A Cut so Deep (Thornes & Roses 1)

I slink into the shadows and watch her move deeper into the greenhouse. She’s treading lightly. And I wait. Like a predator in the darkness, I watch my prey.

“Oh, wow,” she gasps, the sound making my dick stand to attention. I shouldn’t feel this need for her, but I do. She doesn’t notice me, but if she turned her head an inch to the left, she would. Instead, she reaches for the blood-red rose and tenderly touches the petals. “You’re beautiful.”

Tipping my head to the side, I watch her. I wonder what that smooth skin would look like bruised. Marked by me. If I did that, it would mean I laid claim to her.

“I miss you, Dad,” she suddenly mumbles. For one split second, I see a sad little girl instead of the woman who’s making every drop of blood in my body burn for her. I see a girl who lost someone she loved. I don’t know what happened to him, her father, but I can tell his absence has hurt her by the way she wipes the tears from her cheeks. She’s adamant not to show emotion.

“In the dark, many secrets come to light.” My voice startles her, causing her to gasp and leap backward. Her body hits the glass wall, her hand shoots to her heart, holding her chest.

“What are you doing in here?”

“I figured I could find peace from the chaos of the party my brother’s insisted on hosting,” I tell her. I think briefly that I should offer her something in return. I learned about her heartache.

“Spying on me isn’t finding peace.” Her fire is back, which makes me grin.

“I came in here to be alone, my father had this made for Marcia, since your mother is such a lover of plants. But I came in here to think.”

“I thought you’d be with one of the girls at the party,” she tells me, but there’s a question hidden in her statement. Once again, I wonder if she’s jealous.

“Fitting that you and I would find ourselves in here,” I tell her, stepping out of the shadows and closer to her. “Since a greenhouse was our first meeting place.” Her eyes widen, then narrow, as I know she’s recalling watching me and the redhead at our parents’ reception.

I hand her the bottle, offering her a drink. Slowly, she reaches for it, taking it from me. Her fingers brush along mine and sparks shoot through me. There’s something utterly forbidden between us: lust, need, and something darker.

My gaze doesn’t leave her mouth, as she takes a swallow of the burning liquid, which makes her cough. “This is gross.”

“It helps with the pain,” I tell her, causing her eyes to lock on mine. Her brows furrow, her expression filled with confusion.

“What pain? Are you hurt?”

I lean in, somehow knowing she’ll understand when I say, “the pain inside.” Nesrin tips her head back, our faces inches apart, as we stare into each other’s eyes. I can feel her short, warm breaths on my lips. I want to feel her mouth on mine. I should take it, take her. I move closer, stepping toward her. She attempts to step back, but she’s flush against the cool glass. A shiver wracks her body, and I harden against my zipper.

“What are you doing?” Her breathy whisper is enough to have me ready to sink into her. Steal into the warmth of her body.

“I’m testing your self-control.”

“Mine or yours?” she challenges. Her mouth beckons, and I lean in even further, my lips whispering along hers. A whimper falls free from her mouth, and I want nothing more than to steal it from her.

“Both.” I offer her only one word in response. Her lashes flutter against the apples of her cheeks. A gasp falls free when her mouth opens for me as if she’s waiting for me to take the kiss I so desperately want.

Moments pass in the dark. I don’t take it. I don’t move forward, and neither does she. It’s not the right time. I step back and hear the whoosh of breath from Nesrin.

“I have to get back to the house,” I tell her. “Don’t leave with anyone tonight.” The warning is clear. I’m concerned that one of The Black Knights will want to take her home. I don’t doubt those guys are only here to fuck with me. But they’re not getting me or any of my family.

“I won’t.” Is all I hear when I leave her in the greenhouse. My body still feels as if there’s a current racing through it, trickling into every nerve ending. I should never have done that. Never have had her pinned against the fucking wall like that.

But it was too easy to lose myself in her.

Too easy to crave her mouth on mine.

And I know that my self-control can only withstand so much.