Page 29 of Sweet Violence
I gave him a dirty look, but since that was where I wanted to be anyway, I obeyed.
"I’ll have a meal sent up to you," he said, not giving me room to argue. As if I’d ever turn down free food.
As I trudged up the stairs to my suite, I wasn't sure what I felt. Too many emotions tangled in my chest, irritating in their intensity. I wasn't used to feeling anything except violence, hunger, irritation, and lust.9It threw off my whole equilibrium.
What I really needed was a good sleep, and then to kill someone. That always cheered me up.
9
Ididn't get to sleep for long, because someone thought it was a good idea to creep up the stairs into my room.ButI might get to kill someone, so things were looking up. And I'd gorged on enchiladas and scrubbed all the sand and grit off my body, which was near-euphoric.1
I kept my body relaxed in bed, reaching under my pillow for the knife I hid there before I laid down. It could have been X or Joseph. It was probably Joseph, come to snuggle. I hoped that awkwardness was gone between us, but as long as he wrapped me up in his big, possessive arms, I didn't care. We could fix the rest later.
But just in case it was one of Dev's and Taj's enemies, I kept my breathing even and listened to the intruder creeping closer. They were big judging by their tread, even trying to be quiet. Normally, I'd say male but with demon forms in play, it was hard to judge.
I waited for them to approach the bed and wasn't disappointed. My fingers tightened on my knife even as I kept my expression slack.
When a rough hand grabbed my warm, comfy duvet and ripped it off me, I took advantage of the movement and jumped up off the mattress, bringing my knife down—
A clawed, bronze hand snapped out and grabbed my wrist, halting the sharp tip inches from Taj's heart.
"You," I breathed in surprise.
He didn't say anything. He just squeezed my wrist until pain flashed up my arm and down into my hand, and no matter how stubbornly I tried to hold onto the dagger, it fell from my grip. Taj shoved it to the floor, his beautiful face set in murderous fury as he threw me onto the mattress.
I expected him to tear off my silk PJs, wrench my legs apart, and thrust into me in one torturous thrust, but instead his tall body pressed mine into the mattress and he kissed me. Hard.
I groaned a sound that was almost a curse, my whole body melting into need and heat.2
Taj kissed me like he was dying of thirst, and I was a sexy glass of piña colada. Like his life depended on it. There were no rough battles for dominance, no growling, no snarls, just pure desperation.
He didn't say a word, so I didn't either, afraid to break the spell. Was there a tiny chance the devil had been right, and Taj missed me? Had he been as freaked out when I went missing as the rest of my mates?
He shuddered, his fingers pressing into my hips, pinning me under him as he kissed me in a gasping rush. I hesitated a moment before snaking my arms around his bare waist and pulling him flush against me. He didn't resist, didn't even snarl; he angled his head and kissed me deeper, until we were both breathless.
It was me who widened my thighs and urged him closer, not Taj, and my head spun with a combination of surprise and blazing need. My pyjama pants came off easily, as did my lace underwear, and between the two of us we got his dark jeans off, hands knocking together, the fire in each touch ratcheting my need higher.
This was a million miles from him throwing me into the wall in my home in Orchid Vale and screwing the life out of me. All the threats, the growls, the stinging lines he'd cut into my skin … that was nowhere to be seen. There was only him, beautiful and bare, his smooth skin interrupted by thin scars on his stomach and thighs—details he hadn't let me see last time.
I could hardly stand to look at his eyes, the rich brown practically black with an endless well of emotion. Was this a parallel world? Because Taj surged over my naked body, claiming my mouth with gasping desperation, goosebumps crawling across his body wherever my hands brushed.
When the tip of his cock stroked through wetness to my entrance, I lifted my hips off the bed to help guide him inside. Jesus fuck, I'd forgotten he was big even in this form, hitting deep enough to scramble my mind. But I hadn't forgotten those piercings for a damn second.
A deep shudder shook me on Taj's cock when those silver beads grazed my inner walls, euphoria exploding through me. But it was Taj bowing over me with a soft groan, a bead of sweat rolling down his nose, that almost wrecked me.
You're supposed to hate me,I wanted to snarl.What the hell is this?
Where was the cruelty, the insults, the ruthlessness?
Taj was supposed to be the bastard of the circle, not … notthis.He was supposed to be the least dangerous for me, just casual, meaningless sex, but with every stroke of him inside me, with his hands clutching me to him and his breathing shattered, it became muchlessfucking casual.
I was in danger of giving a shit about this asshole.
When his piercings dragged over a spot near my entrance and my muscles clamped around him, Taj hissed, his chest jumping. He looked ruined, utterly wrecked by whatever emotion lived in his dark eyes. And like the complete sap-in-denial I was, I bound my arms around his feverish body, palms flat to his arched back, and rolled my hips up into him.
When I wrapped my legs around him, enveloping him in my entire body, Taj shuddered hard, near-black eyes meeting mine—and holding.
He could have looked away, could have broken the stare. I remembered his snarled commands to face the wall, to notdarelook at him, his threats to kill me if I even attempted eye contact. Yet here he was, holding my stare with fathomless eyes, not looking away even when a clang went through my chest, a blaze of heat and fierce, unwavering loyalty lashing through my chest and carving out a space for itself.
