Page 6 of The Villain

I didn’t realize I’d moved to the side of the bed until my legs pressed against the edge.

She didn’t move, lying just as lifeless as when we’d arrived. The monitors beeped, an incessant—necessary—reminder that she wasn’t lifeless.Stablewas the work Rorik used.What the fuck was stable when she wasn’t waking up?

I gripped the bed rail like I could channel my frustration through it to the floor.Even though I was safe—even though she was safe—the drum of my heart wouldn’t let up.

Wake up,I willed like I had the power to make it happen. I didn’t. I was powerless to help her, and for some reason, the thought gutted me.

Someone had tried to kill her. It wasn’t enough for her to be caught up with a criminal, but now her life was on the line, too.And I hadn’t been able to protect her from either.

“Wake up, Athena,” I murmured under my breath, letting my eyes roam over her. This was the first moment I’d had to look at her—the first moment I felt safe enough to let myself really look at her since the blast.

God, to see her again…It had been sixteen—almost seventeen—years since the last time. But while I was tattooed with ink, scars, and trauma, Athena Holman looked just as she did when she was eighteen. All soft sunlight and warm curves. Even banged up, bruised, and covered in dirt and ash, she was still the most beautiful woman I’d never seen. An angel.

And an angel shouldn’t be this dirty.

I turned and went to the sink on the other side of the room, grabbing a fistful of paper towels and wetting one end. Returning to her side, I didn’t think twice about what I was about to do until it was too late—and I was wiping her face clean.

Maybe I should’ve had Rorik take a look at my head, too. No sane man would knowingly open Pandora’s box and reach right in.

Pain and pleasure wove like vines through my DNA, sending everything from my blood to my bones into a kind of electric frenzy I couldn’t control.

I cleaned the stretch of her forehead, careful to avoid where Rorik had already taped over two nasty gashes. Then there was the soft crest of her brow and the slender bridge of her nose.

“Dammit.” The word came out under my breath, my hand shaking as I tried to gently dislodge some ash from her eyelashes.

I wasn’t even touching her skin, and my body felt like it was coming out of itself for more.

I gritted my teeth and wiped the gentle slope of her cheeks, my throat tightening at how pale they were underneath the soot. There was more tape on the bottom of her chin where it had slammed into the ground, and I carefully cleaned around it as though I could wipe away everything. Every hurt. Every injury. The whole incident—including me.

“You’re going to be okay, Angel,” I murmured roughly, the slow stroke of my finger pausing when it got close to her mouth.

I shouldn’t.My mouth went dry, but I couldn’t pull away.Fuck.It had been so long since I touched a woman. Even this—thisnot touching—had me about to come out of my skin.

I started at the corners, tracing the edge of her pink lips like there was still time for her to wake up and stop me. The beepsof the monitors droned louder in my ears, like the ticking of a bomb set to explode. My finger traced the perfect arch of her top lip, and I stopped breathing.

She didn’t deserve this. Athena Holman had been the kind of girl to put wildflowers in her hair and dance in the rain and make up her own constellations. She’d exuded light and love in spite of the loss life had thrown at her. She didn’t deserve to be tangled up with Ivans—or me.

Wake up and hate me.

Her lips parted, and my pulse raced, hungry for something I couldn’t have.

Wake up and curse me.

My body thrummed, feeling a thousand things—everythingI shouldn’t.

Wake up and tell me you never want to see me again.

A ragged groan broke from my chest. She deserved so much better than this after everything she’d been through?—

The door swung open, and my hand fell to my side as I turned.

“Harm.” I exhaled and met my brother’s frenzied stare.

He’d been the second call I’d made on the furious drive here. I’d hardly given my brother a chance to speak before telling him there was a situation and to meet me here ASAP.

“You alright?” He let the door close and took a step toward me.

I turned, shielding Athena from his view. There were things I needed to tell him first—things I needed to explain. “Fine?—”

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