With his other hand, he pinches my clit hard and the force of the pleasure tearing through me makes my back bow as I scream out his name.
His thumb rubs my clit relentlessly as he rides through my orgasm, fucking me like it’s the last thing he’ll ever be able to do.
And I take it all. Biting down on the pillow to mute the screams and writhing beneath him from the mix of pain and pleasure that confuses my body, I take all of him.
Over and over again.
I take it until I think he’ll break me. Until my body begs me to flee, but even then, he doesn’t stop. He’s a brutal man, with brutal instincts and I don’t know that he’ll ever have mercy on me again.
I’m barely sane, barely coherent when I feel his thick cock pulse inside of me. The head of his dick is pressed deep inside of me, and I’ve never before wanted a moment to last forever like I do now. Feeling the most intense orgasm I’ve ever had while Carter groans my name and then lowers his lips to kiss my shoulder.
He breathes heavily as he lays his chest on my back, moving one hand to brace himself and the other to hold my belly, keeping my skin pressed to his.
The last kiss he gives me is a long one, his lips to my shoulder. Like he doesn’t want it to end.
“I fell in love with the idea of you,” he whispers after pulling his kiss away from me. “Then I fell in love with fucking you.” There’s an agony etched in his words. It sounds like he’s telling me goodbye and I’ve only just now realized it.
“Carter,” I say as I turn in his embrace, ignoring the pain from the belt which is still present, bringing my hands to either side of his hard jaw and try to kiss him back, but he pulls away.
“I thought I loved you.” Every bit of the man who brings terror to all who defy him is gone. There’s a softness in his eyes that begs me to accept it all, to bow down to him and bend to his will. No matter what it is.
But I can’t. Not anymore. Not after what happened, and I saw the truth of what’s to come. And if that means this is the end…
I gaze into his eyes as he stares into mine, and I can feel the unspoken words. Either I submit to him, or I’m his enemy.
“I love you, Carter. But I won’t be your songbird anymore. Not when you chose to ignore the one thing I need from you.”
“You want me to surrender and that’s something I can’t do.” He swallows thickly, the hard edge to his tone growing rougher. “You’re making it impossible for us to be together.”
The tension between us is too real, so thick and so suffocating. “So are you,” I tell him. “I love you, but I will go to war against you.” My words are shaky as they leave my lips. “I still love you, Carter. And I still want you.” The last words come out rushed and I beg him to believe me.
“I will kill every man of the army that backs you, Aria. I will destroy them all until there’s no reason left to fight.” He doesn’t mention anything about love. Only war.
“I will die to protect them,” I tell him the truth. They’re my family. And they’ve protected me. “I have to,” I plead with him to understand.
He doesn’t conceal the pain my answer causes him. And that only makes my own suffering grow. “Where is that loyalty for me? For my brothers?”
“I will never hurt them or you.” The thought of them dying at the hands of my own family clutches my heart in a vise. My voice cracks as I speak, “I only said I would protect my own.”
“Little naïve songbird… I wish you could.”
Chapter 8
Aria
Every time I make even the tiniest of movements, the ache between my legs consumes my body.
I both hate it and love it. I love the reminder that Carter came for me; I hate that I’m again faced with the reality I can’t outrun.
I’ve been watching the news and listening to the guards. I know blood has already been spilled. Yesterday I got a glimpse of it, but I wasn’t sure. Today Addison’s kept the news on and I know for certain the war has begun.
I recognize the names of some of the men in my father’s army. The soldiers. Men who have gathered in my kitchen late at night. Men who have shared dinner with my family from time to time.
Men who have been kind to me.
Men who have looked after me when my father wasn’t there.
Men who have children and wives.