Chapter 20
I grab her waist, pulling her against me as our lips crash together. The kiss is violent, desperate—everything I’ve been holding back exploding between us. Her hands fist in my hair, nails scraping my scalp as she yanks me closer. I growl into her mouth, tightening my grip.
“I won’t lie to you,” I rasp between kisses. “I’m done with the games.”
Liv tears her mouth away, eyes blazing. “Bullshit. You’re still manipulating me, still trying to control everything.”
I capture her face between my palms, forcing her to meet my gaze. “Listen to me. I may be a bastard. I may hide things. But I will never lie to you about this.”
“About what?” she demands, her breath coming in sharp pants.
“About loving you.” The words tear from my throat, raw and honest. “About being willing to burn everything down to keep you safe.”
“Don’t.” She tries to pull away, but I hold firm. “Don’t say that if you don’t mean it.”
Fury and desperation war inside me. “You think I’d risk everything—my reputation, my business, my life—for a lie? You think I’d betray your father, knowing what he’s capable of, if I didn’t mean it?”
Her eyes narrow, searching mine. “You’re a master manipulator, Remy. How can I trust anything you say?”
I slam my lips back to hers, pouring every ounce of my frustration and need into the kiss. She responds just as fiercely, biting my lower lip hard enough to draw blood. The metallic taste only fuels the fire between us.
“Because,” I growl against her mouth, “I’ve never lost control like this. Never needed anyone the way I need you.”
She shudders in my arms, fingers digging into my shoulders. “Prove it.”
I lift her off her feet, pressing her against the wall as our mouths meet again in a clash of teeth and tongues. Her legs wrap around my waist, drawing me closer as I feel her heat even through our clothes.
As we broke apart for air, my gaze locked onto Eve’s, my eyes burning with an unspoken promise. Turmoil is raging inside her, the battle between her desire for me and her conviction that I’m manipulating her. I revel in that turmoil, knowing it is the key to unlocking her completely.
With deliberate slowness, I begin to unbutton Eve’s shirt, my fingers brushing against her skin like brands.
The touch sparks a shiver down her spine, and her eyes flash with a mix of anger and desire.
Her body responds to my touch despite her mind’s protests.
I can see the tension in her shoulders and the way her nipples hardened beneath her bra.
“You don’t believe me, do you?” I whisper, my breath dancing across her skin as I work on the last button. “You don’t think I’d risk everything for you.”
Eve’s hands shoot up, shoving at my chest in a token resistance. I merely smile, my lips curving upward in a cruel, sensual smile. “You want this, Eve,” I whisper, my eyes never leaving hers. “You want me.”
“Shut up,” she spits, her voice trembling with emotion. “You don’t know what I want.”
I chuckle, the sound low and husky. “Oh, I think I do.” My fingers slip inside her shirt, tracing the curve of her covered breast. “I think you want me to prove it to you. To show you that I’m not just saying the words.”
Eve’s eyes narrow, her jaw clenched in defiance. But I can see the faintest glimmer of doubt in her eyes, the slightest hint that she is wavering. I lean in, brushing my lips against her ear.
“Let me show you, Eve. Let me prove that I’d do anything to keep you safe. To keep you mine.”
My words are met with a shuddering breath, and for a moment, I think I’ve gone too far. But then, in a movement that was almost imperceptible, Eve’s head tilts to the side, exposing the delicate curve of her neck. It is a surrender, a subtle invitation for me to take more.
My heart is racing with anticipation. I accept the invitation, my lips tracing the length of her neck as my fingers delve deeper into her shirt. Eve’s gasp is music to my ears, a symphony of desire that echoed through my very being.
“I’m on the edge, Eve,” I whisper, my voice barely audible over the pounding of my heart. “I’m on the edge of completely losing control. And it’s all because of you. You don’t believe I love you?” The words taste like acid. “Let me show you just how much I’m willing to lose.”
Power, influence, control—all of it meaningless compared to having her here, alive and burning under my touch.
“Stop pretending,” Liv snarls, shoving at my chest. But I catch the tremor in her voice, the way her body arches into my hands. “You’re incapable of love.”
I laugh, dark and cruel. “You have no idea what I’m capable of.” My fingers trace down her exposed collarbone, drawing a shiver from her. “I killed men tonight. I’ll do it again. And again.”
“Remy—”
“I betrayed your father.” Another button falls open. “Painted a target on my back.” My lips graze her throat. “All to keep you breathing.”
She struggles against me, but I feel her pulse racing beneath my mouth. “More manipulation. More lies.”
“No lies.” I grip her chin, forcing her to meet my gaze. “Look at me, Eve. Look at what you’ve reduced me to.”
Her eyes search mine, and for a moment, I see fear—not of me, but of the raw truth she finds there. I’ve never let anyone see me this exposed, this desperate.
“You want this,” I whisper against her lips, savoring her sharp intake of breath. “You want me as much as I want you.”
She shoves at my chest again, but her fingers curl into my shirt instead of pushing away. “I hate you.”
“Hate me.” My smile turns cruel as another button falls open. “But don’t lie to yourself about wanting me. About having feelings for me that are much more dangerous than hate.”
Eve’s response is a gasp, her body arching into mine. I am indeed on the edge, teetering on the precipice of a desire so all-consuming it threatens to devour us whole.
And yet, I can’t stop. Won’t stop. Not until Liv is mine, completely and utterly.
I tear at her remaining clothes, my fingers shaking with a mix of desire and self-loathing.
The bruises on her sternum, a gruesome reminder of the dummy bullet, make my jaw clench in a silent curse.
I am the one who’d put them there, who hurt her.
My mind seethes with the need to make it up to her, to prove my sincerity in the only way I know how.
“My God, Eve, I’m sorry,” I whisper, my voice mangled with emotion as I expose her to my gaze. Her body, a map of creamy skin and delicate curves, is marred only by the darkening bruises. My hands, seemingly of their own accord, reach out to touch, to soothe.
But Liv is beyond consolation. Her eyes blaze with a fierce intensity as she tears at my clothes with equal fervor, our mutual desperation tangling us in a frenzied dance. Buttons pop, fabric rips, and we are left standing, naked, our bodies straining toward each other like magnets.
The air is heavy with tension, thick with the promise of surrender. I could take her on the spot, sink into her warmth, and silence the cacophony of emotions with the simplicity of flesh against flesh. But I hesitate, my gaze locking onto hers in a silent bargain.
Tonight, I won’t just claim her body. I’ll dismantle her defenses, feast on her very soul, and devour her pleasure until she is lost in the abyss of my making. Tonight, I’ll make my point—that with me, she’ll find a surrender that isn’t defeat but liberation.
My mouth waters at the prospect as I lead her to the bed, a battlefield of silk and shadows. Eve’s eyes never left mine, a spark of defiance still flickering within their depths, but her body betrays her, swaying subtly toward me.
Cloth rips and buttons fly as I expose her bruised flesh. Seeing the livid marks left by that damn gun makes me want to destroy something, tear the entire fucking world apart for daring to come between us.
But first I have to tear down the walls Eve’s erected, those barriers her hardened heart has built against me. Her noises are the sweetest goddamn thing I’ve ever heard.
I tackle her bra, tearing it clean off, before sealing my lips over one nipple.
I suckle hard, reveling in the shudder that rips through her, the frantic clutch of her hands in my hair.
The tip of my tongue swirls around the aching peak before grazing it with my teeth.
Liv keens, canting her hips against mine desperately, seeking friction.
Teasing her with nips and licks, I make my way to the other breast, giving it the same relentless attention.
“Not enough,” she snarls, dragging down my fly with a savage yank. “Never enough.”
The sting of her nails raking lines down my back only inflames my lust. I nip under her jaw, scraping my teeth over her pulse until she shudders violently. “Enough,” I murmur against her skin. “It’s more than enough. I’ll give you all of me if you’ll just let me in.”
Unable to hold back anymore, I thrust two fingers deep inside her dripping core, barely pausing to savor the velvet heat before setting a punishing pace.
She’s so tight, so incredibly responsive.
The slick sounds of my fingers pumping in and out of her fill my ears, erotic music that drives me higher.
“Yes,” Liv hisses, grinding onto my hand shamelessly. “More.”
My thumb finds that sweet spot, rubbing firm circles around her clit as I fingerfuck her relentlessly. Her head falls back with a thud, eyes wild and hazy with lust. I work her with efficient strokes, greedy to push her over that pinnacle, but I need more. I need her complete surrender.
“If you want me,” I rasp, “you get all of me. Secrets and sins, past, present.” I tug her earlobe with my teeth before soothing it with a swipe of my tongue. “Utter, shameless devotion. Take it. Take me.”
“Yes,” she gasps, a shudder rippling through her. “Goddammit, yes, take—ah!” Liv convulses around my fingers with a wailing scream of completion, jerking almost violently as the orgasm crashes over her, and at that moment, she’s the most gorgeous thing I’ve ever seen.