“You didn’t use protection with Eli.”
I close my eyes, giving myself over to this. “I’m on birth control. We’re monogamous; or at least we were before you came along.”
He slips his hand almost all the way out of my jeans and then back in, this time wedging two fingers into me. I inhale sharply, barely biting back a moan. I shouldn’t like how owned I feel right now. I shouldn’t be fighting down the need to beg him for more. Abel holds me like this, deep and intimate, for several long moments. I can feel my heartbeat racing through my entire body, but I somehow manage to hold myself perfectly still.
He flattens his free hand to the space below my breasts, pressing me back against him more firmly. “I’d like to have you without a condom, Harlow. Have you wet and slick and pump you full of my come.”
I let out a harsh laugh. “You only want that because he has it.”
“Maybe.” He nuzzles my hair off my neck and kisses me there. “But I think you want it, too. Isn’t that why you’re arching back against me right now? It’s not because you want me. It’s because you want me to erase all evidence of him on your skin.”
He’s not wrong, and I hate that he not only sees the truth but doesn’t hesitate to call me on it. “Bold of you to think that I trust you enough to go there.”
“Ah, but I’ve never lied to you, sweetheart. And I never will, even if you hate me for it. I was tested before we came back to Sabine Valley—all of us were—and I haven’t touched anyone since.”
Strangely enough, I do believe him. I don’t know if the Paine brothers plan on trying to keep any of these relationships going past the year deadline, but it makes sense that they’d prepare for the eventuality of possibly fucking their Bride more than the first night. If they’re all as arrogant as Abel, they’d probably assume it’s a sure thing.
“Then maybe you shouldn’t trust me.” I gasp a little as his fingers flex inside me. “Be a shame if I got knocked up and didn’t know which of you was the father.”
“Would it?” His voice is so dry, I can’t tell what he’s thinking. “I don’t think so. That kid would be mine, regardless of whose DNA contributed to its creation. And wouldn’t that be a kicker? Me and you raising his biological kid. Just another thing of his that I’ll take, and gladly.”
I tense. “You really hate him.”
“I would think that’s readily apparent.” He gives my neck another light kiss. “So what will it be, Harlow? Do you want my cock or not?”
I don’t understand how everything with Abel feels so inevitable, but I want what he’s offering. Escape. “Yes.”
“With a condom or without?”
So reckless to go without, but he’s right. He has no reason to lie to me. Not about this. Not when we’re stuck together for the next year. I lick my lips. “Without.”
He makes a growling sound against my neck, and then he’s moving, easing his hand out of my jeans and pulling my tank top over my head. My bra joins it on the floor, and then he sits on the bed and tugs my jeans down, his gaze on every inch of exposed skin. When I finally stand before him naked, he slowly peruses me as if he didn’t have me pinned to a bathroom counter just this morning. He finally catches my gaze. “I want you to ride my cock, sweetheart. Use me to make yourself feel good.” I open my mouth, but he catches my chin before I can speak, his eyes going hard. “I can keep fucking you from behind, but there’s no pretending I’m just some asshole off the street. It’s my cock you need right now, and you know it.”
He’s right. I hate that he’s right.
I pull in a shuddering breath. “Stop talking and get naked.
11
Abel
I lied to Harlow.
I told her that I’d never let something as mundane as sex cloud my vision. It’s mostly the truth, but as she climbs up to straddle me, I have enough self-awareness to recognize that I want to keep her. It hasn’t even been twenty-four hours, but like recognizes like. I meant what I said. This woman is a monster, just like me. Just as ruthless, just as ambitious. She’d do anything to protect the people of this faction, just like I’d do anything to keep my brothers among the living.
Imagine what we’ll do together.
I skate my hands up her thighs to grip her full hips. She’s soft and strong, and I have to remind myself that she’s got to be the one behind the wheel for this interaction. She wraps her fist around my cock and guides me to her entrance. No fucking around. The woman might have one hell of a poker face, but it’s failing her right now; her expression flickers with messy emotions as she sinks onto my cock. Pleasure and guilt and fury and determination. No matter what she claims, she still loves Eli, and what happened back in their room hurt her.