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A fire that surged through us both.

Because Elena’s hips rocked forward and a gasp shot from her mouth.

“Please,” she whimpered.

I fought for restraint. For self-control. For the willpower I’d exerted for years, but right then was obliterated in the tornado that tore through her room.

“What is it, Elena? What do you need?”

The gold flecks in her hazel eyes sparked as she gazed down at me. “I want you to touch me.”

My hand trembled against her thigh. “I don’t have the right.”

“You’re the only one who does. The only one I pick. The one I choose. The one I’m begging for. Tell me you don’t want me, too, and don’t you dare lie to me.”

A tremor careened through my body. “You think I don’t want to touch you, Elena? You think I haven’t been dreaming about it for years?”

I couldn’t bring voice to when. To that night when everything had changed. When I finally saw her. When I realized she was no longer a little kid.

“So, you left me needy for all this time?” Hurt wove into the words.

“You know the oath I took.”

To the club.

To her brother.

To myself.

“But more than that, I’m no good for you.” It rumbled, my own plea for her to see reason.

Begging her to end this before we did something that we couldn’t take back.

“I think you’re the only thing that might be.”

My head shook, and my tongue stroked over my dry lips. “I’m a monster, Elena. You don’t have the first clue about the things I’ve done.”

“I think I have a pretty good idea.”

She didn’t, though.

She held a romanticized version of who we were and what we did. She didn’t understand the violence and the brutality. The gore and the vengeance.

The blood staining my hands had seeped so deep that it had transfused my soul.

One of those tainted hands was wrapped around her thigh.

“Silas doesn’t get to say who I can have my experiences with, Trevan. And I want to experience this with you. Even if it’s only once. I want you to touch me.”

“Once.” It scored the air like a brand-new oath. Or maybe it was just delivering a verdict.

One cast on me.

Because my thumb began to slowly move, gliding up and down over an inch of her skin.

A sordid caress.

Elena exhaled a tremulous sigh, eyes flaring and her lips parting when she realized I was giving in.