Page 51 of Dark Consequences

“It’s sore, but nothing I can’t handle,” she answers solemnly, reminding me she has, in fact, suffered worse.

I drop my hand to my side. “I told you I’d keep you safe and—”

Lily reaches out and grasps my face between her hands, forcing me to look directly at her. “You are keeping me safe. I am safe. Right here. With you.”

I rest my forehead on hers and close my eyes. “Tell me what you want, Lily,” I practically beg her because I need to hear her say the words out loud. “Tell me what you need.”

Lily hesitantly reaches out to place her hands on my pecs. The cool of her touch against my heated skin makes me hiss, and the pleasure causes my cock to twitch. She looks at me with pleading eyes, desperation shining in her endless blue depths. “I need to feel something. Something real. I want to forget all the bad and replace it with something good.” A sinful smile graces her lips. “I need you to finish what you started in that pantry.”

Stepping back, I enjoy how her eyes lower to my partially erect cock, widening slightly at its size and thickness. Her eyes follow every hard ridge of muscle up, tracing the curves and lines of the tattoos decorating my skin. From the way her chest blushes as red as her cheeks, I know she likes what she sees.

“I need that too…but are you sure?” She nods, so I continue. “You control every second of this, Lily. You control me. Understand?”

Skating my fingers up the sides of her smooth, flawless skin, I graze over her breasts and circle her nipples, enjoying the deep moan it draws from her throat before moving down to cup her sex. Only an hour ago, my hand was buried between her folds, driving an orgasm from her before we were so rudely interrupted.

Leaning forward, I nuzzle her neck and whisper, “You’re gorgeous. Every inch of you is perfect.”

Lily pushes back, grabs my face, and captures my mouth in a languid kiss that causes goose bumps to explode along my arms before shooting down to make my cock twitch. When she feels it, Lily hums into my mouth and sashays against me like a naughty little minx.

Nipping at her bottom lip, I pull her flush against me before releasing her mouth.

“If we do this, that’s it, Lily,” I tell her, hoping she can hear the certainty in my voice. “You’re it for me. Do you understand me?”

Lily shudders in my arms before she places a chaste kiss over my heart. “Yes.”

24

Lily

Raphael cups my face between his two large hands and kisses me, the taste of water mingling with the gentleness of his kiss. Such tenderness coming from a hard man sends my heart racing and turns my breath ragged.

For so long, pleasure has escaped me, as men used me for only their satisfaction.

But Raphael isn’t like that. He wants to make me feel good. It’s almost like my pleasure is his greatest desire. And I want the same for him. Something I haven’t felt in quite some time. I want to feel the touch of someone I want. Not someone I’m forced to be with.

In the steamy warmth of the shower, my hands roam freely over his chest, tracing each tattoo and feeling his muscles jump beneath my touch.

“What does this one mean?” I ask him, transfixed by the image of an angel bursting free from flames branding a sword.

“My surname means from the angels. So it’s a tradition in our family that we’re named after angels. When Michael and I were born, our father gave us the names of God’s strongest archangels and soldiers,” Raphael explains. He brings his hand up to mine and follows the path I trace. His eyes glance down at the tattoo. “There are many interpretations of what the archangel looks like, but this is my favorite one.”

“I like it,” I reveal honestly. “And I like the tradition. The name Raphael suits you.”

“How so?”

“In Bible class, we learned Raphael was the archangel responsible for healing Earth after the fallen angels destroyed it,” I recite what I remember from those Sunday Bible classes my parents signed me up for during the summers of my youth.

Raphael’s chest shakes with laughter beneath my touch. I raise my eyes to see a small smile on his lips. “You see me as a healer?”

I shrug, suddenly feeling very self-conscious standing here naked in front of him reciting silly facts. Dropping my eyes, I mumble, “It’s just something I remember. It’s nothing really. Forget I said anything.”

Raphael reaches for my chin and guides my face to peer up at him. “It’s not nothing to me, Lily. I’m just surprised because I am the last thing from a healer.”

“But to me, you are,” I confess, the truth escaping me easily. “In your own unique way, you’ve healed me and continue to do so.”

Raphael’s eyes widen and his nostrils flare, as if my admission surprises him. I have little warning before his mouth descends on mine. The momentum pushes me backward against the tile wall, water cascading over us like a waterfall.

“You are too good for me,” he growls against my mouth between kisses.

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