Page 112 of Brutal Knight

“That’s right. More,” he growls, his tone hungry and commanding.

He keeps stroking my clit with his tongue, his fingers pumping in and out of me, and I realize in a rush that his fingers are getting soaked. Something wet and hot gushes from me, and Connor finally abandons my clit to do just what he promised he would, drinking it up as I shudder helplessly in the chair.

I don’t know how long it takes for the waves of the orgasm to finally slow and then stop, but by the time they do, I’m so out of breath that I have to work to get oxygen in my lungs.

Connor looks up at me, satisfaction gleaming in his eyes as he uses one hand to wipe the wetness away from his chin.

“You’re fucking incredible. Did you like that?”

I nod, unable to summon the words to speak yet.

Rising up, he presses a kiss to my mouth, and I can taste my own unique flavor and the wetness on his lips and tongue. I fist his shirt, dragging him closer as I plunge my tongue into his mouth, suddenly ravenous for more of that taste—more of the evidence of what he does to me, what he awakens in me.

What he proves to me I’m still capable of.

Connor lets me kiss him for as long as I want, and when we finally separate, he scoops me up into his arms, cradling me against his chest as he turns and strides out of the room, carrying me toward the stairs.

“Tomorrow, we’ve got business to do,” he says, his voice rumbling in his chest. “And I know you’ll be amazing. But tonight, I don’t want to think about any of that. I just want to fuck my wife.”

I smile, butterflies flapping in my stomach and my clit throbbing with the aftershocks of the intense orgasm as I wrap my arms around his neck.

“And I want to fuck my husband.”

* * *

As I stand in front of the mirror in the empty bedroom the next day, all I can think about is how scared I am to make one wrong move, say one wrong thing.

The woman in front of me is the only thing that stops me from hiding in my house and never coming out again.

The woman I see in the mirror isn’t the one I’ve known for years. She’s not the little girl that cowered under her father, silently screamed for help when his men hurt her. She’s not even the young woman that was sold off to a mafia boss and abused every day after that.

She’s not the addict that Connor found on the street, the one that betrayed his family out of fear for her life.

She’s something else.

I’m stronger now. I’m clean, my entire mind present. I’m healthy. I have things in my life now that are my own. Before, I was a possession to others. Now I’m my own person, standing straight and tall.

Connor gives me strength. I trust him and I love him, and I want to prove to him that I’m ready for this next step.

He told me a week ago that I would be attending my first Assembly meeting. I was terrified but ecstatic, wary but giddy with excitement.

I never could have done this with Dmitri still alive. I never could have come into the power I have with my father still trying to get me back.

In the time since they’ve both been gone, I’ve cemented my place as head of the Raven Syndicate. I’ve done my work, gone through papers, organized everything. I’ve worked long nights getting shit together. It’s the way it is now because of me.

I’ve learned how to be calculating, how to be smart. I learned a long time ago, really. I learned by watching my father and Dmitri. I learned by finding Connor and seeing the differences. Now that I have the Ravens, I know exactly how to handle them.

I want to show every member of the Assembly that the woman they ignored, the woman they let be abused and thrown around, is the woman they’ll have to let into their circle.

Even though I’m nervous, I won’t let the fear control me.

So I get dressed and meet my husband downstairs, where he leads me out to the car.

He’s quiet when we first get in. Then he pulls away from the house and glances over at me.

“You ready?”

I look out the window at the passing trees and take a slow breath. “I think so. I’m scared, but I’m doing this. I don’t know how it’ll end. I just know that I won’t back down.”

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