Page 123 of Where Sinners Repent

Anger heats deep in my stomach.

“I said, no!” he roars, and I flinch.

I’ve never heard him yell before. Hearing it now makes every muscle in my body lock. Tears slip past my lashes and run down into the pillow.

The room falls silent, and his chest heaves with fury. His jaw ticks, teeth grinding loud enough that I can hear it.

“They will kill you,” he mutters quietly this time.

My mouth parts, but before any words come out, he clamps his palm over my lips. Stopping any words from squeezing past. Fingers bite into my cheeks, and I whimper at the sharp pain, the soft insides of my mouth grinding into my teeth.

Keeping his hand over my face, he uses the other to reach in between our bodies, pulling his hard cock out of his pants.

My teeth grit as he pushes himself in. My pained cry is captured by his palm. He doesn’t say another word to me as he fucks me slowly into the mattress. Our eyes stay locked on each other. Mine teary. His covered in shadows.

Although my body is spent and aching, he pulls a soft orgasm out of me, following me and pulsing inside of me with a hiss through his teeth. When he rolls over, I silently cry.

Not because I’m mad at him. But because I’m mad at the world for being so cruel to him, that he’s blind to anything else.

Violence in necessary. Pain is necessary. But there is also goodness and laughter and sadness, and fun.

It doesn’t exist while my brothers are out there. Not for me, at least.

Finally, exhaustion pulls him under. His soft breaths trickle from his parted lips. All of his features soften in his sleep, and my heart stutters just watching him. My sweet sunshine.

I wait another hour, making sure he’s deep asleep, before I slide my legs from the bed. Each movement is careful, trying not to wake him. My hand grips the door frame, and I turn back to look at him, still sleeping.

And then I move.

It won’t be long till he wakes up to find me gone. I don’t need long. I just need to find Ash or Maddy, or Leon. One of them can help me without turning into an overprotective caveman.

Barefoot, I pad down the stairs, arms hugging tight around the oversized, long sleeve shirt that Kai forced me into. When I get to the last floor, the door is cracked open, just an inch.

It doesn’t matter that it’s past three in the morning; voices and warm light spill into the staircase.

All I can see are shadowy figures through the tiny gap.

“And you're certain?”

The voice that comes from Ash is flat. Unlike anything I’ve heard from him.

“Yes,” Kaleb grunts.

So that’s where he’s been all night.

“Boss, that’s two dead Devils in twenty-four hours,” Griff growls.

My stomach turns and I swallow down the nausea that threatens to turn my stomach.

The room falls silent; my breaths amplified in the quiet staircase.

“Fuck!” Ash screams, followed by the sound of glass smashing.

I flinch away from the door. It sounds like he’s wiped the bar clean of bottles and glasses in a fit of rage.

“Fuck,” he murmurs, quietly this time.

“We are out of time,” Griff growls, his voice escalating. “No more sitting around and watching. No more waiting for him to come out of wherever he is fucking hiding. We need to fucking strike!”