Page 43 of One of Them

My thumb hovered near her lips, tracing their curve and fullness like a siren’s song, luring me to ruin them for all others. But I stopped myself.Not yet.

“It’s this whisper of death you carry around with you,” I said, desperate to read her reaction. “I’m yet to see the signs.”

Her tongue darted out, encircling my thumb in a wet motion, sending blood rushing straight to my dick. Her nipples visibly tightened beneath the thin fabric, the material revealing just enough, but not entirely.

Unable to resist, I pushed my finger into her mouth. Taya grunted in approval. Heavy-lidded, she made a few more circular motions before taking my thumb deeper, sucking on it as if her life depended on it. An image I’d never be able to erase formed in my mind, but before it fully registered, she bit me. Hard and unforgiving.

I’ve never been this turned on.

Droplets of blood welled from the marks she left behind, coating her lips in crimson. The same color that seemed to follow us around.

Her eyes blazed with fire. “If it’s a demonstration you desire, I’ll gladly be your last vision.”

I didn’t hide the desire I felt, handling her with the same roughness. My fingers gripped her cheeks, squeezing hard, while my thumb wiped away the evidence, the imprint still on her lips.

“And what a vision you would be,” I rasped, content with the thought of her as my reaper, my soul collector.

She leaned against the fridge door, her palm resting on my chest, as if unsure whether she was trying to push me away or pull me in.

“I like to think it’ll take more than that to get me,” I finally replied, not letting her out of sight.

Taya’s breath was controlled, her hands steady, but warm against my chest, almost as if she had this ability to deceive even the most observant.

The pulse in her neck was the only sign of life within her. I reached behind her head, grabbing a can of soda from the fridge, and slid the coldmetal down her arm, holding it between us. A hiss left her before she refocused on my words, diverting my attention from her reaction.

“Those before you thought the same.”

“I’m sure those after me will, too.”

“Men never learn, do they?”

I furrowed my brows in disapproval, calling her out. “A bit generic, don’t you think?”

“No one proved me otherwise.”

Of course not. Not if you spent time with men like Malek or Ilya.

“You don’t think of yourself as the goddess?” I taunted, imagining the numbers, her hits that crowned her the champion within the ranks. “The one surrounded by men who run this mess we call our world? The one nothing ever happens to?”

Her face fell, something far too dark taking over her. As soon as the words left me, I realized there were better things I could’ve said. But, as usual, this damn mouth wasn’t connected to my brain.

“All the bad things already happened a long time ago,” she murmured, her gaze on the ground.

The cold from the fridge wasn’t the only freeze I experienced when Taya slipped out of my hold.

Free from the room’s tension, I walked back to the pool. In the few seconds it took, I cleared my mind with a deep breath.

This wasn’t the right time or place. Still, Maxim’s last words left a bitter taste, forcing me to realize the battles within me were far from over.

Enzo was still sprawled on the sun bed when I reclaimed my spot beside him. The empty wine glass stared back at me from the side table. I topped it off, well above the acceptable line. There wasn’t much I knew about wine, aside from how to drink it. Luckily, Enzo was an expert, and his choices seemed to please everyone, myself included.

Given the product’s quality, I planned on spending the day savoring every drop. Maybe a swim and a walk on the beach, my plans wereshaping up.

Taking in the surroundings, I spotted Alisa still calmly swimming underwater.

“He got to you,” Enzo interrupted.

Playing dumb, I asked, “Who are you talking about?”

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