Page 45 of The Villain

The catch of her breath was like a jumpstart on my heart, and the way she turned her face into my hand was the kind of thing that would’ve brought me to my knees if I wasn’t already on the ground.

And then, something even worse happened. Something I hadn’t expected—something I never should’ve been close enough to make possible.

Her soft lips pressed to the edge of my rough palm in an unmistakable kiss, and my cock jolted against my jeans.

“Athena…” I couldn’t hold back my groan, unable to fucking see straight with how hard I was.It couldn’t be normal. It definitely didn’t feel survivable. I angled slightly and stretched one leg out, barely able to breathe again as my dick throbbed along the side of my thigh.

Fuck.This couldn’t happen.Shecouldn’t happen. I turned to pull my hand away, but she grabbed my wrist, stopping me with the trail of her touch up my arm. My shoulder. Finally, to the side of my face.

I was worse than a fool—worse than an asshole. I was a villain for the way I let myself want her…and the way I let her continue to want me without knowing the truth.

“How did you get this scar?” The pad of her thumb carefully traced the newly raised flesh.

I shivered, her touch inflicting a new kind of wound on my skin. Invisible. Immovable. Indefinite.

“Capturing a man who worked for Ivans, who hurt a friend of ours.” My voice cracked when she reached the intersection of the scar with my lip. “He liked knives.”

“I’m sorry.”

Was she sorry his knife found my face? Or was she apologizing because her touch had now migrated onto my lips?

“Don’t be,” I murmured for either scenario, watching unabashed desire darken her eyes.

It was…breathtaking, the freedom of her expressions when she couldn’t see anyone else’s reaction—when she couldn’t judge herself or worry what others might think. And it was heart-stopping to feel her touch.

I inhaled and closed my eyes, savoring the warm press of her fingers in the way she felt mine.

Later, I could pretend this would feel the same if it were any woman. That I was coming out of my skin for the sole reason that I hadn’t let any woman touch me in years. But it was only another layer of lies to hide the truth behind:no other woman’s touch would ever make me feel this way.

Even Amira. Even with the way I’d wanted her and cared for her—even with the way war and danger had intensified those feelings to the point of folly—it still didn’t compare to the heat of Athena’s touch. The way it was so hot, it seemed to cauterize wounds I thought would bleed forever.

My eyes went wide, and I grabbed her wrist. “I should go.”

She sat forward, moving onto her knees. Her next inhale teased the pink edge of her nipples, and I realized I was being tortured.

“Why?”

My jaw locked so tightly, the tension rippled onto my skull. “It’s not…right.”

In fact, it was every definition of wrong.

“Right?” Her breathless laugh killed me. “Everyrightman has turned out to be wrong for me. Maybe I need to try a wrong one for once.”

“I can’t…”And I needed her to not let me.“Not with you here. Like this.”

Her brow creased, pain lancing her gaze. “Like what? Blind?”

I hissed.“Jesus—no, that’s not what I meant.” Words, reasons, logic—she was twisting them all. “I mean, you’re vulnerable?—”

“Aren’t we all?”

“Athena…”

“I’m blind, not incapacitated. Just because I can’t see doesn’t mean I can’t think or know what I want.” Her hold tightened on my face, her thumb positioned right under my lips, and I couldn’t tell which one of us she was pulling closer.

No.

This shouldn’t happen.

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