Page 132 of Like A Moth To A Flame

The dark part of me, the part that I couldn’t keep contained, had scared her and hurt her in a way that I never could. The dark part that I tried so hard to swallow back, but it stuck in my throat like a spiked ball that tore at my esophagus and threatened to spill back into the waking world.

That part of me would never go away. I just had to learn to live with him.

I thought back to the words she’d said to me, the ones she spat in disgust when she’d left me rotting in that cage like the animal I was.

“I would’ve fucked you, anyway.”

My lips split in a grin as I stared at her, watching the way her flesh rose in goosebumps when I ran my fingertips across her shoulder and up to the soft, supple skin of her throat.

Would she have?

I had no way of knowing now.

Maybe she would have, after yesterday.

“Put a baby in me, Tommy. Give me a reason to stay.”

She would have. There was no doubt now. Maybe I wasn’t the only one who was a little fucked up.

I let my eyes roam down her body, down past the freckles on her chest, and the scars on her wrists. I let my sick thoughts roam over the soft swell of her stomach—both perfectly taut and somehow soft enough that I wanted to sink my fingers inside and rip out every little demon that hurt her.

I imagined the way she’d swell when she was carrying my baby and the way her hips would spread and her perfect skin would be marked with stripes like a maternal tiger.

She wanted it. She’d told me herself she wanted it.

She’d begged me to breed her.

Just thinking about it, I was hard and leaking across the fabric of my boxers, straining and desperate to be free. I was so caught up in the thought that I didn’t see her eyes flutter open, beautiful blue worlds that stared at me as I studied her.

“See something you like?” she asked, reaching up to rub at her eyes as she sucked in a deep breath, rolling onto her back as she watched me.

Still, even now that I had her, the sound of her voice was like soaring, and I felt the darkness fall away from me, leaving me with her presence.

I still couldn’t believe she was here.

“Yes,” I said simply, not fighting the smile that lifted onto my lips. “Everything.”

“I can see that,” she said, one eyebrow cocked as she looked down between us, staring at the heat that had risen between my legs.

“Sorry,” I said, still grinning. She nuzzled into my chest, forcing herself into my skin in a way that left me breathless and aching.

“Why sorry?” she asked, looking up at me through long, dark lashes. They were like the veil between life and death. It was fitting, really. Her eyes gave me life, and I felt like I’d die every time she looked away from me.

I shrugged. I didn’t even know what to say.

I couldn’t look away from her.

“Looking at you makes me crazy,” I groaned, reaching between us to press the palm of my hand against my needy dick.

Fuck, why wouldn’t it go away?

Why did I have to act like an animal and not—

My brain turned off when I felt her fingers wrapping around mine, slowly pulling my hand off of my dick.

“And if I didn’t like that, I wouldn’t be begging for it, now would I?”

Her voice was a soft, gentle purr that only raised my desire to new heights, and I sighed, grinding my teeth together.

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