Page 103 of Liberated By Sin

Her voice was low, and I hung on her every breath, waiting to hear the words forming on her tongue.

“When I told you that I didn’t deserve love, I also meant that I couldn’t love anyone either.”

If my devotion to her proved I indeed had a heart, then the crushing weight of her words solidified it when I felt the jagged pieces unraveling.

“I told you once that I’ll take whatever you give and wait as long as you need.”

Another smile touched her lips. “Then it’s a good thing I want to give you everything.” My dying heart thundered, and I placed her on the bed.

“What did you just say?” I asked, climbing over her.

Amara’s warm touch on my face forced my eyes closed until she spoke again.

“I love you, Santi.” She kissed me softly, nipping at my lip. “Eu te amo.”

“Fuck,” I said, diving in, deepening the kiss and our connection. I shed my clothes, and she locked her ankles behind my back as I slid inside her. “God, I love you.”

My mouth closed over her nipple as I coaxed the sweetest fucking sounds from her lips. I couldn’t get enough of her hands in my hair and her nails in my scalp. But tonight, I wanted nothing more than to devour her, leave her in utter ruin, and do it again.

With one hand, I trapped both of her wrists and raised them tightly above her head.

I bucked into her, and she tensed. Fearing I’d been too rough, my next thrust was slower as I trailed kisses up her trembling abdomen.

Trembling.

When I focused on her face, it was as if a bucket of ice water had been thrown over my head.

“Amara?”

But she didn’t answer. Instead, she thrashed violently and screamed incoherent words.

“Amara!”

“No, no, please stop!” Her flailing intensified the tighter I tried to restrain her.

And like a flash of fucking lightning, it hit me. I released her hands and shot off the bed. Amara curled into herself and cried.

“I’m sorry,” she sobbed. “I didn’t mean to…I thought…I don’t know what I thought.”

Kneeling on the floor beside her, I dared to lift a curl from her face, and she jerked.

“No, baby, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have held you down like that. I didn’t know.”

She froze and lifted her teary gaze. In the next breath, she dove off the bed and into my arms, holding on to me so tightly it was almost painful. But I’d bear it all for her—whatever she needed. There was no greater pain she could inflict that would cause more hurt than the raw guilt of what I’d done. Just like that, I’d become one of her monsters.

“I didn’t know either,” she whispered, looking at her wrists and touching the scar. “I spent so long tied down, and when you…”

“I’m sorry,” I rasped, cradling her face.

Her tears rolled over my hands. “They ruined me.”

I wrapped her in my arms.

“Mia preziosa, I can’t erase what happened. But I’ll spend forever loving every beautiful inch of you.” Her soft cries shook her chest. “Showing you how deeply you’ve carved a home in my heart. Until their poison can no longer reach you.”

Her lips pressed against my neck, and I felt her body relax, molding against mine.

Amara wasn’t the peace I thought I craved. Her touch was rage, passion, and pain. Like the collision of two storms, her love feeds my soul and sets the ashes of my heart on fire.

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