Page 75 of The Demons We Hide

“You left.”

I frown. “And if I hadn’t? Would you have fucked me if I stayed?”

Nolan groans, a sound so deep and resonating that I feel it all the way to my core and he’s not eventouchingme yet. “Princess…” He finds my gaze again. “If you had stayed, I wouldn’t have been able to keep you in my bed every single fucking night andnothave touched you.”

“I’m in your bed now,” I remind him before thinking better of it. “Well, not like…right now, but I’m staying with you again.” The more I talk, the less I feel the effects of the alcohol. My back is to the ground and Nolan is above me, blocking out the sky—becomingmy sky.

“This is just liquid courage talking right now, Jules,” Nolan says, his voice dipping low as if the two of us are the only people around. We’re so close that even his whisper feels loud.

Without tearing my eyes from his, I lift my cup again and then slowly, intentionally, tip it over and dump the remaining alcohol onto the grass before tossing it away from us.

“I’m not drinking now,” I say.

My chest rises and falls as I issue that challenge. His gaze sharpens on me and he bares his teeth. Still, he doesn’t touch me.

“I’m no rapist.”

I nearly jolt at the low hiss from him. “No,” I agree. “You’re not.” My need to touch him grows heavier and heavier inside me, until it’s almost impossible to resist. His skin is smooth above the stubble on his cheek. His nose is straight and his jaw … fuck, what would it be like to bite it? To bite lower? To leave a mark on his neck for all to see.

“You’ve been drinking and I haven’t had a?—”

“I want you.” He stops talking. “I wanted you before I started drinking and I’ll want you again after.” It appears that tonight is the night for truth bombs. He goes rock still. Almost as if Nolan himself becomes a statue hovering over me. “I wanted you the night you ate my pussy like cream pie,” I admit, my legs squirming against the grass as I recall the feeling of his lips and tongue and teeth. I’d come screaming all over his mouth and I wanted to do it again.

“You’re…” His voice is pure gravel. “…killing me, Princess.”

Nolan’s breath is warm against my cheek. Just a few inches and I’ll have his lips on mine again. “Tit for tat,” I breathe the words out, a reminder of what he told me.

I never repaid the favor of having that talented mouth of his all over my cunt.

“You better be fucking sure,” he growls, leaning down until those inches become centimeters and a prayer. “You better think twice before you put your lips on mine again because if you do, that won’t be the only place they’ll go tonight.”

My eyes jerk down to the front of his jeans. Fire dances in my veins when I see the strain of his tented zipper.

“If you kiss me again, Juliet,” Nolan rumbles, drawing my attention back to his face. “I’m going to ruin you. I’m going to mold your cunt to my cock until you don’t remember what it felt like to have another man inside of you.”

My lips twist at that. “Not even Lex or Gio?”

When he smiles at my taunt, it’s a feral thing. He raises one fist from the ground and opens his palm, hovering it next to my cheek. Just close enough that I can feel the heat, but he never touches me. A whimper of need builds in my throat.

“They are me,” he whispers against my face. “I am them. Everything I do to you, they will do too. You make this choice and that’s it for you, Jules. We will own you.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.” He nods.

“Even with my demons?” I ask.

“Princess…” I close my eyes as his fingers graze my cheek. “I’ve been wanting to fuck your demons since the first day you set foot on Silverwood Public’s campus.”

Something tells me that letting Nolan face my demons is like letting a gladiator and a lion duke it out. I’m not sure who will win, but I know it’ll be a bloody fucking battle to the end.

I nuzzle against the light touch of his fingers. “I still want you,” I murmur. “I want you to make me forget…”

“No.” His fingers grip my chin, and my eyes shoot open to find his mouth farther away as he frowns down at me. “No forgetting. You don’t get to do that.”

“What?” I blink up at him, confusion swirling through me as I try to bat away the lingering effects of the alcohol.

“You want me? Fine. But don’t you fucking dare use me—use any of us—like we’re drugs. Don’t use us to hide from what you don’t want to face. You’re no coward.”

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