Page 128 of Vicious Kingdom

“Never,” she gasped, her eyes wild with both pleasure and determination. “Some things are mine to bear.”

I pressed my forehead against hers, our heated breath mingling as water cascaded around us. “Everything about you is mine now.”

A smile—dangerous and knowing—curved her lips. “Then take what’s yours.”

The challenge in her voice shattered my last thread of control. I drove into her with renewed vigor, my fingers digging into the soft flesh of her thighs as I held her against the wall. Each thrust pushed her higher, her moans growing louder, more desperate.

My balls tightened, and I exploded into her with a roar. That did it. That tipped her over the edge. Annaliese screamed my name. Despite the vise-like grip she had on me, I continued to fuck her through the orgasm.

As we stilled, as our breathing slowed, we found ourselves tangled in a moment. We were at another damn impasse.

“I’m going to—” she panted “—go to…bed…now.”

I brushed my thumb over her lip. “What about dinner?”

Annaliese only shook her head. “I’m not hungry.”

I released her, lowering her softly to the ground. She bent for her clothes and winced.

My voice was iron. “I’ll get those.”

Nodding, she swallowed hard. “Thanks. Goodnight. Sleep well, lion.”

I watched her grab a towel and tiptoe away. A lion…. Hardly. I was caged and useless, not allowed to do what beasts of the jungle did best.

I need you to trust me to be strong enough for both of us, little one.I needed to be her lion.

Chapter 45 – Annaliese

Would it really be so bad to tell him?He seemed confident now. But I knew what a leprous plague society was. Leonardo’s success was tied to his secret. Maybe it was delusional, but I thought he would know better than anyone that keeping the preying jackals away was best for business.

What if the tables were reversed? What if I demanded he risk himself, and the shameful secrets became public knowledge? Would he really be so eager to risk it then?

I paced across the carpet in the guest room. My hair dried hours ago, but I still kept the towel wrapped around my body.

There had to be a way to make him see that keeping the Tormentor’s actions from running amock like wildfire was for the best. It was better to pretend nothing was happening. And the attack shouldn’t have happened. There was no way it would be repeated.

It was just another lie. The Tormentor caught me before, and he would do it again.

Lies could damn us.

But the truth was hurting us now.

I groaned, falling back on the bed. Another groan, this time from pain, choked from me. The Tormentor deserved a taste of his own medicine. It would serve him right to unleash my husband’s fury on him.

But to protect Leo, I needed to make sure he never had reason to go looking for the pest again. Which meant I couldn’t be trapped and hurt. He was too close to discovering the truth as it was.

The marks I left on the Tormentor’s face hadn’t tipped him off. Leo claimed he didn’t know who it was.

I smiled, thinking about Leo storming into my uncle’s office, confronting my relatives. They probably shit themselves.

I tried to curl into the pillow, but sleep evaded me.

Knowing how completely pathetic it was that I now only indulged in decent sleep when I was near Leo, I snatched my pillow and blanket and crept from the guest room. Leo hadn’t come out of his bedroom yet, and I had no idea if he was awake or asleep. On one hand, I didn’t want to disturb him, not after everything that had happened, and on the other hand, I didn’t want him to find me gone. That was a risk I took most nights—those raw, dark hours when I couldn't be sure of anything. But the thought of waking him now, when things felt on the verge of unraveling, kept me standing helplessly in indecision.

So instead, I made a nest outside his door. If he did catch me sleeping on the floor like a dog, I could at least say I tried not to wake him.

Curling into myself, I shut my eyes.