The grin on his face is cocky and sexy at the same time, his breathing growing louder and thicker, his pace rushed and relentless as he fucks me into the cold grass. He lets go of my wrists, but I keep my arms above my head as he folds his fingers around my throat, squeezing. “Say it.”
“Say what?”
“My name.”
“Fuck you,” I bite out, and he lets out a breathy laugh, tightening his grip and restricting air from reaching my lungs. I gasp and claw at his hand, trying to pull it away, but he only fucks me harder, his fingers biting into my jugular.
“Say. It.”
“No.” The veins in my neck thicken under the pressure of his grip, but he doesn’t let go, and I don’t obey.
“Say my fucking name.”
I suck my bottom lip into my mouth.
“Jesus. I swear to God, woman, if you pass out, I won’t stop fucking you.”
The taste of blood bursts onto my tongue, and a frenzy takes over. Madness clamps down and takes possession of me, and it’s so fucking freeing. To not have to control myself anymore. To not be the one who makes the decision to succumb because my body leaves me no choice. The fire between us leaves us no choice.
Alexius lets go of my throat, hooks his arm underneath my knee, and jerks my leg up so he can bury himself deeper inside me. It hurts like this, deep and raw, but that’s how I crave it. That’s how I need it, and he knows that. He knows me and my body like I’m an instrument he’s mastered. Every touch, every kiss, every plunge of his cock is exactly how I need it to be.
His hand is on my throat again but snakes around to the back of my neck, his fingers fisting my hair as he forces me upward, our lips colliding in a heated kiss. A desperate one. A fusion of mouths selfishly wanting to devour the other. He tastes like whiskey and mint and something that’s uniquely him. It’s a taste I’ve come to love and crave, a taste that haunts my dreams and rules my nightmares. A taste that leaves me breathless for him…and only him.
Pleasure builds in my core, and it spreads down my legs and up my spine. “I have to come.”
“You know the rules,” he growls into my mouth.
“Please let me come.”
“Say my name first. Fucking scream it.” He fucks me faster. His rhythm is uncontrolled, his thrusts impossibly deep—a brutal display of unrestrained lust—and I can no longer stop it, my body quivering and pussy clenching his cock as an orgasm tears through me.
Abruptly, he tightens his grip in my hair, and my scalp stings, but no pain in the world can stop me from shattering. “Say it, goddamn you, woman!”
Pleasure sinks its teeth into me, ravishing me, consuming me to a point where I’m sure it would break me in half.
Alexius curses, then buries his face in the crook of my neck, his back arching as he comes inside me. I feel every throb, his hot cum spilling into me with every jerk of his cock.
Why did I even try to deny it? Why did I try to fight him? It’s useless. I know that now. This man can be the evil hiding behind everything that’s wrong in this world, and I’d still want him. I’d still love him. Because somewhere between marrying him and him tricking me into becoming pregnant, we became one. And now I realize that nothing can change that. Nothing can split us back in two.
Nothing.
I close my eyes, and loll my head to the side, spent and exhausted. I don’t want to fight it anymore. It hurts too much trying. So, I surrender with only one name on my lips. “Alexius.”
Then…I wake up.
ChapterTwo
ALEXIUS
“This is bullshit.” Venom drips from Mira’s words, and rage roils behind her eyes as she glowers at me like I’m the spawn of Satan. She’s practically drilling holes into my forehead with a glare that could cut through bone.
“She’s a fucking person, Alexius. Not a goddamn animal you can keep in a cage.”
I lean forward with my palms on my desk, pinching my eyes shut, praying to God for the patience I need with this woman. “This is none of your business, Mirabella.”
“The hell it isn’t. Leandra is my best friend, and you’re keeping her locked in a room and you can’t even tell me why.”
I’m surprised Leandra hasn’t told her about the birth control switch. They’ve been talking through a locked door almost every day, discussing what a jerk I am. Mira has asked so many times what the hell was going on, but none of this has anything to do with her, so I don’t owe her any type of explanation or reason. If Leandra wants to tell her what happened, that’s up to her.