Lib Novel Page 27
Leaning forward, I buried myself even deeper, thrusting over and over, my breath hot against her ear. “You did this,” I hissed, the words laced with a venom I didn’t entirely feel. “You should have never trusted me, Abby. Now I’m going to keep you forever.”
Her body shuddered at my words, and whether it was fear or something darker that thrilled inside her, I couldn’t say. But the effect was instantaneous; she came apart beneath my grip, her orgasm ripping through her in violent waves that matched the tumultuous storm raging in my own chest.
And then, as if on cue with our reckless abandon, the fire alarm pierced the air, shrill and demanding. Smoke billowed around us, coming from the now-burning french toast on the stove. With a grunt, I pulled out of her and turned off the stove.
“Look what you did,” I sneered, though my heart wasn’t in the words. “You burned breakfast, just to be an asshole.”
There was no humor in the joke, no lightness in the moment. Only smoke, the blaring alarm, and the two of us.
Both hurting…because I’d hurt her.
Fuck, I couldn’t stop.
I turned around and looked back at her, still bent over the counter. Cum dripped from her pussy, and…blood. Fuck, I’d fucked her so hard I’d bloodied her, and I hated how the beast that lived in my chest told me that was a victory.
She righted herself, pulled her her shorts, then she turned…
I waited for the reprimand, for the slap to my face.
But she just went back to the stove to clean up the burned mess and get back to her French toast.
And somehow that hurt worst of all.
Chapter Fourteen: Abby
Iloved him…and I needed to get away.
I leaned against the cold railing of the balcony, the ocean stretching out before me like an endless abyss. The chill in the air bit through the thin fabric of Nathan’s shirt—the only thing I wore aside from my panties. It barely warmed me as I stood there, trying to make sense of the chaos that was now my life.
Everything had spiraled so quickly. Tyler’s murder and dismemberment kept replaying in my mind, a haunting image I couldn’t shake. Then there was the moment my secret spilled out, revealing the badge beneath all my declarations of love.
“Accusations” was too soft a word for the venom Nathan spat when he learned the truth. There wasn’t a trace of trust left in his eyes when he looked at me, just the hard glint of betrayal and something darker, something that made me shiver.
I thought about what I’d become in such a short time. From law enforcement royalty to a woman who slept with the enemy, literally and figuratively. And God, that had changed everything. Nathan Zhou had shown me sides of him that didn’t fit the monster the world feared.
“Abby Harper,” I whispered to myself, “what the hell have you done?”
I edged closer to the railing, watching the city lights flicker like distant stars, the world unknowing of the tempest brewing inside Nathan’s fortress. My gaze fell on my clunker still parked on the street, out of place amongst the BMWs, Mercedes, and sports cars. I could take it, ditch it somewhere in the city, grab something untraceable. My phone was charged, nestled in my back pocket somewhere inside.
Freedom was within grasp.
Run, a voice inside me urged. This is your chance.
But as quickly as the thought came, it tangled with another—a memory of Nathan’s rare smile, the way his eyes softened when he looked at me. The taut lines of his neck when he threw his head back to laugh about a joke I’d made. It was reckless to think about love. About his love. Yet, there it was, that sharp ache in my chest, the undeniable truth that I had glimpsed what it might be like to be truly loved by him.
“Damn you, Nathan,” I murmured, the words barely escaping my lips.
With every step away from the window, away from the possibility of escape, the weight of my decision settled heavier on my shoulders. I’d seen the darkness in Nathan, but I’d also seen the light, however fleeting. And now, caught between duty and desire, I found myself paralyzed—not by fear or uncertainty, but by the realization that I didn’t want a life without him in it, regardless of how twisted that sounded even as the thought left me breathless.
I didn’t fight back the bitter laugh threatening to break free, but it never came. No sound came; only a silent vow that whatever lay ahead, I was probably in too deep to walk away now. Nathan Zhou, Fangs, the man with the dragon inked into his skin and violence at his fingertips—had somehow, against all odds, become the man I couldn’t leave behind.
But if he was cruel again, if he forced my hand…then I might have to. Then I might just not have a choice.
I pushed the door open and stepped inside, the silence of the house wrapping around me like a thick fog. I scanned the space, but Nathan was nowhere to be seen. My gaze drifted to the garage door, where the keys lay untouched on a small table beside it. A way out. My mind raced with the possibilities—fleeing now could mean just an accessory charge, a few years behind bars…but my career in the FBI would be over.
Then, cutting through the stillness, came his voice from upstairs. A voice that had commanded many and softened for few. The unmistakable cadence of Mandarin sifted through the air, and instinctively, I crept up the stairs, my bare feet light against the floor, moving as though they belonged to someone else.
Nathan’s voice was low, threaded with a warmth that surprised me. He was in his—our—bedroom, speaking into a phone on speaker mode. I could hear his footsteps padding softly back and forth, pacing. I lingered at the threshold, careful not to make a sound, as I translated his words in my head, piecing together the conversation with the fragments of Mandarin I could hear.