Merciless Love: A Dark Romance

by Nicole Snow

  She was gone. Next to me, his strong face was tight, like he wanted to roar or curse after her. Then he turned to me, and I was enveloped in his fury, an intensity I could barely stand to feel outlining my flesh and blood.

  “You're home free now,” he said. “Stay as long as you want and check up on your sister. Hang around until my business is finished. Need to keep you and everybody else safe. After this is over, you can go. I won't stand in your way a second longer.”

  Courage swelled my heart, or maybe it was just lust. God, he looked sexy, every inch of him, from the way he held his fists by his rock hard sides all the way up to those floodlight eyes. I spoke before I could stop it, woozy with excitement.

  “You haven't figured it out? I'm not interested in going anywhere, Evan. I want to see who you are...help you for helping me. You saved my life twice.” I swallowed hard. “Are you going to let me save yours?”

  He took a step toward me, and then another, heavy steps echoing through the newly empty house. I didn't see him move until his arms were around me, hugging me tight, pulling me up flat against his great chest.

  “Be careful what you're offering here, babe. I'm way past any sorta normal redemption. That shit I have to do...it's all on me. Nobody else needs to put their asses on the line for my fuckups. Especially you. Just keep your pretty little ass here and listen to me, Cassie.”

  I sucked in a breath. The fire inside me rose higher, turning into an inferno. His hands slid down my back, my sides, and hugged my hips. Catching my ass in his palms, he squeezed, and I completely lost it.

  I was a shaking, quaking, wriggling mess. Just breathing was hard to remember in his grip. His eyes were closed as he leaned in, resting his forehead on mine.

  He was so, so hot to the touch. Didn't do a damned thing to relieve the fire, the aching heat coursing through my veins. No, now I wanted every part of me pressed to him – slick, hot depths any pure woman would've saved for marriage.

  If I realized anything, it was how impure I really was. More than that – how horribly corrupted I wanted to be, wrecked by this man, feeling his masculine heat on me, inside me, all around me.

  I quivered again, and he squeezed tighter. Evan pulled me up, flexing his hips against mine. The hardness between his legs was like a shock no matter how many times I felt it.

  “Fuck!” he cursed, lifting his head from mine with a growl. “This can't keep going on. Having you here, keeping you safe, watching you with this fucking hard-on storming in my pants...it's driving my goddamned brain out my skull, Cassie. If you want to help me, then you can stop being a tease.”

  He jerked me across the room in one swift movement. We crashed against the wall, and my mouth was on his, nipping and biting and struggling against his tidal wave kiss.

  Pure lightning shot through my nipples. Sandwiched against him, he reached up, plucking at one nipple. Thankfully, it wasn't the sore one the Prophet had nearly torn off.

  But even if it was, I wouldn't have stopped him. This time, there was no more resistance, no more fear, no more hate.

  Just wanton surrender to the ruthless urge dragging me up in its undertow. Evan's lips completely covered mine, sucking and biting, tasting me. His tongue pushed its way into my mouth. When it found mine, the fire hit my throat, and I moaned, giving up my raw desire.

  How could one kiss set my whole body on fire?

  He kissed me when I wanted to speak, communicating in a language of the flesh I was only starting to comprehend.

  Strange thoughts buzzed in my brain, overloaded with the lust seeping through my body. God couldn't be what the Prophet claimed. He couldn't be a vengeful prude, not when he created these impulses, and also molded men like Evan who knew how to work them like maestros.

  Slick heat throbbed between my legs. My heart beat so hard it nearly caused me to pass out, even as I tried to steel myself against his kiss. My little tongue slid over his, wet and ready.

  Finally, he broke the kiss. Feral need howled in his eyes, the same thing I saw mirrored back in my own reflection.

  “No more tease,” I whimpered. “No more stop and go. I'm ready for you, sir.”

  His muscles bristled when I called him that. On the surface, the word wasn't anything more than a polite title, but between him and me, it had a special gravity.

  It was my word, his, and no one else's. I'd never use it on another human being.

  Sir. It rolled off my tongue, licking at the air.

  Sir. It bound the tense fires in my body tighter, and seemingly in his too.

  Sir. It was the only word that summed up the fullness of everything he'd become. It was perfection.

  Evan whirled, wrapped his hands lower down my back, and hoisted me high. He threw me over his shoulder, a much more aggressive hold than the one he'd used on Heather.

  Without another word, we were on the stairs, going up, heading for his room. I'd only caught glimpses of the master suite when Izzy had me doing chores. The simple, mind-numbing work already seemed like a lifetime ago.

  Doubly so now, when I was about to enter a whole new reality. As soon as I crossed his threshold, there was no turning back. A very primal part of me understood, even if the virgin girl who clung to the Prophet's damning morals cowered in fear.

  It's over for you, honey, I thought. There's nothing left to do but embrace this new world. Everything in it.

  Embrace him because it feels so damned right, and hold on tight. Long as he's with you, there's nothing else to fear.

  I believed it. The vicious things he'd said earlier about unfinished business were totally gone from my brain. If there was a storm on the horizon, we'd weather it, the same way I had to give myself to him to extinguish the sharp pain curdling my blood.

  It didn't seem possible to want someone this much. But I did. I wanted Evan Cole so bad it hurt. The pleasure in his harsh touch was so intense it was hard to be away from it a single second. All my body knew was that it needed his touch, insane and pleading for more, more, more.

  My eyes fought to adjust to the darkness. Wasn't easy when my temperature must've shot to a hundred degrees, goosebumps going wild on my skin where his fingers touched me.

  Hand in hand, he walked through the bedroom, brought me to the large bathroom I'd cleaned only a little while ago. I stood next to him and watched his hand work the faucets in the huge sink.

  “Let's get you cleaned up, babe. Can't stand the thought of that motherfucker's dirt on your body a second longer.”

  He grabbed my head and gently lowered it to the water filling the basin. I twisted, submerging my hair. Desire and soft gratitude fought in my blood as he washed my hair, wiping away the blood and filth, replacing the stink of fear with sweet shampoo.

  When he picked me up and started to dry me off, he brushed the cut near my temple. I winced. Evan slowed, replaced the towel with his fingers, tracing the wound's outline.

  “Fuck. Seeing this shit makes me wanna kill that asshole all over again. Hang on. Can't let it get infected.”

  I sat on the toilet seat as he opened the medicine cabinet next to me. Evan held my cheek in one hand and brought a little spray bottle forward, aiming it at the spot.

  “This is gonna sting. Hold tight. Bite my fucking hand if it's too much.”

  The bottle hissed. Fire blistered around my skull, and not the good kind tingling through the rest of me.

  I didn't shake, didn't whimper. I took it, leaning into his hand, letting him do what was best.

  The alcohol or whatever it was barely fazed me. How could it matter when he cared? Right here, today, his touch was the whole damned world.

  And the whole world turned upside down when I was dry and clean. Evan led me out, into the bedroom, and slowly tipped me down onto his huge bed. He fell on top, pinning me to the mattress with his bulk. His lips silenced my words, my pleas, my prayers.

  I let the moan come this time. It purred into his mouth, twining my tongue with his. He grabbed my right hand and pushed my fingers b
etween his, squeezing tight as he deepened his kiss.

  Holy, holy crap.

  The heat kept reminding me who was boss. I was roasting from the inside out, shaking at the fires bouncing around inside me, dizzy with pure, animal lust. I reached up to his chest and scratched.

  Neither of us had the patience to do this slow and delicate. Evan reached to his shirt and literally ripped it open, smoothing my hands on his big tattooed chest through the opening.

  The giant daggers etched in black on his skin rippled beneath my fingers. What was it about defiling his body with ink that was so damned exciting?

  Anyone in Beacon Grove would've cursed him for desecrating the temple of his flesh. But if this was desecration, then it was totally seductive, an improvement over the safe, smooth skin I'd seen on men my entire life. His very flesh was just as dangerous as the rest of him, and it urged me on, sin and desire surging in my brain.

  I broke the kiss. Had to work hard to bend my head around his until he lifted up. The path was clear to taste his pure chest. I planted my face on his tattooed breast and dug my teeth into his skin.

  He growled like a lion as I dragged my mouth over him. With a gentle push, he took my head lower, lower, down the tight packed hills of his abs.

  Yes, he was my master, my sir, but it was so good to make him lose control too. Smiling, I reached for his pants, running my fingertips over the hard length behind his denim.

  “Fuck!” his head jerked. I started to reach for the zipper when his hands went around my wrists, locking them tight.

  “No, babe. Plenty of time for that later. I can't waste myself in your hot little mouth this time. I'm gonna fuck your virgin pussy. Won't blow 'til I'm balls deep inside you. But first, there's a lot of shit you still have to feel. You need to understand I can use my fucking mouth too.”

  He released my wrists and pulled me up. I moved with him, helping him draw off my shirt, and then the tight jean shorts Izzy gave me an eon ago for gardening.

  By any sane measure, I should've been exhausted after fleeing through the woods, suffering at the Refuge, and making my escape. Devilish energy drove me on, feeding a lust that would kill me if I didn't let it work my body into his addictive grasp.

  We had to finish this. We had to be one.

  Evan tore at my bra, snapping the clasp and peeling it off. His hands went straight to my naked breasts, plumping them to sweet fullness. I crumpled backward on the bed. He followed, moving his kisses down my neck, holding me down with his weight when he put one nipple in his mouth.

  My body exploded. Muscles deep inside me coiled so wickedly tight I saw stars. Mostly, I just saw a hot red void, fusing my eyes shut as pleasure, fire, and sir took control.

  Lost. Shaking. My moans barely registered as my own blood warmed my ears, not even when they deepened. Evan flicked his tongue against my nipple, holding it in his teeth.

  He sensed the real pain in my other breast when his fingers drew tight. I hadn't told him what happened, but he read it in my body, maintaining a gentle, pulsing massage with one hand while his lips, teeth, and tongue ravaged the opposite one.

  Deeper, fuller, harsher...

  I twisted in his grip, my purrs screeching to a breathless halt as my full tip softened in his mouth. Pleasure dragged me deeper. Evan's swift movements didn't register until his hot breath beat against my thighs.

  “Fucking-A, babe. You're goddamned soaked.” His hand brushed my panties. I shivered at the wetness – no, he wasn't kidding. “Let's find out how wet this sweet little pussy gets.”

  I pinched my thighs together, trying to shield myself from the overwhelming touch of his mouth there.

  Far too late. Evan forced his shoulders between my legs, holding them apart.

  He moved in, ripping down my panties in one jerk. The wet fabric zipped straight down my legs and was gone when he hooked it over my feet.

  Bare. Naked. Defenseless.

  I melted.

  He pushed his face deep, grazing his stubble along my inner thighs. One lick parted my folds, fast and ticklish and hotter than hell.

  I pressed the back of my head into the mattress, clenching at the sheets. My little breakdown only spurred him on, his first taste nothing on what came next.

  Evan pried deeper, broadening his tongue, lapping perfectly at my virgin slit. His tongue curled up, smothered my clit, vibrating with some wild force I couldn't figure out.

  “God!” I sucked in a breath and held it. “Evan!”

  I called his name, but he couldn't save me this time. He was the source of my pleasure, my pain, and the soul splitting bliss that tore me in half.

  It was all I could do to avoid passing out. Before he shoved his length in my lips, I scarcely imagined people really used their mouths for pleasure.

  But I was wrong. So damned wonderfully wrong.

  Evan licked and sucked and held my softness with his teeth. My thighs rippled around his head, the budding explosion he'd started with his licks going into full bloom. The explosion came in a sticky, screaming flash.

  I couldn't have seen a thing if my eyes were open. They rolled deep behind my lids, the last part of me I controlled. Fire burst just above my sex, flooding the wet heat around his mouth. Everything below the waist convulsed, and the muscles above weren't far behind.

  My whole body pulsed, coming in his mouth, a release whipped to perfect frenzy by his licks. They kept coming with me, earnest and forceful, faster than any man should've been able to move his tongue.

  Evan growled, adding more suction to my clit. Everything from head to toe wound tight, spasmed, and lifted me to a blinding place numb to everything except ecstasy.

  When I crashed, I came down hard. He'd moved his mouth off my center at some point, settling for kisses and soft licks at my inner thigh. Jesus, my wet cream was all over the place, and I realized he was licking it hungrily, cleaning my thighs after the flood.

  I squirmed, suddenly self-conscious with my senses returning. Digging his fingers into my thighs, he held me tight and open, forcing me to stay in place while he finished the caresses with his tongue.

  “Don't you move unless I tell you too, babe. This sweet, sweet honey between your legs?” He looked up and licked his lips. “All fucking mine. I created it, licking your tight cunt to a hundred degrees. I gave you pleasure you'll never forget. Now I'm gonna have my way. You let me taste, and never, ever forget that you belong to me.”

  I shuddered, too conflicted for words. He was chiseling out my doubts and fears one piece at a time, filling the gaps with mind blasting pleasure. But there was so much I didn't understand.

  How could a man growl his love like an animal? How could he make me feel so good with such crude, filthy words?

  Would I ever truly love and trust Evan Cole? Or was his new need to possess and pleasure just one more part of the infinite fire surrounding him, the high black flames always threatening to turn me to ash?

  He was coming up again. I gingerly ran my fingers through his short sweaty hair. It was hard to get my coordination back after what he'd done to me.

  His shirt was off, exposing his perfect chest. Muscular hands flexed, moving down his abs and stopping at his jeans. In one quick jerk, he popped his button and slid down the zipper, then grabbed the sides and slid them down his legs.

  “Oh my God!”

  No underwear. His magnificent cock popped right out, horny and angry as before. He looked at me and grinned, wrapping one hand around his length, the first real smile I'd ever seen on his lips. And it was just as hungry as the shaft pulsing in his fist.

  “I could tell you how I'm gonna own you a hundred times. But words don't got shit on actually doing it. You ready to give it up and have me deep inside you, baby girl?” He crawled toward me, spread his arms on each side of my head.

  Too stunned to speak, I could only marvel at the sleek ridges of his hard body. His tattooed slab of a chest rippled above me, and his rough hips locked between my soft thighs. He rolled them, and h
is cock worked through my pubic hair, wedging itself there.

  I almost died. My breathing began to match the heavy rise and fall of his, hot and heavy, a fever in our lungs.

  I met his eyes and fought for my words. “Do it. Take what's yours.”

  Evan didn't need to be asked twice. His lips peeled back, framing the small white pocket of his teeth.

  “Hold on to me, babe. It's gonna take some getting used to and then it'll be perfect. Promise. I'm gonna make your pussy scream on this dick...”

  He shifted lower, aiming his thickness at my entrance. The next push came fast. I barely had time to steady my legs around him, tentatively clinging to his neck. One thrust, and he was inside me, stripping away the last little remnants of my tattered girlhood.

  So. Fucking. Deep!

  I was shocked at how easily my body drew him in, only tingling and stinging a little as tender flesh rearranged itself. He did it fast, sinking to my depths, stopping when he reached the end of my womb.

  I hoped the patch they'd put me on would do its job. I was ready for him, but not for a baby, no matter how much my vicious natural instincts begged for his seed.

  Evan snorted, pleasure filling his breath. He rolled his hips back and forth, picking up speed as he worked into me, opening me up with his cock.

  When he thrust in, he grazed my clit, making me feel his fullness. I hadn't expected to get over the numb heat so quickly. My flesh, the whore, knew what she wanted. A deeper pleasure than anything I'd ever felt sparked in my brain, fierier than the sharp, sweet release his tongue had given me.

  The bed rocked beneath us. My limbs bundled around him tighter, pulling me into him as he enveloped himself in my wet hot velvet. Evan groaned, cursing as he picked up steam.

  “Fucking shit. Such a tight pussy, babe. Tighter and hotter than anything I felt since –“ He drew in a harsh breath. “Fuck! You're goddamned beautiful, inside and out.”

  He lifted me up higher, thrusting harder and deeper. I was so lost in pleasure I couldn't get too stuck on his words. My sex was in the groove, delighting in his friction, the way he cut through me and filled me so full.