Chapter 20
Twenty
E lias
Steam wafted from the hot bath as I held Avra against me. It was near sunset, and a deep golden glow filled the bathroom. I felt an unexplainable need to hold her and keep her close. It burned inside me with no signs of easing since I found her in the aftermath of the altercation with Francesca.
My wife, the woman I planned to spend the rest of my life with, the future mother of my children.
The last place she needed to be was near blood or violence, much less be at the center of it. But that wasn’t how it worked with us in our world.
Things like this happened every day .
Except it seemed as if she fucking courted danger more than any other female I had ever encountered.
It wasn’t just her bloodline that made her a prime target, but also because she refused to be anyone but herself. There was no taming that temper or sense of purpose.
No matter how much it drove me mad to know she’d engaged in a physical altercation, hearing Besa’s version of the events, I knew Avra had given plenty of warning to leave her alone, and then it was Francesca who attacked.
Thank God Avra had trained and knew how to handle herself. According to the soldiers, everything happened so fast that even if they’d intervened, Avra would have been unable to avoid injury.
It would have kept her from killing someone with her bare hands, but she appeared unbothered by it, making it very clear that this wasn’t her first time taking a life like that.
Would Avra have received the same unapologetic combat education Vik put his other recruits through? Rumors circulated about Vik’s methods at his school, as he liked to call it. They were brutal, even by my standards. To pass into the second level of training, each soldier had to hunt and kill an enemy of the Vitalis family without weapons.
I couldn’t imagine what it was like for Avra and her sisters to be raised by one of the most notorious seconds in our world. The man loved the women. It was evident from how he went out of his way to watch over them. But affectionate, he wasn’t.
I could never thank him enough for teaching Avra to react and protect herself with as much force as necessary. If Avra hadn’t killed Francesca, I would have found a way to put a bullet between her eyes by the end of the day.
What was Francesca’s aim in going after Avra? I’d made my stand on cheating abundantly clear. Showing up to the wedding was an idiot’s move, and now she was dead.
“Are you finished brooding? I’m fine. It’s time to let it go.”
“Letting it go is easier said than done.”
“Allow me to entice you then.” Avra stretched her arms over her head and exposed her lush breasts above the water.
I cupped them and asked, “Do you realize how much of a pain in the ass you are?”
“I’m sure you’re going to tell me.” She threaded her fingers behind my head and slid them to my nape as she looked up at me.
“You have security for a reason. Let them do their job.”
“Like you did with the man and the little girl?”
I couldn’t hide my annoyance. “Those are two different circumstances.”
“That’s true.” She turned, straddled my hips, and caged my shoulders with her arms. “One of your harpies stalked me in a gallery and then attacked me. I sent a message to all who may consider fucking with me in the future.”
Guilt bubbled up. It was my job to protect Avra, and I’d failed.
“I’m sorry.”
“Why are you apologizing? You weren’t there. ”
“I’m sorry for the situation.” I shook my head, slowly rubbing her arms and being careful not to press too hard over her still-healing gunshot wound. “Francesca was my lover before your marriage proposal came to light,” I explained, feeling the need to clarify why this had occurred. “I slept with her intermittently for about two years. I made it clear from the beginning that nothing would come of it. I was direct about our relationship being casual. I never promised anything long-term or any commitment.”
“Her thinking otherwise isn’t your fault. And neither is the altercation.”
“You aren’t upset about her cornering you at the gallery?”
“No. I would be stupid if I were.”
I stared at her, unsure whether to be upset or in awe of her ability to handle a crazy, jealous ex-lover as if it were an everyday thing.
“I saw her at the wedding. No one invited her, just in case you wanted to know. And I made sure she stayed away from you. The last thing a bride wants is to face their husband’s ex.”
“If you could see your face right now.” She laughed, jostling the water with her movement. “You’re ten years older than me. I’m well aware you had a life before me. I expected you to have more than a few ex-lovers who hated me for marrying you. I locked it down while they couldn’t.”
Marrying me was locking it down. She’d come to me with a proposition, and I accepted.
“Are you annoyed that I said I locked it down? Cali says that is the correct terminology for when a woman gets a ring out of a man who never planned to marry.”
This woman was making fun of me. I narrowed my eyes, holding back my need to grab her throat. The marks from the fight were there. I wouldn’t think about that now. This wasn’t the time for that.
“You think this is funny?”
“Very. You want jealousy, and I’m not giving it to you.”
Her attention went to my clenched fist on the rim of the tub, and a crease formed between her brows. She reached over, taking my wrist.
“Open your hand,” she ordered.
I followed her direction, and then she lifted it to her neck.
“I’m not fragile. Don’t forget, I killed a dumbass bitch today.” She smiled.
I rubbed my thumb along her mouth. “We will talk about that at a later time.”
“I’m sure we will.” She leaned in. “Let’s finish this discussion so we can get to the part where you choke me and fuck me. Humm.”
“You make no sense.” My hold tightened on her. “And you’re a pain in the ass.”
“Yes. You mentioned this earlier.” She pursed her lips, trying to hold in a chuckle. “Are you still confused about why Francesca doesn’t bother me?”
“Actually, yes,” I answered honestly and then groaned as she adjusted her position .
My cock grew hard along the seam of her pussy as a surge of lust rushed forward.
“Is there a woman somewhere in the world, perhaps a lost lover you can’t forget? Be honest.”
I tried to focus on her words and not her hot cunt teasing me. Then her question sank in, and outrage cleared my focus.
My fingers flexed on her neck, and I clenched my teeth. “I told you before, I never planned to marry. The only woman I can’t get out of my fucking mind is you. Half the time, I wonder if you’re starting a war with someone, and the other, I’m counting the minutes until I can plow my cock into your cunt.”
I bucked up against her, letting the hard ridge of my dick slide along her heat. She gasped and then ground down on me, wanting more of the friction.
“Then get it through your head.” Her voice grew husky. “I don’t care about your past because none of them matter to you. The same goes for me. I don’t pine over any past lover. You take up too much space in my life.”
The thought of anyone having touched her, tasted her, or slid into her had me craving to slice the skin off each of their faces.
“Let me give you a warning.” I bit her lower lip hard enough to sting.
Her eyes dilated as goosebumps broke out over her flesh, and her nipples pebbled. Never had anyone responded to me this way. Especially in the mood I was in now, where my blood boiled with fury.
“I’m listening.” She pressed her wet chest to mine and then scored her nails over my shoulders, giving me a taste of the pain I’d just given her.
I fisted her hair with my other hand and jerked her head back.
So fucking beautiful.
She was so tough everywhere else, but she gave me every bit of her control.
Right now, she was at my mercy, so exposed and vulnerable. She trusted me completely, knowing I wouldn’t hurt her.
She was fucking mine, no one else’s. I resisted the primal drive to mark her with my teeth.
“I’m not like you.” I trailed my palm from her neck, over her collarbone, between her breasts, and down her abdomen, continuing the journey until I reached the apex of her sex. “I’m jealous. I’m possessive. I’m overprotective to the point I become unhinged. And the fact I enjoy killing a motherfucker is a bad omen for anyone who ever tasted what belongs to me.”
“I’m thirty, Eli. Staying a virgin to this age is rare or a lie.” Her lips parted, and her face flushed.
“Logic has no standing when it comes to you.” I parted her and thrust two fingers into her swollen cunt as I circled her sensitive clitoral nub. “Never let me meet an ex unless you want it to be the last day of his life.”
“That’s ridiculous.” She threw her head back, eyes closed, riding my hand as I pumped in and out of her.
“Never forget. You chose me. Now, you deal with the consequences. ”
Water spilled from the tub as her movements grew frantic.
“Actions…umm… Consequence… Oh fuck—Eli.”
I sat up, freeing her hair, and encircled my arm around her waist. “Come for me, Avra. Show me how much you love this butcher’s hand inside you.”
Her orgasm ripped through her cunt, contracting and spasming while I took every bit of her pleasure out of her. I held her up, watching her lose herself in her climax.
As she slowly descended, I leaned her against the edge of the tub seat, spread her thighs, and poised her over my hard, aching cock.
“I like these consequences.” Her eyelashes fluttered open, her ordinarily green eyes darker and hazed. “I want more.”
“Of course you do. You have a greedy, hungry cunt.”
She shifted her pelvis. “Then feed it.”
“Like this.” I slammed into her, making her scream and grip my shoulders.
I held her still, reveling in her delicious feel. She fit me like a glove, so soft, so warm. She was made for me.
And she had no idea how serious I was about torturing and then killing any past lover of hers I encountered.
I was a killer due to Ozias and his actions.
For Avra, I’d become a monster. She was mine.
I cupped her breast, teasing her nipples, giving her the edge of pain she loved.
She moaned, biting her lip and rocking against me.
“Tsk, tsk.” I slapped her beautiful ass, which made her clench around me. “If you want to come again, then you use my cock and earn it. No cheating.”
She lifted a brow. “As if you can sit there and let me do all the work. You wouldn’t last more than a minute.”
“Is that a challenge?” I asked, setting my hands on her hips.
She positioned her knees on either side of me and slid up and down at a deliberately slow pace. The wet, tight glide of her pussy was an evil torture on a dick that had needed to fuck the hell out of her since I saw her outside the gallery.
I floated between heaven and hell.
“Eli?”
“What?”
I inhaled deep, trying not to dig my fingers into the soft round flesh of her ass, wanting desperately to give it to her the way I desired.
“Do you know how much I crave your cock?” she purred into my ear.
She was a witch possessed by Aphrodite or Peitho. Both goddesses were wicked seductresses.
I threw my head back. “Stop talking and fuck me.”
“I am.” She licked up the side of my neck and rubbed her cheek along mine while continuing that incessantly slow pace. “Answer the question.”
“I know. We barely keep our hands off each other.”
“Does this mean you crave my pussy too?” She arched, rolled her hips, and positioned her breasts right in front of my eyes .
Her breasts were so full, and her nipples were hard and ready for my bite.
“I know what you’re doing. That’s cheating.”
“I’m fucking you. Isn’t that what you wanted?” Avra smirked, but a deep flush bloomed over her skin.
That was it. Avra had hit the point where her body required a push to send her over. I knew the meaning of every sigh, every change in breath, even the slightest change in her coloring when it came to sex.
“You won’t come at this pace, Avra.”
“We’re in a challenge. I will win.”
Her unsteady breath tugged at this part of me that demanded I satisfy her. The hairs on the back of my neck prickled.
“I’m ordering you to make yourself come.”
“I don’t take orders very well.” She closed her eyes, her orgasm teetering but still out of reach.
I smacked her ass, causing her to jerk and quiver around me.
“That’s cheating,” she shouted.
I gritted my teeth, losing the battle not to rail until she begged for mercy.
“Make yourself come, or I will do it for you.”
She stopped her movement with a frown. “Why is it so important? This is just a game.”
Why couldn’t she understand its logic? It was simple.
“You’re my fucking wife. It’s my job to see to your pleasure.” I gripped her forearms. “What idiot doesn’t care for the most important thing in their life? ”
She gaped at me. “Why do you have to say shit like this? I was already in love with you.”
It was my turn to stare open-mouthed at her. She couldn’t mean it. We fought, we laughed, we fucked.
Our marriage was a business, arranged, nothing more.
Who was I kidding?
I shifted, turning us so she sat on the seat. “Do you mean it?”
“Mean what?” She looked around. “You moved. I win.”
I gripped her jaw and leaned in. “That you love me.”
“Why is this a surprise?” She swallowed. “I thought you knew the night we made our deal.”
She wrapped her arms around me, drawing me to her. She brushed her lips across mine, soft and gentle. But there was something to it that felt as if she’d punched me in the gut. However, I wanted more of it.
She pulled back, and her gaze locked with mine.
After a few seconds, she said, “I never planned to marry. I accepted that a husband and children weren’t possible, at least for me. I lived in hiding, and any dreams I had vanished after the coup. Then, this plan came into existence, and I decided an arranged marriage was better than nothing. I wasn’t prepared for you. I wasn’t prepared for this.”
A tear slid down her cheek. And this confirmed it. I was utterly lost to this woman.
How the fuck had that happened?
I loved my wife.
“Neither was I.” I cupped her face. “I meant what I said.”
“You’ve said a lot of things. ”
“I’m possessive, Avra—to a dangerous level. You’re mine. That means something to me. I will protect you.”
Her lips turned up at the corners. “Well then, possessive man. Are you planning to fuck me or put that delicious hard cock to waste?”
“That mouth of yours will result in some severe consequences.” I fisted myself at the base and aligned myself with her.
“You like my mouth.” She wrapped her legs around my waist and pushed her wet pussy onto me, taking me all the way to the hilt and making me hiss. “Especially when I deep throat you and swallow.”
“Shut up and let me fuck you.” I pulled out and surged back in, hard and rough, just as she liked it.
She moaned and rolled her hips. She pulled me closer, her arms looping under mine and holding tight.
“Fuck me hard, Eli. Don’t hold back. I want you to release the beast inside you. Please. Let me feel you everywhere.”
“Don’t complain tomorrow,” I growled, lifting her by the waist and keeping my cock buried deep in her. I carried her into the bedroom, not giving a shit about the water. As soon as we reached the bed, I set her on the end and reached for the cords hidden along the edges. I tied her arms and splayed her open for me. Her pussy glistened, and my cock was covered with her arousal.
I set a hard, unrelenting pace, loving the sight of my dick pistoning in and out of her.
My fingers clutched her hips and jerked her into the thrust of my hips, giving her no control. This wasn’t anywhere near romantic or gentle, but vicious, dark, unforgiving, and perfect. Her clit teased me, so swollen, so exposed, calling me to taste, to tease.
She was my fucking addiction.
Her pussy flexed, and the muscles all but sucked me with each pass, testing my stamina and will. It was too much, and I couldn’t hold off much longer.
I jerked out of her.
“No.” She cried out and then gasped, and my lips closed over her beautiful, exposed, swollen pearl.
I laved her pussy, giving her no chance to think of anything beyond the sensation coursing throughout her body. She tossed her head from side to side, and her bound hands clenched into fists against her inner thighs.
The second she released little mewled whimpers, I thrust three fingers inside her, and she detonated, her back bowing and neck arching. There never was such a beautiful sight.
I crawled over her and plunged deep, lucky enough to catch the remainder of her orgasm.
She gazed up at me through a haze of pleasure, and barely above a whisper, she said, “I do love you, even if I didn’t want to.”
Those words snapped what little of my restraint I had left. I fucked her like a madman, wanting nothing more than to imprint my cock in her beautiful cunt. At the same time, her arousal rose again, and she lifted her hips, trying to meet my intense thrusts. My balls drew up. It was over for me. She felt just too damn good .
Sliding my fingers to her clit, I circled her, teased, and right before I came, I pinched, pushing her over. The contractions of her cunt shot me into my release, and it was the best thing I’d ever felt.
My wife. The woman I loved. She was giving herself to me.
I would destroy anyone who dared to hurt her.