Page 131 of Desperate Crimes
Thelovehe claims to feel but still can’t say.
His eyes, burning blue, lock on mine like they never left.
“Don’t walk away from me, Wife,” he growls, voice dark silk laced with fury.
Before I can answer, his hand cups the back of my neck—hot, firm, commanding—and he bendsme toward him, crashing his mouth onto mine.
There’s no preamble.
No soft brushing of lips.
Just raw, punishing possession.
“You don’teverget to walk away,” he snarls against my mouth.“Not fromme.Not when youbelongto me.”
Then his hands are on the neck of my gown—the one he loved on me just hours ago, the one he had made for me—and with a violent rip, the fabrictears.
I gasp as the midnight blue splits and falls, slipping from my body like ruined petals from a rose, leaving me bare and breathless.
Stunned.
My chest heaves.My thighs press together in desperate reflex.
I should be mad.Should scream.
But instead, I’msoaked.
Because this is him.
This is my dark god, my unhinged husband, the man who watches me from security monitors like I’m the Mona Lisa and he’s the only man alive who understands the masterpiece.
“You can’t do this,” I whisper, voice cracking.
“Yes, I can,” he breathes against my jaw.“Because youneedme to.You’re mine, Leanna.And I’ll remind youexactlywhat that means.”
His mouth crashes down my throat, sucking hard where his teeth had once left marks no one could see.
His hands are everywhere—rough, hungry,claiming—like he’s trying to memorize my body all over again before he leaves in the morning.
“Tell me you want this.You want me.”
“I want my Nico.This feels like my husband,” I gasp, arching into him.“But you’releaving.”
He lifts me easily, cradling me with the reverence of a sinner holding his only salvation.
“Stop thinking, Wife,” he commands, laying me down onto the cold sheets.“Justfeel.”
His mouth replaces his hands.
His tongue flicks the tip of my breast, and I moan—loud and broken.
“You said you wanted time,” he growls, dragging his belt from his slacks with one sharp pull, the sound of leather slicing the air.
“But I gave you the ride here.That’s all I can survive.Now you’re mine again.Tell me.”
The soft leather winds around my wrists like a lover’s promise—tight, but gentle.
A caress with teeth.
