Dulce

“Why did that feel like goodbye?”

Because something tells me this is all going to go pear-shaped and I might not walk away as unscathed as I usually do.

I fight back tears, so fucking sick of crying.

“It’s just goodbye for now.”

I kiss him lightly then pull free before he changes his mind about letting me out. He’d lock me in the truck and drive away if he thought for a second it would keep me safe.

“I’ll see you soon.”

I step out of the car and grab my bag, slinging it over the shoulder of the hoodie I borrowed from Griff.

“You promise?”

“I promise I’ll do everything in my power to come back to you.”

It’s not what he wanted to hear, but it has to be enough because right now, nothing is guaranteed.

I offer him a wave and watch him leave before heading down the path back to the house. The closer I get, the more my stomach churns. It’s not fear. It’s regret and sadness for all the things that could have been. The house seems farther away than usual, and yet it seems to only take moments before I’m standing outside the huge oak door.

Will this be the last time I enter? Will my memories always be tainted by what-ifs, or will it be nothing more than just the place I worked my last assignment?

I jolt at my thoughts. My last assignment? But it’s true. It has to be if I truly want to have some kind of future with Hunter and Griff.

The other girls have been doing this longer, and it suits them. I guess, for a while, it suited me too. I just never realized I was trying to fill a void in my life. I never knew I was empty until Griff and Hunter started to fill me up with love and attention.

But they weren’t the only ones that changed me. That battered part of my heart that can’t be objective any longer knows it’s time to walk away.

I fell in love with the bad guy. I don’t have any right to cry now that he’s hurt me. This was always the way it was going to play out.

I take a deep breath and unlock the door, pushing the heavy wood open and closing it behind me. I lock it back up, more so out of habit than anything else, and make my way upstairs. The rest of the house seems ominously quiet. I can’t work out if it’s empty or if everyone is asleep.

My watch shows it’s three in the afternoon, but knowing these guys, it means nothing, at least not on the weekend when they don’t have to get up for classes.

After a quick trip to the restroom to clean myself up, I make my way down the hallway and step into the living area and freeze when I see the mess.

It looks like a fight broke out here last night.

“What the hell?”

I make my way to Abe’s room first. It’s the closest, but I find it empty. I check Cain’s next, and it’s empty too, although his bed’s a mess.

Luke’s door is locked, which I expected since the man is dead thanks to me. That leaves one other room. I lift my hand and touch the knob, surprised to find my hand shaking.

Pushing it open, I see the blankets piled high in the center of the bed, obscuring my view. I step closer and find myself being grabbed from behind.

A hand over my mouth stops me from yelling before I’m pinned up against the wall, and Dmitri’s eyes stare into mine.

“Jesus, fuck,” he curses when he realizes it’s me.

He yanks me to his chest and holds me tightly for a minute, his heart thundering against me.

Despite everything I know, my arms wrap around him as I frown, wondering what the hell I missed while I was gone.

“What is it? What happened?”

He pulls back and looks down at me, his dark eyes filled with something I can’t quite read.

“Where the fuck were you?”

I raise an eyebrow at that.

“Are you asking as my headmaster or as a man who wants to get his dick sucked?” I snap, reminding myself that this is all an act by him.

“I’m asking as the man who was worried that something had happened to you when you never came home. I’m asking because I thought you were lying in a fucking ditch somewhere. I’m asking because...because,” he pulls back and punches the wall above my head, making me jump.

“I’m asking because I smell another man on you and it pisses me off because I want you to smell like me.”

“It doesn’t work like that, Aslanov. I’m not your girl.”

He grips my jaw, his nose skimming my cheek. “No matter what happens, Everly, you’ll always be my girl.”

I don’t see him move. Hell, I’m not sure if it’s me or him that instigates it, but in moments we are tearing the clothing from each other’s bodies. Nothing else matters right now beyond me and him. All his reasons for holding back are gone, and all my reasons for walking away are on pause as we finally come together. Like two planets colliding, it’s brutal and destructive as he tears the damp underwear from my body and hoists me up against the wall, hitching my legs around him as he lines his cock up with one hand before slamming home.

I scream at the intrusion, my head cracking against the wall as I throw it back. My pussy is still swollen and tender from fucking Hunter, but I barely register it any of it.

All my attention is on the feel of him inside me, the way my body stretches to accommodate him, and the sense of satisfaction that washes over me when he groans gutturally against my shoulder.

“Fuck, it’s everything I thought it would be,” he growls in the moment of calm as he holds himself still before he loses control and fucks me like I’ve never been fucked before.

If I wasn’t so turned on, it would hurt. As it is, the touch of pain from where he bottoms out inside me over and over again just makes the pleasure that much sweeter.

There is nothing greater than devouring that forbidden fruit. Nothing sweeter than giving in to temptation, even though you know its nature could just as easily poison you as bring you pleasure.

Somehow, the risk makes it that much more… More decadent, more hedonistic, more intense.

I score my nails down his back, leaving my marks on him like his punishing grip will leave marks on me.

“You’re mine, Everly. You’ve always been mine. It’s time you fucking realized that,” he snarls into my neck before biting down hard enough to split the skin.

I curse his name, my nails digging into him harder as I pull him closer, even though I know I should be pushing him away.