Page 19 of Upon Blooded Lips (Vengeance #1)

ERIC

“ W e need to start her training,” Nate says, palming the basketball.

“I know. But she needs a few days to unwind and get comfortable.” I dash forward and grab the ball out of his hands. My feet carry me up the driveway, and I leap into the air, slamming it through the hoop. “Four to one. You’re off your game, big bro.”

I am too, but I’ve barely admitted it to myself.

Having Tessa in our house has meant an adjustment for all of us.

We’ve never lived with a woman before. At least, not since Nate’s mom died.

It’s… different. Strolling into the library to find her stretched out on the sofa reading, or glancing out the window and seeing her sunbathing in the pool in the indecently tiny bikini I bought her.

Her horde of flowery shampoos, deodorants, and perfumes wafting through the hallway like a beacon, making me wonder if all of her smells just as good.

She’s everywhere.

Then there’s the burst of jealousy I have no right feeling. Nate’s just as intrigued with her as I am. It’s in the way his eyes trail after her, and the number of nights I’ve woken to find the bed beside me empty, only to find him sitting in the chair in her room, watching her sleep.

He wants her as much as I do, but the broken part inside me that fears abandonment rears its head and whispers barbed threats. He’ll fall for her and forget about you. You’re not enough, never enough. They will leave you behind while they ride off into the sunset together.

My throat constricts, and the ball drops from my numb fingers and rolls down the driveway. I have no right feeling like this, not when I want her too. It’s not fair to Nate, who’s never not been at my side. But the voices won’t stop, won’t let me breathe, won’t let me stop imagining the worst.

I can’t …

Nate flicks my Chicago Bulls cap off, knocking me out of the swirling darkness invading my mind. The lines in his forehead deepen as he searches my eyes. “What’s wrong?” he asks, his hands resting on my upper arms.

I look down, unable to meet his eyes. “Nothing.”

“Eric.”

My throat works, the words strangling behind the lump growing in it. Why do I have to be like this? We were having fun, and I ruined it. “It’s stupid. Don’t worry about it.”

He lifts my chin, forcing me to look at him, and my cheeks flush under his perusal. I can’t hide from him. Never him.

“I know your demons as intimately as I know mine. I know the venom they use in their attempts to drag you into the dark.” His fingers pinch my chin, the sharp bite of pain lighting up my nerves. “What are they telling you now?”

I lose myself in his whiskey orbs, caught up in emotions I usually hide behind a wall of humor. “That you’ll leave me for her because I’m not good enough.”

Nate’s jaw tics, and his forehead creases further. “I see.” He backs away, his shoulders slumping.

Anguish spears my chest, and I reach out to him with one arm.

“Nate?” He drops to his knees in front of me and lowers his head.

I wince when they hit the concrete with a heavy thud.

What is he doing? This is wrong. My brother bows to no one.

“Please get up,” I mutter. When he doesn’t move, I kneel beside him, my arms hanging dejectedly at my sides.

“Is that really what you think?” he asks, his voice a ragged whisper.

“That you’re so disposable to me? That I’m just keeping you around until something better shows up?

” He lifts his head and cups my face. “You are everything. Everything , Eric. You own me, heart and soul. There’s nothing I wouldn’t do for you.

Lie, cheat, steal, kill. I’d rip my heart from my chest and hand it over to you if I could. ”

The devastation swirling in his eyes has shame coursing through me. He’s been there for me since the day my mother abandoned me. I know he loves me, so why do I do this to myself?

Nate pushes to his feet and peels his shirt off, displaying his wide muscular shoulders and the delicious V pointing to his cock. He hands me the shirt. “Put this under your knees so they don’t get scraped.”

He’s still protecting me, even though I’ve hurt him. Even though blood drips down his legs from kneeling in front of me. Even though I don’t deserve it.

“Stop it,” he says, his face darkening. He slides his shorts down, freeing his cock. “It seems you haven’t been listening for the past twenty-eight years, little brother.” He grabs my hair in a grip so tight it makes me gasp. “You are mine. You will always be mine. And I will never let you go.”

And with that, he thrusts into my mouth, the hard thick length spearing the back of my throat. Tears spring to my eyes as he uses me like a sex doll. It’s not meant to be sexy. It’s not meant to be loving. It’s a punishment.

“No one could take you from me. If Tessa chooses to join us, she will complete us, not destroy us.”

I relax my muscles, allowing him to go farther down my throat. He groans and wraps an inked hand around my neck while the other holds fast to my hair. He jerks my head back and forth, choking me while tears stream down my eyes.

His movements speed up, his hips snapping forward, and my mouth aches with how wide I force it open.

“Fuck, yes,” he hisses, his gaze locked on mine. “Drink me down, baby brother.”

Nate’s head drops back, his eyes shuttering as he pours himself down my throat. I wrap my arms around his legs, holding him close, my tongue cleansing his cock. He steps back and pulls me to my feet, yanking me hard against his chest.

“Never question how I feel about you again. Or I’ll have to do that every morning so you remember who you belong to.”

My arms wrap around him while his fingers tangle in my hair. “I’m sorry,” I murmur. The voices in my head disappear, retreating against the strength of the man who calls himself my protector.