I moan mindlessly, feeling like I’m about to levitate but he doesn’t stop, he’s insatiable, starving and acting like a man who’s been in a dark pit his whole life. This is his first sliver of light and he’ll crawl out of his own skin, shed it and leave it behind before letting it fade.
“This is payback for what you do to me,” he groans while I whimper and whine and he leaves kisses down my throat that scald like candle wax in midwinter. “Payback for bringing me to my knees without warning,” His hands fist my hair and I roll my hips against him, trying to release the pressure in my lower body and in my chest.
The lust is ruthless, a mishmash of tender and feral emotions and I’ve never known them before. I reached my hand out and touched Revenge and I thought I was touching something mild and tender but there is fatality to his kiss that makes me want to crydanger. I don’t cower, I bow my head and oblige and let him slake his lust until I’m spent and panting on top of his hot chest and he’s murmuring words in my ear that make me want to both smile and weep.
I peer into his eyes and they shine like he’s been lit up from the inside. If he was beautiful before it’s nothing compared to what he is now. Like this he’sdevastating.
“Never,” he rasps deliriously and my eyes flutter, “I’ll never let you go. You’d have to kill me first, lamb.”
I never will. And I guess that means he’ll never let me go.
****
Come morning, I sneak out of bed to tend to the farm and once I’m back to prepare breakfast for Revenge, he’s waiting by the staircase with crossed arms and I inhale. Good grief, this man belongs on the big screen with those looks.
“Told you I didn’t want you working, Addie,” he rasps, “I don’t want you lifting anything heavy.”
“Milked the cows, that’s all,” I murmur and tiptoe over to him. I put my arms around his neck and give him a soft kiss on the lips. “Thanks for tonight by the way.”
He melts, his eyes stirring and he wraps my hair around his fist and I don’t know how I could have survived without his kisses. Feels like the first time I tasted sugar and didn’t want anything else after, a sweet addiction that makes me dazed.
“Mind doing me a favor?” I say and he raises his brows.”
“Name it.”
“There are some supplies I’d like to pick up and I’ve been putting it off for the longest time. I’d feel more at ease if you came with me to the village.” My cheeks heat because I do realize I’m risking both our safety. “Maybe we could take something with us?”
“Take what?”
“Something to defend ourselves with if it comes to it. Like a weapon.” I look around in the hallway and reach for the shoehorn. “How bout this?”
The look Revenge gives makes me flush and suddenly I feel like a little kid being scolded by the headmaster. His fingers reach around the shoehorn and he puts it back. “We’re good,” he says throatily and I hesitate for a second before giving in.
A neat thing about Revenge is that he at leastlookslike he’s dangerous. At first glance, he could even be mistaken for a bad guy. After working on the farm some more (Revenge is doing most of it) we head into town in the late afternoon. I quickly tidy myself and put on a pair of clogs, which Revenge seems to find endlessly fascinating because he can’t stop staring at my legs. Maybe he’s never seen a girl in clogs before. Someone told me a while ago they’re achingly out of fashion but I’ve never paid vogue much attention.
I dance in front of Revenge, a little giddy that we’re going to the village because I haven’t been in ages. Once we’ve reached the outskirt of the farm, I notice a black car, parked beneath a tree and partially hidden by its leaves and I stop in my tracks.
“That yours?” I ask in a low voice and Revenge nods. I purse my lips. I don’t know anything about cars. I know trucks and jeeps and that’s about it but this car...it looks like it purrs. “You stole it aint it so?” I sigh. He’s a thief then. Oh well...“I doan blame you, even if it was wrong of you but you must’ve beendesperate.”
Revenge lets out a choked sound.
“Shush now, my gentle giant,” I soothe, putting my hand on his shoulder, “you had your reasons.”
He clenches his jaw as if he’s bursting with a need to tell me something, maybe explain himself and his actions but I assure him he doesn’t need to. After reaching the village, the first thing we do is pick up the supplies I need and then I’m ready to go straight but home but Revenge suggests we get a drink first.
It sounds so normal that I just blink up at him. For the first time in a long time, am I actually going to do somethingnormal? He clasps my elbow and pulls me toward a place that’s partially an Inn and partially a bar, but I halt so hard my clogs cause a tornado of road dust.
“Not that one,” I say panicky. “The Crew sleeps at that Inn.” I shake my head. “Let’s do the other one across the street.”
Revenge agrees but I shiver when I notice the way his eyes narrow when he glances at the Inn. It’s not a look I’ve seen on his face before and it’s a little unnerving. We cross the street to the bar and first thing I do is scan my surroundings.
Coast is clear and I breathe out when the adrenaline drains. But I can feel Revenge observing me, feel his glances prickle my neck and I take a couple of deep breaths.
Everything’s fine. This will go smoothly.
Won’t it?
6.