Page 107 of Downfall

“Good enough?” I say holding the bottle up.

Her lips twitch. “Champagne?”

“Just like old times.” I murmur.

She shakes her head just a little and murmurs. “This is nothing like old times.”

“And how do you figure that?” I reply, popping the cork, noticing how she jumps again at that sound. She really is scatty, on edge, but I’ll admit I like that too. She was scatty the first time we met up, the first time I touched her. It feels like we’ve done full circle. Returned right back to the beginning again and I’m about to claim my flower once more.

The bubbles threaten to spill over as I pour the contents out into the flutes.

“Neither of us really understood what we were getting into.” She says. “Back then we were both too ignorant of all of this.”

“All of what?” I ask handing her a glass.

She takes it from me but doesn’t take a sip, instead she puts it down and I see it, that flicker that tells me she’s hiding something from me.

I step back into her, all but pin her between my body and the antique wood.

“Why are you here Rose?” I ask.

She lets out a sigh before meeting my look head on. “Why did you come back? Why did you return?”

My lips curl, is she trying to find out my secrets now? I’m more than happy to spill them if that’s what it takes to reassure her, to persuade her even, that she’s safe in my hands. Darius’s words echo in my head, about how she would despise me for what I’ve become. Maybe some honesty now would prove to her that I’m not her enemy. That she can actually trust me, love me the way I know she did before.

“I’m taking this city.” I say. “That’s why I’m back. I’m reclaiming everything Darius stole from my family, and I’m making them pay.”

She doesn’t look like that’s the answer she wanted. If anything it seems to make her more conflicted but right now I don’t care. Right now she’s in my kingdom, my domain. And I’m going to show her what happens when an angel walks into the depths of hell simply to tease the devil.

I put my glass beside hers. She drops her gaze to stare at them both.

“Roman…” She half whispers.

“I always liked how you said my name.” I reply, tracing my fingers up her back. The little slip of fabric she has on is backless, giving me free rein to enjoy her exposed flesh.

“I didn’t come here to…”

I silence her with my mouth. Silence those protests with my tongue. I’m done talking. Done explaining myself. She doesn’t resist, but of course she doesn’t, because, no matter what little lies she’s told herself, she came here for me, she came here for this.

My fingers loop in the string like straps of her dress, I yank them down in unison and she gasp as she’s suddenly there, topless.

I stare at her breasts, at those perfect, fucking delicious breasts and I groan. If anything, she’s gotten more beautiful with age and though I’ve already feasted on these once, they’re so much better in the light.

My mouth is on her, devouring her. I suck on one nipple and then the other. She arches her back as her hands twist into my hair.

And then she whimpers. That desperate, needy little sound she used to make when she was hopelessly lost in her lust for me.

I dig my hands into those orbs, manipulating them as I swirl my tongue over those hardened little bullets. She can protest all she wants but her body is already telling me what she’s really seeking. What she so desperately needs.

I push her back, ignoring the sound of both glasses as they topple over and spill their contents.

“We have to stop.” She says.

But it’s a lie and we both know it.

“You’re mine Rose. You always have been.” I reply.

She shakes her head trying to sit back up. “No I’m not.”

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