Page 25 of The Devil's Wrath

But I’ve never claimed to be the better man.

Instead, I stood outside the door and listened to the muffled sounds coming from inside—the creaking of bedsprings, soft moans, the rustling of sheets. My hands clenched into fists at my sides as I imagined what that punk ass was doing to her, taking advantage of her intoxicated state.

She may not have remembered me, but I remembered her. The blood on her mother’s pale face, her eyes closed forever. Her father’s neck twisted at a grotesque angle. I remembered pulling her broken body from the wreckage that night, the way she’d clung to me, and the haunted look in her stormy gray eyes. Something had shifted inside me long ago—a primal need to protect her, to own her, to make her mine.

I slipped through the door quietly, unseen. The room was dark, barely illuminated by a lava lamp in the corner that cast shadows across the walls. Wrenly was splayed out on the bed, her dress hiked up around her waist, exposing her lacy black panties. Jake was on top of her, kissing and groping her sloppily as she lay there passively, her eyes glazed over. He fumbled with his zipper, too drunk and eager to undress properly.

Rage consumed me at the sight of his filthy hands on her perfect porcelain skin. Without a second thought, I grabbed him by the back of the shirt collar and ripped him off her, throwing him to the floor with a satisfying thud.

“What the fuck, man?” Jake slurred, struggling to sit up. His eyes widened in recognition and fear when he saw me looming over him.

I didn’t give him a chance to say another word. My fist connected with his jaw with a sickening crack. He collapsed back onto the floor, spitting blood and teeth. I pounded into him mercilessly, unleashing all my pent-up fury. He had dared to touch her, defile her. She was mine. Only I could have her.

Wrenly sat up on the bed, startled and disoriented by the commotion. “Theo? What . . . what are you doing here?” Her words were slurred as she squinted to get a better look at what was going on.

I ignored her question as I continued to rain blows down on Jake’s face, now a bloody, unrecognizable mess. He had long since stopped fighting back, rendered unconscious by my brutal assault.

Her small, trembling hand touched my shoulder. “Theo, stop. You’re going to kill him.”

Her voice penetrated the haze of rage, and I ceased my attack, my chest heaving with exertion. I stood slowly, looming over Jake’s prone body.

“He deserves worse for touching you,” I growled, wiping the blood from my split knuckles onto my jeans.

She looked at me with wide, frightened eyes, pupils dilated from the alcohol and whatever else she had taken. “What are you talking about? Why are you even here?”

I turned to face her fully, drinking in the sight of her disheveled appearance—dress bunched up, hair mussed, lipstick smeared. Even in this state, she was fucking breathtaking.

“To protect you.”

“I don’t need your protection. I’m a big girl, Theo. I can take care of myself.” She swayed slightly on her feet.

I stepped closer to her, my eyes never leaving hers. “Can you? Because from where I’m standing, it looks like you were about to let that piece of shit take advantage of you.”

She glared at me defiantly. “Take advantage of me? That may be your perception, but I am fully capable of deciding what I want to do with my body. What I do and who I do it with is none of your damn business. You’re not my keeper.”

She brushed past me, stumbling slightly on her heels as she made her way to the door. I caught her arm, stopping her in her tracks.

She whirled around to face me, yanking her arm from my grasp. “You had no right to barge in here like some jealous Neanderthal and beat Jake to a pulp. You turned me down, remember? You didn’t want me. You made that abundantly clear.”

I pulled her close. “I never said I didn’t want you. I said I didn’t want to taint you. There’s a difference.”

Her eyes flashed with anger. “Oh, so you were just looking out for my best interests, is that it? How noble of you.”

“Damn right, I was. And I’m looking out for them now too. You’re drunk and high off god knows what. You’re in no state to be making decisions about who you go to bed with.”

There was fire in her eyes even through the haze of intoxication as she laughed bitterly. “So now you’re the moral authority on who I fuck? That’s rich coming from you.”

Her words cut deep, striking at the heart of my hypocrisy. She wasright. Who was I to pass judgment when my own hands were so filthy with sin?

I held her gaze, my jaw clenching. “You have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Well, I guess that makes two of us, then.”

As if to prove her point, she turned on her heel and unsteadily marched for the door again. I moved to block her path.

“I’m taking you home.”

“The fuck you are. I’m not going anywhere with you.”

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