Dan scoffs and corrects me, “By the end of the night.”

“Yeah whatever, fuckers. Get in the car before I accidentally smash your head off the car on the way in.”

I twist in my binds. “What’s your name?”

The agent grins. “Michael.”

“Well, Michael, I hope you don’t mind shitting out teeth because you’re about to eat them.”

Michael laughs, a glimmer in his eyes. Dan starts up again when another agent leads him into the back of a cop car. His rant is cut off by the slam of the door.

“Get in the goddamn car, Z. I am hungry, but it’s not for my teeth.”

Chuckling, I comply.

Chapter 40

The Shadow

I don’t remember ever being a needy child. Growing up, I had a great relationship with my parents. My mother was incredibly loving, and my father was supportive and very involved in my life.

But I was always a naturally independent person. Determined to do things on my own without help. And because my parents showered me with love and attention, it wasn’t something I sought out.

I can’t say that anymore.

Addie’s mouth is wide open, drool steadily leaking from her mouth. She’s snoring softly, and I don’t think I’ve gotten the chance to tease her about that yet. She’s going to get angry, and I smile just thinking about it.

Despite her disheveled state, my cock is incredibly hard. The witch went to bed in nothing but a white, silky set, and the second I slowly drew back the covers, I nearly went to my knees.

Did my little mouse wear that just for me?

Reaching out, I trace a finger up her thigh, enjoying the sight of her skin puckering. She shifts, moaning softly at the disturbance in her sleep.

How would she feel waking up with my cock inside her?

She shifts again when I finger the strap of her underwear. Normally, she wakes up fairly easily. And despite Addie giving in to me, I’m not foolish enough to believe I don’t set her on edge still.

Which means she had a few drinks.

Grinning, I toe off my shoes and slide out of the suffocating suit I’ve been wearing all night.

After we got to the station, they hauled Dan off to a separate room and let me go. I came straight here, my body strung tight with the need to bury myself inside my little mouse.

Completely naked, I slide into the bed next to Addie, curling her body into mine.

Her eyes flutter, and I watch as she regains consciousness. When her eyes slide up to my face, they widen ever so slightly.

I could’ve tried to fuck her while asleep, but I decide to hold off on that until Addie admits her love for me and freely accepts mine. Until I can fuck her without a fight, though I think some part of Addie will always fight me.

Although I’ve taken advantage of Addie on several occasions, at least her being awake and coherent allowed me to watch her body’s reactions. Doesn’t make it right. But her body has always wept for me.

And if it ever didn’t, I wouldn’t have touched her until it did.

“Why are you in my bed staring at me like a creep?” she asks, her voice groggy with sleep.

I chuckle. “I thought it’d been established that I’m a creep already?”

“It has, and yet you still keep doing it.”

“Would you like me to stop?” I query, sliding my hands down her backside. She sucks in a sharp breath, appearing much more awake and alert as I grip her plump ass in my palms.

“No,” she admits quietly. She looks so tiny and vulnerable admitting it, so I stay quiet.

She trails her finger across the tattoos on my chest, her eyes averted firmly away from mine.

"Do these mean anything?" she murmurs, seeming as if she’s concentrating hard on the design.

"No," I answer. "I have them because I like them. I prefer to keep anything of significance as a possession."

Frowning, she peers up at me through long lashes. "Why? I would think your body would be the one place you would have anything meaningful. You carry it around everywhere you go."

I lift a shoulder. "My body is just a vessel that my soul inhabits, attached to a shell that it'll one day leave. And when that day comes, I won’t care to let that shell go. I carry my body around because I have to, not because it's a choice. But when I possess something meaningful, I’m choosing to hold on to it. Carrying something meaningful in my skin is effortless but holding onto something that I could lose—that takes devotion."

She drops her eyes back down, seeming to contemplate my words. I curl my finger under her chin, wanting—no needing, her eyes back. They suck the oxygen from my lungs, and I’ve always loved to toe the line between life and death.

Those pretty brown eyes fasten on mine, big and round, and all I want to do is consume her.

“I will always possess you, little mouse. So, know that you have all of my devotion to keeping you.”

“Why does it always sound like a threat?” she wonders aloud, though a small smile tips the corner of her lips.

I grin. “Because it is.”

I roll to my back, bringing her with me so she’s sprawled out on my chest.

“Zade,” she warns, but her words contrast against her actions. She shifts her legs, so she’s straddling me, her center lined up on my cock. I can feel how hot and wet she is through the silk of her underwear.

Gritting my teeth, I ball my hands into fists, fighting the instinct to rip the sorry excuse for panties to shreds so that I can feel how ready she is to take me inside her.

“Adeline,” I echo.

Her light brown eyes are shaded, but I can feel the effect all the same. She’s leaning just above me, her soft body molded to mine. I swear I can feel the tension lining her hips as she resists the need to grind her pussy on me.

“What?” she whispers, feigning ignorance.

“Sit on my cock. Now.”

Her breathing hitches, and with her breasts pressed tightly against mine, I can’t tell if the rapid pulsing in my chest is from her heart or mine.

The internal struggle in her head is loud, and indecision radiates from her.

Eventually, she sits up, her body cutting through the strands of moonlight shining through the balcony doors.

And I crumble.

Her curvy body is cascaded in both shadows and light, the two forbidden lovers clashing on her skin and creating a fucking masterpiece.

Her beauty is blinding, turning my body into ash beneath her light.

She drags her hand down her flat stomach until her fingertips tease the edges of her underwear.

“Addie,” I snarl through clenched teeth. My hands slide up her thighs, pausing at the juncture where they meet her hips. I’m a weak man, and I don’t possess the strength to deny the need to touch her.

“Yes, Zade?” she asks, her husky voice low and breathy. My hips jerk impatiently in response. She smiles, the act wicked and cruel.

Finally, she lifts up and slides her underwear to the side, baring her pussy. I lift my hips again, desperate for contact, but she evades me, hovering just out of reach.

“You have five fucking sec—”

“Shh, baby.” I’m so thrown by her calling me ‘baby’ that my threat vanishes, as if my voice were a ghost teasing the corner of your eye.

Her smile widens at my incredulous look, but I’m only confused why she thought calling me baby would calm me down.

Now all I want to do is flip her on her knees, pin that pretty face into the sheets, and fuck her until her head is coming out the underside of the bed.

Before I can make good on it, she finally drops her hips. I groan at the feeling of my cock being enveloped by slick heat as she glides up and down my length. My head kicks back, and my hands tighten on her hips. Bruises will mar her skin and the thought only enrages the beast more.

“Fuck, Add—”

I have no time to even finish my prayer before the tip of my cock is slipping inside, and I’m completely incapable of formulating words.