Page 103 of The Ecstasy of Sin

All I know for sure is this: Dominic Kael will never let me go.

CHAPTER 26

Wren

Thepalemorninglightspills in through the cracks of the heavy curtains, fractured rays slanting across Dominic’s dark bedroom. It’s quiet, and peaceful. Or it would be, if my mind wasn’t a turbulent storm of emotions I can’t even begin to untangle.

When Dominic came back to bed last night, he slid between my thighs and spent thirty minutes eating my pussy until I was soaked and shaking. He didn’t stop until I was begging for mercy, nearly incoherent as he forced four orgasms from my body.

I tried to fight it, tried to will my body not to give in. It was pointless, because Dom already knows my body better than I do. He knows exactly how to shatter me—over and over again—even as I was trying to build walls between us.

When he was finished, he wrapped me in his arms. He held me tight against his chest, and eventually the steady rhythm of his heart beat against my cheek, and the pleasurable high still lingering in my body had me drifting off to sleep with him.

I was lost in his warmth, cocooned in the safety of his embrace. It was a comfort that still felt foreign, like something I wasn’t meant to have, but he gave it to me anyway. Like he was trying to warm places inside of me I thought had died long ago.

Including the fractures of my fragile heart.

I want to stay here forever, protected in the illusion, like there isn’t grave danger looming just outside the door. Pretending I didn’t hear what I heard last night. Pretending I still believe there’s a future here with the man I’m developing serious feelings for.

But reality came with the rising sun, and I can’t ignore what’s right in front of me. A path paved with heartbreak, layered in promises of suffering that I no longer have the strength to endure. A world I’m not sure I’m strong enough to survive.

I squeeze my eyes shut, fighting back the tears burning behind my lids, and turn until my face presses tightly against Dominic’s throat.

A sob rattles through me before I can stop it, and every muscle in his body goes tense as his arms cinch tighter around me.

His voice is a low rumble, thick with sleep. “What’s wrong, baby?”

I let myself cry, torn between the part of me that wants to stay, and the one that knows I need to leave if I’m ever going to figure this mess out.

“Baby, please. Tell me. Whatever it is, I’ll fix it.” His willing devotion is another blade to the heart. It feels so good to be someone’s priority for once, and knowing I may have to walk away from it forever feels devastating on a soul-deep level.

“I’m getting a migraine,” I whisper, the lie tasting bitter on my tongue.

He hugs me against his chest, pressing a kiss to my forehead. “Do you have any abortivemedication?”

I shake my head, momentarily stunned he even knows what that is. But of course he knows what that is. He’s my stalker, after all.

“What do you need?”

I wipe at my face, trying to pull myself together enough to do what needs to be done. “Just my painkillers and more time to sleep. Yesterday was… a lot for me.”

“Of course, baby,” he murmurs, brushing his fingers along my jaw. “Stay here, I’ll grab everything you need. I’ll ask one of my brothers to come take Hunter for his morning walk so I can stay in bed and hold you.”

“No,” I plead, fresh tears slipping free. “I can’t bear it if my illness takes time away from you and Hunter. I’ll just be sleeping, anyway. Please take him.”

Dominic presses the sweetest kiss to my forehead. “Alright, baby. I’ll be right back.”

I watch as he slides out of bed and disappears through the doorway, wearing nothing but a pair of black boxer briefs, his hair messy in a way that makes him look more human, and less like an unrepentant murderer.

When he returns, he’s carrying a bottle of water, a black sleep mask, and my bottle of painkillers. Sitting down at the edge of the bed, he cracks the cap and hands the water over to me.

When I take it, he opens the pill bottle next and offers it without hesitation. I take what I pretend to need, swallowing them down with a stomach full of guilt.

Regret sits heavy in my gut like a stone as Dominic places everything neatly on the nightstand, then stands again. “I’m goingto get you some food you can pick at while I’m out with Hunter. When I come back, I’ll make you whatever you’re craving.”

I offer him a sad smile—one I’m sure he thinks is from the migraine, not because I’m about to do the one thing he warned me never to do.

I’m going to run.