Page 43 of Realm of the Wicked

‘You should be in bed. You could get lost here in the dark, and then what would you do?’ The words cut through the air, colder than I wanted to be, but nowhere near as cold as I could’ve been. Should’ve been. ‘What if the Nihil started bothering you again and I wasn’t here to save you this time?’

‘I would’ve figured it out.’ She rolled her eyes, crossing her arms in front of her chest, but all she succeeded at doing was pulling her shirt tight across her chest, and I was no better than a mere mortal for not being able to take my mind off the straining fabric. This was the true Hell. She was perfection, sent to torture me. ‘I usually do.’

‘Do you? That’s not what the last few days have demonstrated.’ My restraint was taut, tight as a tightrope, and it took everything in me not to close the distance between us, to wrap my arms around her, just to feel the weight of her against my body.

‘A few days compared to a lifetime is nothing. If you gave me a chance, instead of deciding I needed to be locked away inside your tower like a fragile princess, you might actually see that for yourself.’

My breath caught, my restraint finally, finally, finally stretched that little bit too far. Didn’t she understand the lengths I went to keep her safe? Didn’t she understand all of this was a chance?

‘I don’t, because you don’t talk to me about those things,’ Stella whispered, her voice trembling.

I blinked again. I must have spoken aloud, and I must have allowed my heart to take over because Stella was pinned between my arms, pressed against the wall, barely an inch of space between us.

Fuck. This was too close. Way too close. How did I even let this happen? I should’ve dropped her off at her room and been on my way. Instead, I could feel every molecule that separated us, keeping us apart, even as I destroyed them one by one. I narrowed my eyes, watching as Stella’s breath stuttered out of rhythm, the flush that rose over her cheeks. No fear. Just curiosity.

Curiosity that would forever be my downfall.

I brushed a stray lock of hair away from her forehead, trying to ignore my burning skin where I touched her. ‘You’re far too curious for your own good, Bambi. Too naïve. Don’t you realize how many people want to take you away from me? How many people want to hurt you?’ Mine. Mine. Mine. I would never let her go without a fight.

‘You don’t want to hurt me,’ she murmured, eyes wide and unblinking. ‘We’re…’

Maybe. Maybe she wanted me a fraction as much as I wanted her.

‘Frenemies?’ I hummed. ‘And yet haven’t I hurt you already? And still you’re here, letting me press you against the wall, your pretty skin blushing, giving away all your dark secrets. I hurt you, and still you crave me. How can I trust you to keep yourself safe?’

‘I don’t… I don’t crave you.’ She shook her head, her hair brushing against my arms, but I didn’t miss the way her thighs pressed together.

‘Don’t you?’ I whispered. This was an opportunity I wasn’t going to let pass me by. Stella this close again, not running away from me. Logic had long been thrown out the window; everything that told me to stay away was nowhere to be found. It was just me and my instincts. ‘Am I really just a friend, or do you find yourself thinking about me when you touch yourself at night? I’d bet you imagine all sorts of delicious things in that head of yours, while your hands slide their way down your body, desperate for a release, all the while trying to convince yourself the thoughts are wrong. They’re bad. You don’t want me. I’m a monster.’

I gripped her hip with one hand, my other hand finding its way beneath her shirt, brushing against her skin with a featherlight touch. I didn’t miss the quiet gasp that slipped out from between her perfect lips.

‘I don’t want you.’ She sounded less sure this time, less conviction in her voice. ‘And you’ve been drinking. That’s the only reason you’re saying these things.’

I slid my hand over the soft skin where her thigh met her hip. ‘Does it matter if I’m drunk if you don’t want me?’ I met her gaze straight on, those bright, intelligent brown eyes, waiting for her to shove me off, to say no, to do something to bring me back down to this plane of existence. Something. Anything. Did I want her to stop me? Or did I want to live in this dream as long as I could?

‘I don’t want you.’ Quieter this time. She blinked up at me, and her tongue darted out to lick her lips, giving her sweet lies away. ‘I hate you, remember?’

Even as she professed her hatred of me, she leaned into me.

Gripping her other hip, I pushed my knee between her legs, my thigh just out of reach of her perfect cunt I could only imagine. She had all the power here. All the control. And I wanted to watch her lie crumble.

Stella choked out a moan, her body arching, pushing herself against my thigh in desperation. Fuck, she was stunning. A fallen angel I didn’t deserve. If she wouldn’t let herself give into her desires, I’d give it to her in a way she’d let herself fall.

‘Go on then,’ I whispered, holding my face a breath away from her lips, close enough to steal her air. The words I’d dreamed of for so long spilled from my mouth. ‘Show me how much you hate me, love. Use me.’

An anguished keen tore from her throat as she rocked against my thigh, chasing her release any way she could get it. She was going to ruin my trousers, and I couldn’t find it in me to care.

‘I loathe you,’ she repeated on a moan, rolling her hips against me.

‘I know.’ I held her hips tightly, holding her where she needed it, where her breaths got the fastest, where her moans came the deepest, giving her all I could ever give her. She was so beautiful, so perfect, and she was finding pleasure through me, of all beings. Me. I chased her lips, about to kiss her like I’d only dreamed of for so long. She was everything. ‘Say it again.’

‘I hate you.’ Her hips rocked harder, and her eyes closed.

‘Show me, Stella. Hate me.’

She came with a wrecked groan, in the most delicious way I could’ve ever pictured, as I held her trembling body.

‘Damien,’ she breathed, her eyes still shut, resting her head back against the wall. ‘Kiss me.’