Page 47 of Empire of Lust
My legs are about to give out, and I’m surprised my arousal hasn’t made a puddle on the floor at our feet. That doesn’t matter so much once I let the doubts trickle in.
He hurt me once before.
He threatened me.
He’s a ticking time bomb, ready to go off.
None of those red flags seem to impact me. I want him so much it’s painful. Pitiful. My desire for him is all-consuming.
“Yes,” I finally admit. I’m ashamed, but I can’t lie to myself. I’m weak for this man.
“Have you ever been fucked?”
“Yes.”
“No. You haven’t.” The strain in his voice hints at something about to shred. The last bits of his self-control. “I doubt that boy you were with had the first idea how to fuck you properly. The way you need to be fucked. He couldn’t treat this body the way you and I both know you need it. Could he?”
I train my eyes on Lucas as he strolls up to the bar again. What did I ever see in him? What would he do if he could see me right now?
“No,” I whisper, staring at the pitiful loser in question. “He couldn’t.”
“That’s right. But I know that already.” His rough hands work the dress up over my ass, and he palms my bare cheeks. Goosebumps pebble my skin. All that matters is his touch. A chuckle fills my ears as I press my greedy bottom against him. “Fuck, Bianca. You make me crazy with need.” His fingers dig into my flesh, and I need his cock inside me like I need my next breath. “When I run my tongue through your slit, what will I find? How wet will you be for me?”
I shiver at the onslaught of images that appear in my mind. “It’s okay, you don’t have to tell me. I think I already know the answer,” he growls, his fingers sliding between my cheeks, pulling the thong aside.
There’s no time for my brain to conjure up an excuse. Despite all the confusion, I still want this more than I’ve ever wanted anything.
I am his. There’s nothing I can do about it. Right or wrong, I belong to him.
“Now,” he whispers, teasing me with featherlight strokes. “Let’s see how much wetter we can get you before I claim you once and for all.”
The air leaves my lungs, and all I think is:finally.
CALLUM
Resisting Bianca is like resisting the need to breathe. Her existence is a liability in my dark world, so no matter how desperately my body craves hers, I need to resist. I know this, but still I’m drawn to her. The invisible hold she has over me is dangerous.
Time and time again, I’ve come close to giving her the blade to cut me wide open, and I know that’s what will happen if I let this go too far. She will slice my heart open and watch as I bleed out. Only she has the power to destroy me, my life, my family—everything I’ve worked so hard to build. I already know how this is going to end. I will destroy her. I know it in my bones.
Yet what we’re doing is inevitable. Nothing could stop our collision course, no matter the barriers we put in front of each other. The second I saw her down there—chatting with her friends, flirting with another man, laughing at his jokes—the truth ceased to exist, blown away in the face of a deeper, primal truth.
I might be strong, but I’ll be damned if I let another man take her when she was born to be mine.
That was what finally broke me, what made me storm from this room and down the stairs, prepared to slaughter anyone who stood in my way. Ready to forget every reminder I’ve clung to for weeks, hoping to break my addiction to her.
I’m weak.
So fucking weak.
I can’t fight it any longer.
I’m not strong enough. Now I know that.
I refuse to let her wander the world without me, to leave her to the so-called men eager to taste what I’ve tasted and touch what I’ve touched.
No one can have her.
No one can touch her.