Page 8 of Thorns of Silence

Up and down. Each thrust devastated, promising pleasure that would wreck me in the best possible way. He didn’t ease up, giving me his all while he held me over him and pounded into me.

My throat trembled, his grunts vibrated under my palms.

I climaxed for the second time while Dante took my mouth, swallowing all my pants and coarse breaths. My walls clenched around his length as he thrust again and again until he shuddered, finishing inside me.

I rested my face in the crook of his neck, an easy smile teasing my lips.

Our hot breaths. His mouth on my skin. Languid, post-coital bliss.

I loved going on those drives with him. I had fallen deeply and irrevocably in love with him. I never forgot a single moment we shared or a word he spoke. Yet, when his eyes landed on me in the club, he looked at me as though I was a stranger to him. Almost as if he’d forgotten me completely. All the while, he’d once beeneverythingto me.

He destroyed me, and I had to live with the consequences and memories haunting my every waking and sleeping hour.

I scoffed softly, remembering all his sweet promises—hislies. I was the fool who believed him. I was the fool who’d hoped, and he’d fed my dreams, at least until he smashed them all to pieces.

Everyone’s eyes shifted to me and I realized I must have made a louder noise than intended.

“Everything okay?” Athena asked, eyeing me suspiciously.

I nodded despite nothing being fuckingokay. The fucker didn’t even recognize me. I’d been dying a little each day since he’d walked away, and he couldn’t even give me the courtesy of acknowledging me.

I’d been careful not to run into him for two whole years, avoiding being in his presence at all costs. But it was impossible to deny how different he was now, no matter how long it’d been. He had a volatile edge that he didn’t even attempt to conceal. Simmering anger rippled off him, setting even Raven on edge.

Dante might have changed, but his effect hadn’t. Wood and leather emanated from him, smothering me along with the heat of him as I stared out the window, watching the city’s lamplights drift by. The man was hot-blooded in more ways than one.

Our eyes met for a flicker of a second in the rearview mirror, and I fought the urge to avert mine. Instead, I held fast. I wanted him to see my hate. Anger might be what drove Dante these days, but it was no match formyfucking fury.

My heart was pounding aggressively, but I paid it no mind—it was just an organ. It refused to feel, to love, and, most aggravatingly, to move on. The only piece of it that could be salvaged was taken from me, along with my baby.

Dante seduced me with his devious behavior, then left me to bear the consequences all alone. I hated him.You still love him, my broken heart whispered.No. I wouldn’t acknowledge it—couldn’tacknowledge it. My heart was what got me into this mess in the first place. Well… my heart and the absence of a condom, but there was no sense in getting lost in the details.

My eyes caught a glimpse of his large and veiny hands on the steering wheel. The same ones that had touched me, owned me. The way he used to let his raw gaze travel over me and create a delicious friction was one thing, but when he finally put those destructive hands on me? My body would detonate. It had become an addiction and something I hadn’t been able to replicate. Not that I had any interest in doing so.

He returned his eyes to the road, but I still sensed his attention on me in every other way.

Exhaling softly, I closed my eyes, chasing the images of us away. If I had the chance, I’d wipe them from my mind.

Remember the pain, the agony he left you in,I reminded myself. He used me, and I’ve never believed in second chances. History wouldn’t be repeated. I was done being used. I had friends and family who loved and accepted me. I didn’t need him anymore.

The time when I needed him had passed.

The car came to a stop and the three of us girls jumped out of it like ghosts were chasing us.

I rushed to Amon who had Reina scooped up in his arms, her head hanging loosely and her mouth slightly parted.

“Did you check her pulse?” I signed urgently to Isla. Raven and Athena were already in the building, calling the elevator. “Did she wake up at all?”

“She was in and out, but mostly out,” Isla answered. Her eyes flicked over my shoulder and I realized Dante was out of his car, leaning against it and watching our exchange with interest. I narrowed my eyes on him as if to sayWhat the fuck do you want, but the dumbass didn’t get the message. “Anyhow, she’ll be fine. Just needs to get some sleep and let that shit flush out of her system.”

Her eyes darted to Dante, then back to me, and she bolted inside, almost as if she could sense the impending volcanic eruption.

“You cannot come upstairs,” I signed, my stubbornness keeping me from mouthing the words. Why should I make it easy for him?

“As if you could stop me.”

My mouth parted in shock as I watched his hands sign the words. He’d learned ASL? It was the last thing I expected, and the smirk on his fucking face told me he was pleased with my reaction. He’d made me type on his phone before… Why hadn’t he used ASL to begin with?

Aside from the probability of him being an ass, of course. He was infuriating.