I marvel at the soft sheen of sweat on Kieran’s body, glistening over the skulls and flowers on his chest. Once he finally slows, his eyebrow wrinkles in concentration. He’s not ready for this to end, and neither am I.
“Ava, I couldfeckyou all the time. Being inside you, lass, I’ve no words.” His pain-stricken face leaves me speechless too. A solitary tear falls down my cheek.
Wrapped in his arms, I still relish in his delicious cock diving in and out of me, but he’s slowed down. Stalled to a speed that’s damn near killing me. Killing me more than the complications I added to the equation. More than the vow I made to myself during my very first climax—I. Will. Not. Stay. Because heaven forbid, I contemplate what happens next.
At the thought of growing the faintest feelings of fondness for my enemy, my spirit urges a great escape. I need to leave now. I can’t wait a single second longer.
17
Ava
Leaving was easier than I anticipated. I walked straight out the front door. Well, after sneaking downstairs and peeking outside. Dressed in jeans, a hoodie, and hiking boots, I’ve tuned out the nighttime chorus of owls and critters. Not a pinch of moonlight filters through the trees. That’s the thing about nature, it giveth, and it taketh away.
In Belize, my parents once owned a small fishing boat off the coast. Not an excessive,muy grandebusiness.Muypoquito. A place where the tourists could stop off the beaten path for my father’s fresh catch. We lived in paradise until the cartel took our company. A tropical storm blew in the next day.
Enveloped I’m my own arms, I endeavor to stave off the icy chill.Don’t focus on the cold.Spring in Ireland might as well be a California winter. I wriggle my trembling jaw and set it firmly. I focus on the pitch darkness an inch in front of me. You’re anidiota,Ava. With deliberate steps, I pace through the wooded area. Escaping near the shore would’ve left me a sitting duck. The same goes for bolting within the parameters of the driveway to town.
My palms smooth over the trunk of a tree. Bark crumbles into my hands. With the lack of sight, it sounds like it tumbled to the ground. Cocking my ears, I wait for any indication of movement nearby.Don’t get too paranoid.Inhaling a couple of silent cleansing breaths, I move around the tree. I brace my hands out and start forward again.
I grit my teeth, imagining how my enslaved ancestors felt when attempting to flee Belize—which was the British Honduras in the 1700s. They were kept against their will. None of their bodies belonged to themselves.If they could do it, you can too, Ava!
I let the shame of my traitorous sex, which craves Kieran, churn into spite.Oye, Ava, you’re not a hedonist! You don’t need him. You abhor him!I’m not confident about how many minutes, seconds, or hours I walk. I feel out my surroundings and move forward, but my hands press onto something hard.
Something steely and hot boasting a steady heartbeat.
Oye . . .
My cognition fragments—becoming my own enemy. Have I stumbled upon an enemy of Kieran? Is this one of his men? If so, is this henchman loyal?
Why stick around to find out?
All these thoughts swirl through my agitated mind, I stumble back a step.
A hand brands my lower back as I toss a fist directly in front of me. I hitch a gasp of surprise. My knuckles bruise against another tree. My assailant dips to the left out of the way of my attack. He tucks his face against my neck, teeth sinking into my skin.
“St—” His other hand presses hard onto my mouth, and he shoves me against a tree. Sharp bits of bark embed against my spine. With my legs pressed wide, I scream.
A mouth descends on mine, minty and vicious. I begin to wonder if the strange, hard body between my legs isworsethan Adnan.
If I survived him, I'll survive this. Then I contemplate my choice of actions the night of my ex-husband's wedding. The last fuck you to him. Through the perception of others, I’m weak—well fuck them too.
I start to bite down on the tongue massaging my mouth when a hand clamps my throat. Tight lips press against my cheek, warm breath counteracting the prickly cold of my ear.
“You should’ve asked me to take you on a walk, Ava.”
“Kieran,” I heave out, somewhere between elusive relief and fright.
His thumbs stroke the column of my neck. “Aye. Were you leaving, lass?Leaving me?”
I turn my head away from his affectionate caressing, and his hands anchor my throat. “Gahhh—” The constricting sends tiny gray halos in front of my gaze.
Kieran nips my earlobe. “Shall I kill you?”
“Why?” I tremble out.Whyam I not debating him?Whyam I not arguing about how he has lived up to my expectations?Whydid I not expect anything less than death? He’s followed me here. He had to know I left and followed me all the way.
And here I thought Adnan perfected the mindfuck!
“Because.” With inhuman strength, Kieran hoists me higher. His hands are about my throat, forearms locked at the joints. His tongue dips into my trembling belly button. “Because if you die by someone else’s hands, I’d not forgive myself, lass. There’s a mark on my entire clan’s head, yet you, the newest member—”