Chapter 66
CEZAR
Dorin’s hands worked steadily over my back, the alcohol biting through mangled flesh. I gritted my teeth because I didn’t want to give him the satisfaction of knowing that it hurt like a bitch. Every muscle quivered with exhaustion.
Then she glided across the room, and I felt her intense gaze.
My Petal.
The one I trusted more than anyone.
She lingered in the doorway.
“Some of these lashes are deep,” Dorin muttered, winding the bandages around my ribs. “Don’t move too much. If the cuts reopen—”
“Then they reopen,” I snapped.
My eyes stayed on her.
When Dorin packed his supplies and left, I leaned against the headboard, shirtless and wrapped like a present, all for her. She didn’t move closer, just stared at me, contemplating.
Don’t hesitate, Petal. Take me. I’ll crawl if I have to.
“Come here,” I growled.
She stepped forward gradually. I closed a hand around her wrist before she could change her mind and pulled her between my thighs. Her gaze fixated on the rose carved into me.
“You shouldn’t…” she mumbled.
“I want this,” I murmured, guiding her hand up, pressing her palm flat to my throat. Could she feel it? That frantic, uneven thrum of my pulse begging beneath her fingers.
“Cezar…”
“I want it with you,” I breathed. “He took this from me. Every breath. Plastic bags over my head. Water forced down my throat until I thought I’d drown. He made air something I had to earn, made me pray for death.”
Her hand tensed, and I pushed harder into her grip, savoring the fear.
“But you…” My voice staggered, heat searing along my scars. “…if you take it from me, it’s because I asked you to. If you give it back, it’s because you chose to. I don’t want safety. I want you. I want to choke on you and know it was my choice. My life is yours to decide.”
The rose stung with every inhale. “With you, I want to be scared again. Because I know you’ll let me breathe.”
She has to. She’s the only one who ever can.
Her hand faltered. I smiled against her palm, dizzy with pain and desire. When her fingers tightened, my cock twitched against the bandages wrapped around my waist. A jolt ran through me. It should have hurt. Instead, it only left me wanting.
“More,” I begged, bursting at the seams. “Take it further, Petal. Until I can’t even choke on air.”
Her palm still pressed to my throat, I tilted my chin up, forcing more pressure. Offering myself as a sacrifice.
This should feel the same. The same panic. The same fire in my lungs. The same scatter of stars at the edge of my sight. It didn’t. Because it was her hand. Her fingers. Her power pinned me to the mattress.
The rush washed over me. My chest swelled, ribs screaming. “Do it,” I barked. “Take more.”
Her fingers closed, cutting me off.
Yes. Fuck. Just like before. No air. No control. Just darkness rushing in. Only this time, I wasn’t drowning in him. I was drowning in her.
My pulse thundered in my ears. My body fought, instinct screaming at me to claw for survival, but I forced myself still. My vision flashed white. The rose pulsed across my chest, each heartbeat sharpening the pain.
The pressure eased. I gasped as air flooded my lungs. Her hand still vibrated against my throat. I turned my head into it, slid my tongue along the inside of her wrist, smiling at the rawness.
“More,” I pleaded. “Petal, don’t stop. Choke me until I forget I have a father.”
Her eyes darkened. Her thighs climbed higher up my chest.
And then she straddled my face. My lungs seized—not from fear, but from the way her pussy hovered over my mouth, her scent sinking straight into whatever was left of my sanity.
Pinned in place, the lack of air became unbearably addictive.
“Please me, Cezar,” she commanded.
God, yes. Drown me in you.
I opened my mouth, and the moment she lowered onto me, the world disappeared. Her weight pressed down, her taste filled my senses, and my tongue moved in desperate worship.
Every breath she refused me was a death worth dying.
This is my punishment. She is my heaven. My hell.
Her thighs braced around my head, forcing me deeper into her. I licked, sucked, frantic to give her everything, to disappear inside her until there was nothing left of me.
Lina’s hips rolled against my mouth, grinding down, making me take what she offered. My body screamed for oxygen. The pain only made me hungrier. I devoured her until my jaw throbbed.
Her fingers tangled in my hair, yanking hard enough to make my eyes water. I moaned, the sound vibrating against her pussy, drawing another shudder through her body. She smothered me as my cock throbbed on the fabric binding my wounds.
Please, Petal—
Her moans filled the room. My body shook, torn apart by obsession, every nerve screaming for more of her. Her thighs flexed tighter, sealing me in.
She shattered above me, her cum spilling onto my tongue. I licked harder, greedy, swallowing her like survival. Her cry tore something loose inside me, and I came undone beneath her, soaking the bandages at my waist. For a moment, I forgot where the pain ended and she began.
My Petal.
The moment she tried to pull away, something inside me rebelled. I hooked my hands around her and brought her back down to my mouth. I needed more. Needed her to know I’d never stop.
“Cezar,” she gasped.
I slowed, pressing one final kiss to the inside of her thigh before I let her go.
A brutal ache spread through me.
She moved to my hips once again, her hands framing my face. “You’re insane.”
I grinned, tasting her as I licked my lips. “Only for you.”
I’d do it again. A thousand times. I’d die a thousand deaths if it meant she’d keep choosing to bring me back.