damien’s back as his stare bores into his father—almost as if he’s in the same trance as him.
“That’s my conclusion.”
“What do they get in exchange?” Zeke asks and points at the screen. “There’s no way these crime leaders are doing this because they were asked nicely.”
“Who knows. Immunity? Diplomatic pardons? Money? It’s hard to tell,” Carter answers.
“I need to go.” Mr. Hartley finally snaps out of his daze and starts walking away, only to be stopped by Damien.
“Dad?” Mr. Hartley turns to look at his son. “We’ll get them,” Damien says through gritted teeth, silently vowing to end this once and for all—no longer just for us or the people in danger, but for his father.
Mr. Hartley doesn’t respond—not a nod, not a single word, or even a blink.
He just walks out and storms down the hallway, leaving Damien in shambles and the rest of the room in silence.
The weight of what we’re dealing with is settling in, creating an atmosphere that is suddenly too deep for us to handle.
This isn’t just about the city anymore. This is the entire country, hell, the entire world, and somehow it’s fallen in DH’s lap.
Damien’s lap.
That’s how he’ll see this—always the silent protector—and he’s not going to stop until these people are put down and paying for their transgressions. Not to mention how much this means to his father, and clearly how this revelation affects him.
“I’m sorry, D. I just thought he could give us some information…” Carter breaks the silence .
“No, it’s fine. You couldn’t have known. Hell, I didn’t even know. He’s never talked about his missions before…” Damien whispers out, gripping me tighter and practically pulling me onto his lap. “Is there anything else?”
“Not right now,” Carter replies quietly.
“Lock the door on your way out, please.” Damien asks, and I’m almost taken aback by his tone. I’ve never heard him so melancholy, so down and lost that it seeps out of his pores.
The men nod and quietly leave, sensing his need for space. If he wasn’t holding me as tight as he is, I might have half a mind to leave too, but I can feel how much he needs me—the mild current of adrenaline, despair, and yearning running beneath his skin.
The moment the door is shut and we hear the lock engage, he moves his arm to my waist and pulls me into his lap—settling my knees on either side of his legs.
“Damien…” I try to break through, but he’s not interested in any more talk or reasoning.
He runs his hands under my shirt and up my back, gliding his rough hands over my delicate skin like he’s stealing comfort.
His nose trails the length of my neck, grazing me with the stubble on his face as he starts to plant soft kisses along my throat.
“Let me feel you, please.” He quietly begs as he moves his lips up to mine, capturing them in a soft caress as he tightens his hold. The kiss is laced with a mixture of emotions—fear, need, anger, and desperation, all of it intertwining with love like webs.
“Now who’s avoiding?” I let out a breathless chuckle and he pulls back, looking up at me with such anguish and endearment that I couldn’t possibly tell him no.
The humor instantly fades, and I can tell that this is not the time to try and lighten the situation.
He needs to deter what’s happening in his own way, and I just need to let him.
“Please… I just need to know you’re really here—feel you against me where no one can hurt you.”
I nod faintly, and press my lips to him again, a little more harshly than before, but filled with the same amount of affection.
His hands move and unclasp my bra before he pulls my top layers off in one motion, leaving my chest bare in an instant.
His lips begin to drift lower starting with my jaw, then my neck, and down to my collarbone before he moves to my breasts.
A soft sigh escapes my mouth as he closes his lips around one of my nipples, shooting a soft pain through my chest as he sucks and nibbles, just before his tongue circles to ease it.
“Tell me you’re going to be my wife,” he whispers as he switches nipples, eliciting a quiet moan from my lips.
“I’m going to be your wife…” My hands instinctively move to his hair and curl it around my fingers, gripping onto him as he continues to worship me.
He bites down on the soft flesh, coercing a louder moan as more pain shoots though my body and runs down to my core.
I release the grip on his hair to cl ench his shirt instead, pulling it up so I can feel the tattooed skin on his back.
Those hard muscles flex with his desire, and I can’t help but trace the outlines with my fingers.
He draws back to practically tear his shirt off as he lifts me up, suspending me for only a moment before he lays me back on the conference table. The initial cold shock from the surface shoots through my body but is quickly replaced by his warmth as he presses against me.
His hands roam my body in different directions, one sliding up to massage my breast while the other moves lower to dip into my shorts. He traces the line of my thong before dipping inside and running his fingers through me, feeling the naturally slick center before he starts to take them off.
“Tell me what kind of life we’re going to have,” he demands before his lips drift lower, gliding between my breasts and down my stomach. His hands move with him, and I can feel a tingle through my body as my fingers caress the muscles in his arms.
“We’re going to have such a good life… We already have a good life…
” I add, but he hums disapprovingly against my hip bone, and I know what he means.
He needs to hear about our future—know without a doubt that we have one and what we picture it to be.
“We’re going to get married surrounded by trees…
somewhere as beautiful and dark as we are.
” He hums again, louder and in approval, sending vibrations through my body as he moves to the inside of my thigh—a little closer to where we both want him to be.
“Every time I give my name, it’ll be paired with yours.
” He finally moves to my core, licking a single stroke through me and flicking my clit.
I massage his shoulder with one hand, while the other runs through his hair, scratching his scalp just as he likes.
One of his hands reaches up to continue massaging my breast, and his other arm snakes around my lower stomach, holding me steady as he goes in for another teasing swipe.
I tighten my grip on him and thrust forward subconsciously, wanting more of his mouth.
“We’re going to have babies…” He growls suddenly, thrusting his tongue into my pussy forcefully and sending a jolt of pleasure up my spine, making me arch into him and cry out.
“ Lots of babies, fuck…” I push out breathlessly and he groans heavily as he dives in, letting his nose work my clit as he devours me, pulling back only for a moment to speak before diving back in.
“How many?”
“As many as you want…” I reply through soft pants, working my hips against his face to drive him deeper. His grip on me tightens and I can feel his fingers dig into my soft flesh.
“Don’t tell me that, baby, or else we’ll start right now. I’ll toss those little pills of yours down the drain if I have to.” He bites my clit, causing me to scream out and clench his hair in my fist—pulling him deeper as I hook my leg around his shoulders.
“That’s what you want, isn’t it?” I tease, but whimper as he pulls away, leaving me cold and writhing.
I watch as he towers above me, quickly yet seductively stripping himself bare—setting his monstrous erection free, and I drool over how it bounces.
The head is blood-red and swollen, clearly ready to unleash his desires into my body.
“You know damn good and well that’s what I want.
” He picks me up from the table and sits back into the chair, positioning me to straddle him once again.
“Is that what you want?” His husky voice caresses the shell of my ear as he thrusts upward gently, teasing my now throbbing core with his cock.
“Tell me, baby girl.” He slips inside me slowly, filling me up and stretching me deliciously.
A gasp gets caught in my throat just as he guides me lower, sinking down on him and taking him in even further.
“Yes…” We rock languidly, meeting each other’s deep and sensual movements against one another.
As I wrap my arms around his neck again, his hands move more intricately, mapping out my body and committing it to his collection of memories.
They glide up and down my torso, caressing the skin on my sides, up to my breasts, only to trail back down and rub my stomach before he snakes them around me again.
“What else are we going to do?” He wraps one arm around my lower back, circling across to grip my opposite hip as the other arm reaches upward to grip the opposite shoulder, holding me close. My breasts rub against his chest as we move, creating a friction that slithers through my entire body.
“We’ll take family trips… Spend nights with your parents and let our kids play with all of their cousins…
” He picks up the pace, guiding me to move faster as he strengthens his hold on me.
I cross my arms behind him, clawing at his back with one hand and cradling his head with the other.
He kisses me again hungrily before pulling away to nuzzle our faces together, allowing our breaths to entangle in a way that mimics our bodies.
“We’re going to grow old…” he speaks against my lips.
“I’m going to give you a long and happy life.
” Our pace quickens more, enhancing the sound of our slapping bodies.
My moans start to echo off the walls, barely masking the sound of his grunts and groans.
“We’ll be together until we take our last breaths, and then we’ll stand beside each other in the afterlife. Promise me,” he demands.
“I promise,” I moan out and move harder, chasing the euphoric build that has started to rumble in my gut, causing my walls to flutter around him. He slams into me over and over, seemingly pursuing his own release.
“Swear it,” he growls loudly and digs his fingertips into my ass cheek.
“I swear, Damien! Oh, God…” I scratch down his back and bury my face in his neck as my orgasm builds to an aching level, ready to break.
“Scream my name, little wolf. Tell me who your God is!”
“DAMIEN!” I cry out as I shatter, quaking violently and clenching around him while keeping the pace.
Stars shoot behind my eyes while everything else darkens, pulling me into a place of nothing but pleasure.
He stiffens inside me and yanks me down a final time—burying himself as deep as he can go before releasing inside me—trembling beneath me as he empties himself.
We cling to one another as we resurface, getting lost in each other’s heavy breaths and shuddering limbs.
He kisses lightly across my face and neck, nuzzling against me like he’ll never get the chance again.
“Promise me we’re going to have all of that. Tell me you believe me when I swear to give it to you,” he says in a tender whisper laced with nothing but conviction.
“I promise, baby. I’ve never doubted you.” I kiss him softly again and caress his jaw as I relax in his arms—happy to stay in this chair for the rest of our lives if that’s what it will take to keep him together.