Page 53 of Dark Consequences
It’s strange how peaceful I feel right now, even with all the grief and misery that waits outside my bedroom door. Eventually, I will need to leave this bubble of sereneness and return to the world outside, but I have no desire to move from this bed.
Lily rests with her head on my chest, giving me the perfect angle to run my fingers through her damp blond hair. The way she nuzzles into me, practically purring like a kitten, makes me wonder when she last experienced such intimate affection. To be touched for no other reason than the need to touch her.
“How are you feeling?” I ask.
Lily shifts her head to look up at me. A shadow in her eyes makes her blues darker, like the ocean's depths. She furrows her brow. “I honestly don’t know.”
My heart picks up in growing concern. Is she second-guessing this connection between us? Worrying she may have made a mistake?
“Is it wrong to feel happy?” she asks. “After…what happened to Dominic?”
She’s seeking affirmation of her feelings, and I cannot disagree with her. Maybe that makes me a terrible cousin for agreeing when a man I’ve known all my life was brutally tortured and killed a mere few hours ago. But being here together will not change the past, so why not enjoy this moment?
“It’s okay to be happy, Lily,” I tell her, my fingers tracing her face. “This life is dangerous and deadly. We never know when our last day could be. So I try to focus on the things that remind me I’m alive and make me feel happy. They give me something to fight for.”
“Mei has been my happiness. The thing I fight for,” she admits with a small smile. “I think if she hadn’t been born, I would have died long ago. I’m certain of it, actually.”
I shift in bed, needing to face her better. She slips off my chest and gathers the sheet to her naked chest when she turns to face me. I’m tempted to pull the sheet away and burn the damn thing, but then her gorgeous breasts will be on display, there to distract me.
“Don’t say such things.”
Lily drops her eyes. “It’s the truth, though, Raphael. I considered ending it all dozens of times, but when Mei came along, I couldn’t stand the idea of leaving her alone with that man, her father, and in that dark world. A world he could sell her into if he really wanted to in a heartbeat.”
“My world is just as dark,” I remind her.
She shakes her head. “I thought so too, but it’s not. There are several shades of gray after all.”
I lean forward and kiss her. When I cup her face, she winces and hisses against my lips. I pull away and study the slight discoloration forming on her cheek and her swollen lip, only aggravated more by our activities. “I’m sorry again for my uncle.”
“He had just lost his son, Raphael. I’m not justifying what he did, but as a parent, I can understand the pain he’s feeling.”
“Still, I’ll make sure he apologizes when he returns.”
“It’s unnecessary, but I appreciate the offer.”
I reach out and slide a hand along her side toward her back, gathering her to my chest. She squeals in the most adorable way, gifting me with a brilliant smile that I will never grow tired of seeing. Her core brushes against my cock, and I push back, earning a deep moan from Lily. One thrust and I’d slip inside.
“When did you get an IUD?” I ask.
“The doctor who delivered Mei. I begged her to put one in. They’re good for about five years.”
I hate to imagine what she would have done after those five years. I don’t want to consider it or even ask her. Because the what-ifs mean nothing now. She will never be in a position to need them.
“Would you ever want more children?”
Lily studies my face quizzically. “I never considered it because of Xiao.”
“And now?”
She blushes, seeming to have caught on to my true intention. “I could be persuaded.”
With a smile, I cup the back of her head and kiss her deeply until I leave her breathless. Now’s not the time with Xiao still out there, a threat to us both, but afterward? I intend to be very persuasive.
Lily rocks against my cock and looks at me with fuck-me eyes, shrouded in lust.
“Ride me, Lily,” I encourage her, thrusting my hips up, desperate to feel her slick heat surround my cock. “Do it. Take your pleasure.”
Balancing one hand on my chest, she slides the other between our bodies, grips my cock, and lines it up to her entrance. Her beautiful eyes never leave mine as she sinks down slowly, only closing them when I’m fully seated inside her.