Chapter 38
ASHER
Leaving was never an option. If Lily thinks she can push me out, then she’s going to get a surprise when she finds me still in her house.
I’m not dumb enough to be findable for when she returns though, so as Barrett storms from room to room, searching under every bed and in each wardrobe, I stay hidden in the roof cavity upstairs.
When I came back here after Lily told me she wanted me gone, I packed all my things, which fit into a single fucking backpack, and deliberately left some of my drawings for Lily to find.
I raided the fridge and pantry for supplies, grabbed a bucket to use as a toilet, and then moved into the roof space on the second level.
I hear them talking for a while before Barrett leaves, and once he’s gone, I wait patiently for a couple of hours to make sure Lily is alone.
Then, I quietly lower myself down from the ceiling hatch, my feet landing quietly on the soft carpet outside the upstairs bathroom, and I remain in place for a few moments, listening.
The TV is on downstairs, the faint murmurs of a movie floating up the stairwell. Everything else is silent and still, almost like no one is home. But I know Lily is. I can sense her, feel her presence nearby. So with painfully slow steps so I don’t make a sound, I creep my way downstairs.
When I reach the bottom, that’s when I hear Lily. Her faint sobbing seeks me out like an invisible tether, sending a bolt of pain to the centre of my chest.
She’s hurting.
I don’t bother keeping quiet then. My mind controlled by my heart as my feet take me to where she’s slumped on the floor at the foot of the couch, one arm in a sling, my sketches scattered around her on the rug, and a framed picture of the twins on the floor next to her.
“Lily,” I rasp, her head immediately snapping up in my direction as I approach, the blues of her eyes barely visible past the tears streaming from them.
“W-what are you doing here?” She quickly scrambles up off the floor, and I notice the knife in her free hand.
“As if I would leave you.” I shake my head. “I fucking love you, Lily. If you want me gone, you’ll have to kill me.” My eyes dart back down to the blade she’s holding. “Why do you have a knife?”
“Why do you think?” she snaps, her tears no longer flowing, but her cheeks still damp.
“Were you planning on hurting yourself?” I ask, frowning in disbelief, which has Lily’s brows shooting up.
“What? No!” She curls her lip and takes a step towards me. “I have this with me in case I get any unwanted visitors.”
That’s my girl.
I hold back my grin, loving this fiery side of her. I love her alter ego that seeks to kill predators. I’ve never seen anything more stunning than when she kills.
“A gun would be a better option.” I step closer. “It allows you to keep distance between you and your attacker.” I take another step, and she raises the knife higher, showing me that she still thinks I’m the enemy.
“I told you to leave,” she snaps, her cheeks flaring in anger.
“I decided to stay.” I shrug.
“You need to leave,” she hisses, and fuck, she’s still the most beautiful creature to ever grace this Earth, even with her red, puffy eyes and blotchy cheeks.
“Or what? You gonna sick your big bad mafia cousin on me?” I tease, and she flinches. “Or maybe one of your brothers. Devon or Warrick? Or maybe your sisters? Jenaveve or Elise?”
Lily freezes, her eyes going wide.
“How do you know their names?” she whispers, shocked, and I smirk.
“The internet is an amazing thing for gathering information on people.” I shrug before continuing. “Or maybe you’ll send your parents after me. From what I read, Leon and Trinity Marx are ruthless.”
“Get out,” she hisses through gritted teeth, but I shake my head.
“Nope. I’m not leaving, Lily. I’m not your enemy.”
“It sure feels like it right now,” she snarls, but I shrug again.
“That’s because there’s a hit out on you, and your cousin put ideas in your head that are making you paranoid. If you really think about it, Lily, you’d see I’m simply an obsessed motherfucker who wants to be a part of your life.”
Suddenly, she lurches forward, her movements fast as she swaps the knife to her slinged hand before her palm slaps hard across my cheek, snapping my head to the side.
“Don’t lie to me!” she snarls, rage contorting her beautiful features.
Fucking stunning.
Smirking, I rub my inflamed cheek, hoping her hand leaves a permanent mark on me before taking a step towards her. She quickly steps back before taking another, and I hate that she feels like she has to back away.
How the fuck do I get through to her?
“I’m not fucking lying,” I hiss, letting the anger free in my voice as I stalk forward.
With every step back she takes, I take a big fucking step forward until her back hits the wall, and I cage her in, finally close enough for her scent to wrap around me.
“You must be lying,” she whispers, her blue eyes wide as I lean closer, invading her space.
“Why is it so hard to believe that I care about you?” I speak quietly this time.
“Yes, sending you those pictures with a message is kind of psycho stalker, but think about the messages that were written. None of them were threatening. I was simply telling you that I knew who you were. That I knew how killing affects you.” Lifting my hand, I graze the backs of my fingers down her cheek. “How much it turns you on.”
I’m so close to her now, my lips hovering just over hers as we breathe the same intoxicating air. Then her hand slams into my chest, shoving me back hard before she grabs her knife from her slinged hand and swings it at me.
Stumbling back, I right myself just in time to dodge her attack before she’s coming at me like a charging bull, the intent to kill darkening her eyes. I brace for her impact, my instincts remaining on the knife, knowing if I don’t get it from her, she may very well fucking stab me.
As she collides with me, she flinches, her injuries still causing her pain, and I grip her wrist, keeping the knife at bay as we tumble to the floor. I take the impact as we land, not wanting her to get hurt, and the air whooshes from my lungs as her slight weight crashes into mine.
The clatter of the knife tumbles across the floor, thank fuck, and lightning fast, I shift from under her, rolling to put me on top.
I press my weight down, being careful not to crush her, and just like that, her legs part as I settle between them, pinning her free wrist next to her head with my iron grip.
“Stop trying to kill me, Lily, and start listening to me,” I seethe mere inches from her face. “I fucking love you. I will never hurt you. I will never walk away. Not even if you try to kill me a trillion fucking times. I will keep coming back until you see what’s right in front of you.”
When she parts her lips to respond, I silence it by slamming mine to hers.
I expect resistance. I expect her to fight me, but instead, she melts, accepting my kiss with a fever that ignites each place where our bodies touch.
I release my hold on her wrists before she clutches onto my t-shirt, wrapping her legs around me, ravenous.
There’s nothing gentle about the way we touch, the way we kiss and grapple each other, desperate to crawl under each other’s skin. My fingers weave through Lily’s copper hair, gripping tightly as I tilt her head to deepen the kiss, our tongues lashing with desperate need.
Rolling my hips against her, I feel, rather than hear her moan, breathing into my mouth as we kiss, and at the same time, she grinds herself against the outline of my hard length.
Barely breaking the kiss, I release her hair, my hands carefully shoving her oversized t-shirt up to expose her tits, no bra in sight.
Being careful to avoid her slinged arm, I cup one of her breasts before rolling her nipple, and she hooks her legs around me, dragging me torturously hard against her heated core.
Breaking the kiss, I dive down to latch onto her nipple as my hands find her hips, prying her legs off me to work her knickers down one leg.
Lily is just as fevered, her nails digging into my back under my t-shirt before moving to my jeans and trying to undo the button with one hand.
When I bite down on her nipple, she cries out, releasing the zip to grip my hair and hold me to her intensely peaked bud.
I bite down harder, and she grinds on me again, and fuuuuck, I love how feral she is right now.
How much she’s letting go and showing me what she craves.
While she’s busy holding my head to her, I work my jeans down, freeing my aching cock and run it through her slick folds.
“Asher,” she cries out, her needy cunt rising up, seeking my cock with desperate hunger.
Releasing her nipple, I come up to hover over her mouth.
“Do you believe me, Angel?” I nip at her lips as I speak. “Do you believe that I love you? That I’m not your enemy?”
She whimpers, grinding her slick folds over my tip, but I don’t give her what she wants. Not yet. Not until she answers me.
“Lily? Do you believe me?” I ask, my voice raspy with lust as I pull back, our gazes instantly locking, and fuck… she nods.
“Yes, I believe you.”
Fuuuck. That’s all I need.
I surge forward, my cock slipping right in, slamming deep and hard. Her back arches off the floor, her moans loud as I fill her, before I rise up, bracing myself on my hands and fuck her with fervour.
The sound of our skin slapping, combined with Lily’s cries, fills the room, the TV no longer something I can hear as her tight, wet heat strangles my cock, sucking it in with desperate need.
I know Lily’s body already. I know my cock alone won’t send her over the edge, so I put my weight on one arm and use the other to find her swollen clit.
Fuck, it’s ripe and hot, and I tease the little bud as her walls tighten around me like a vice, loving the squeeze so much I think I’m about to arrive early.
But Lily does instead. A strangled cry flying from her parted lips, her eyes scrunched tight as she erupts and pulses around me, reaching her high.
My nuts start to tense, the knowing ache deep inside me a sure sign I’m about to explode, but before I do, Lily flips us, turning the tables as she pants, her cheeks blazing red as she starts to ride me.
“Fuck, Lily,” I hiss, my hands gripping her waist as she locks eyes with me, whipping her copper hair over her shoulders before she leans down to claim my lips.
Her kiss isn’t gentle, her lips brutal, her tongue assaulting, and her teeth biting. She’s still angry. But that’s understandable. She can abuse me all she fucking wants as long as she remembers that I love her.
When she pulls back, shoving my shirt up, her fingers find my nipple before she pinches and hisses at me.
“Come for your Angel,” she demands, her voice a sexy fucking husk that has my cock jerking, and three more thrusts sends me over.
Doing exactly as she demanded, I come deep inside her, each hot jet like a brand that I want to keep stored inside her so she doesn’t ever forget what we do to each other.
I’m about to tell her that I love her again. About to reassure her that I’m on Team Lily, when her eyes dart to the TV as a news report comes in.
I don’t get a chance to shift my focus to what has her distracted, because the next second, her wide, panicked eyes shift to me before her face morphs into the pure evil of the Crimson Angel I’ve been spying on for years.
“I’m sorry,” is all she says before she draws her fist back and slams it into the side of my head.
Then… everything goes black.