Chapter 19
NINETEEN
Donovan
“I’ll get your mother’s ashes,” I vow.
“How?” Astra asks. I hate the way her voice so clearly tells that she doesn’t believe me.
“I don’t know, but I’ll figure it out.”
I feel a subtle vibration of rage slithering through my veins. I snuff it out before Astra can grab hold of it. I’m going to have to be more careful around her.
“I need you to keep this new thing between us for now,” I say.
I don’t trust many people, and I’d hate for it to get out that Astra has natural powers, especially when she doesn’t know how to control them yet.
If I’m going to have a leg up getting to her father, I’m going to need him to be in the dark about everything I might have to my advantage.
“Okay,” she responds hesitantly. “What about Fabien? Do you think it might help with the whole curse thing if he knew?”
It hits me how alone Astra probably feels. She doesn’t have anyone, and I suspect the people she does have, she’s probably starting to question their loyalty. If I can give her one thing, maybe it’s a friend she can trust.
“You can tell Fabien,” I say.
“Thank you,” she whispers as she turns her head and kisses the underside of my jaw. My lips twitch to smile. I like her lips on me too much, even if it’s only for the sweetest of kisses.
“Your father nearly killed one of my men with that stuff,” I tell her as the vial containing the bright green liquid captures my attention once again.
I don’t want it here, but I also don’t want it out of my sight.
The anger is starting to surface again. I know she can feel it when she puts a cool hand over my heart.
“What is it?” she asks.
“Liko.” She lets out a little gasp as if it automatically registers. “You know of it?”
“Only from studies. From the likois plant, right?” I hum my affirmation. I don’t know much about it either, so I can’t be of any help beyond that. “The aunts didn’t have any on the property because it’s so deadly.”
“Sonny was lucky it was diluted and that he spit most of it out. I was there,” I explain to her. I’m not holding back anymore. “So was your father. And I didn’t have any proof until now that it was him. He’s trying to get to me. Trying to take me out.”
“I hate him,” she whispers brokenly. “I wish… I wish…”
“Shhh,” I say as I smooth a hand over her hair, but somehow, I resist the urge to place a kiss against the top of her head.
“I almost poisoned you with that.”
With a gentle finger under her chin, I tilt her head until she holds my gaze.
“But you didn’t. You chose to fuck me instead.” I let my lips quirk up into a sinister smirk.
For a moment, she looks flustered. I bet she’s lost in the memories of that night. That look dies quickly, though, and the world somehow dims around me.
“Why don’t you take him out before he destroys you?” She clears her throat as if she’s not sure why she said that. “I mean, before he hurts anyone else.”
“I wish I could, Sweet Beauty.” I can’t stop myself as my lips press against the top of her head.
Then I run my hand over her hair as if I could erase the previous action.
Astra is turning me into… something. Whether that is a good or a bad thing, well, I haven’t fully made up my mind yet.
“But your father is untouchable. He has some kind of protection. I haven’t figured out how or what it is, but I know those who have tried to harm him end up…
well, to put it bluntly, they lose their mind, and within weeks, they are dead. ”
I keep the gruesome details to myself. I think I’ve painted enough of a picture for her to understand.
She gasps as she lifts her head to look at me. I’m not lying, and I know she can see the truth of my words in my eyes.
“But how?” she asks.
“I can only guess it has to do with some kind of magic.”
“Sandra,” she whispers, her gaze going hazy. “You don’t think she has anything to do with it, do you? I can’t quite figure out why she helps him. I want to trust her, but there’s always been this feeling in my gut that makes me keep my distance.”
“Good,” I snap without meaning to. “Listen to that. I don’t trust anyone close to him. I don’t give a fuck what her reasons might be, I don’t want her anywhere near you. I don’t want her to have a chance to hurt you.”
Her doe eyes blink up at me. Clearly, I’ve surprised her.
My skin is itchy. This moment has brought us too close, and I don’t know how to handle it.
I stand up, taking her with me. A second later, I plop her down on my desk and head for the bar in the corner.
I grab a glass of water and bring it back to her.
Our fingers brush as she takes the glass from me, her eyes on mine the entire time.
“Thanks,” she whispers before taking a long sip.
I’m drawn to her. I need distance, yet my body steps closer. The scent of wild roses and sex swirls around me. I breathe it in like it’s the very essence of life. I don’t bother hiding the way my gaze drops to the point of the V between her thighs. I wonder if she’s dripping my cum.
“Donovan,” she says, setting the glass down on the desk beside her.
My eyes snap to her face. The smirk tells me she can read my thoughts. Or, perhaps, I’m just that transparent right now.
Does it make her wet that the thought of my cum still lingers inside of her is turning me on?
Given what happened earlier, this is a bad idea. We shouldn’t be this close, especially not with this toxic elixir of sex driving us closer.
Her jaw is red from where my fingers held her still not that long ago. I am more regretful than I can say. I hate myself, even knowing it was out of my control. Now that I know, it will never happen again.
Knowing there is no excuse I could ever give to make it okay, nor an amount of kisses I could give her to erase it, I try to move on. That’s when the bruises on her neck fill my vision. Oh, fuck, how she loved it when I marred her flawless skin with them.
It stirs so many different things inside of me. One is a bright warning, telling me to get some space. The other is a mark of pride. A mark saying she’s mine.
My fingers drift over her jaw. Her eyes close as she tilts her head. I continue down her neck, pressing into the thumb-shaped bruise right under her jaw.
Leaning in, I breathe her scent deep. She hums in the back of her throat as my lips graze the cool skin of her neck. I smile, feeling the skin pebble against my mouth.
“I was too rough with you,” I say as I pull back enough to take in the spot where my thumb held her neck last night.
I don’t get off on hurting people. But having the power over them…
yeah, that might do it for me. Astra giving up control and trusting me so easily really gets my dick hard.
My sweet, innocent beauty has no idea about the Devil’s den she’s entered.
I want to own her, but I want her to give it willingly.
“No,” she whispers. “I liked it.”
“I was careless,” I tell her, pulling back to hold her gaze. “You need a safe word.”
Her hand slips up my arm, cool fingers feel almost like a ghost of a touch. She presses her palm against my hand, holding it to her neck.
“I don’t need a safe word,” she boldly tells me.
I tsk her, unable to resist the urge to squeeze her throat a little.
The air shifts. I feel her feeding off my slight disappointment. I pull her back with a light kiss against her plump lips.
I don’t have the first clue how to help her, or if I should.
This kind of magic is new to me. I’ve never been around a natural, or if I have, I wasn’t aware of it.
I’ve never seen magic at work like that.
And feeling it… shit, I can’t even explain it.
It’s intense but also feels so fucking dangerous.
“A safe word is useless when you’re stealing my air,” she says breathlessly as her hips begin to rock. Her lips tip up in a smirk. She thinks she’s cornered me.
“I won’t apologize. You look so pretty with my hand wrapped around your throat.”
Her gaze slides to the side, and when I turn my attention that way, it’s clear my words were never more true.
In the reflection of the glass on the French doors is a sinful ghostly image of us.
She’s open for me, head tilted back as if inviting me to steal her breath for a moment.
To mark her with faint bruises from my fingers.
She looks wrecked already, and I’ve barely started playing with her.
She’s a split-second away from begging for it.
“Give me a word, Astra,” I demand as I run my nose up the side of her neck again.
Fuck, she’s too addictive.
“Curse,” she says with a small, throaty laugh.
I growl unhappily, jerking her to the edge of the desk and pressing my hard cock against the hot valley of her thighs.
“I won’t need it,” she assures me.
“We play safe, Astra. I won’t hurt you. If you wear my mark, it’s because you want to. You hear me, Beauty?”
She swallows hard, big eyes blinking at me.
“Okay,” she says. “Aurora.”
So precious. My Beauty. My Sleeping Beauty. But I won’t pretend I’m the prince who kisses her and wakes her up.
I’m the Devil taking her to Hell, and by the look she’s giving me, she knows exactly who she’s following.
“And what if you can’t say it?” I ask now that I know she’s taking this seriously.
She taps her index and middle fingers against the back of my hand twice.
It’s simple enough that I nod my approval.
I guide her down until her back is pressed against the top of the desk.
I release her neck as I take a small step back to admire the beauty before me.
She’s spread out deliciously for me. Slowly, tortuously, I curl my fingers into the waistband of her tiny shorts.
The scent of her arousal grows stronger as I drag her bottoms down her legs.
Her legs part wide for me as I drop her shorts to the ground with little care.
What I want is staring me right in the face.
“Donovan,” she whispers, and I look up to see her heavy-lidded gaze on me.
My hands spread wide on her thighs as I take my seat again.
Her pink pussy glistens for me. I lean closer, breathing her scent in as deeply as my lungs will allow.
She gasps when the pointed tip of my tongue darts out to swipe a taste of her juices.
It’s cute enough to have me smiling against her pussy before I go in for another taste.
There’s even a hint of my cum lingering there. The reminder only makes me harder.
It’s not long before her pussy is drenched. My chin is covered, my mouth flooded. And the little sounds she makes is music to my fucking ears. As I suck her clit, she begins to chant my name like I’m a god.
“Please,” she begs. “Don’t stop,” soon follows.
Her fingers twist in my hair as her hips roll against my face. I can feel her legs shaking in my hold. She’s close.
Astra comes with a deep gasp as her body folds up. I have a split-second to take in how her expression is painted in ecstasy before she forces me to bury my face between her thighs. I drink her down, lapping at her sensitive clit until she yanks me away by firm grip on my hair.
My lips meet the soft flesh of her thigh, and I can’t help but leave a lingering kiss before I pull away.
I stand over her lax body. Her lids are half closed, but even still, I can see the excitement and thrill in her eyes as I unfasten my pants. My throbbing cock is in my hand a second later. I’m so hard that I’m seconds away from coming.
“Fuck, Astra,” I grunt as I work my cock with a firm grip. She parts her legs just enough to be an invitation. I want inside. I want to leave her stuffed with my cum.
But a better idea comes to mind.
I could mark her in other ways. Leave my scent behind so everyone fucking knows who she belongs to.
The thought gives me pause.
The jolt of reality is quickly swept away as my balls draw up. I come, and all thoughts cease to exist. I empty myself onto her smooth skin, her cream-drenched pussy, and even manage to get a bit on her shirt.
Spent, I flop back into the chair. When she sits up, I reach for her, pulling her into my lap once again.
It’s just the two of us as our racing hearts calm. As the reality of the world slowly drifts back down to us.
I’ve never felt calmer than I do in this moment.
But it’s the calm in the middle of a raging storm.
With Astra in my arms, nothing seems to matter.
Yet, everything seems to matter.
Everything seems more important now. I can’t explain it, and I have no clue what to do with it. All I know is that I can’t deny there is something here with her. It’s more than this curse connecting us. It’s greater than anything I’ve ever known.
Astra has the power to undo me, but I also think she is the key to everything I’ve been missing.