Until Forever Ends: A Dark Mafia Romance by Adelaide Forrest (black books to read .txt) 📗

Her eyes were half-closed, as if the exhaustion of holding one position for so long threatened to put her to sleep then and there. "Come to bed, mi princesa," I murmured.

Her gaze never left the water, but the miniscule twitch of her body confirmed she'd heard the words. That even when she'd withdrawn, I could reach her. "Isa," I said, waiting to see if she would look at me. When she didn't, I stepped around the daybed and directly into her vision. "Come." I held out a hand for her, and she shifted her gaze down to it.

There was a moment of recognition in her eyes as she remembered all the other times I'd asked for her consent in the same way. As she realized they'd all been a ploy, because she'd never had a choice.

Her life had become mine the moment I laid eyes on her.

Her lips were dry as she turned her stare up to mine, a glare in it as they met mine in fierce challenge. I watched the moment mi princesa died on the pyre, her innocence lost as the last pieces of my deception snapped into place.

Mi reina was born from the ashes, her face twisted in fury as she uncurled her legs from her body and slid along the mattress. The night before, Isa would have fled off the other side of the bed. She'd have craved the distance between us.

Instead, she welcomed my darkness, meeting it with her own as storms swirled inside her green gaze.

"I hate you," she whispered, sliding off the edge of the daybed to stand before me. With the defiance in her face, I almost didn't doubt the words.

But that pulsing attraction between us couldn't be denied, no matter what words her mouth formed. I knew the truth that tormented her twisted little soul.

"Such a pretty lie," I murmured, stepping closer. Her breasts grazed against my chest as she drew in a deep, steadying breath. "You love me, and you fucking hate yourself for it," I said, lifting a hand to touch her face. I wanted to bottle her anger, to remember the fierce look in her eyes as she proved that everything I saw in her hovered just beneath the surface.

She'd always been one break away from unleashing her darkness on the world.

She slapped my hand away before I could touch her, the crack of her hand against mine echoing through the silence around us. "Don't fucking touch me," she growled. There was no fear in her face, no moment of recognition where she realized I'd killed people for less. I lifted my hand to stare at the pink skin where she'd struck me in surprise, before turning a smirk back her way.

"You shouldn't have done that, mi reina," I purred, tilting my head to the side as a sick smile transformed my face.

"Sorry to disappoint the great El Diablo," she said mockingly. "But I don't live to please you." She planted her hands on my chest, shoving me away from her hard enough that I stumbled in a moment of shock. She spun away from me, moving to walk back toward the house and leave me staring after her in the night.

I stepped forward, snatching her arm up in a tight grip. She twisted it and slapped me away again, glaring at me as if she could tempt me into her trap.

But she already owned me, and Isa was slowly realizing the depths of my obsession.

"You don't get to touch me anymore," she snapped, her glare faltering for a moment as she wondered how far I would push the envelope. The truth was, even I didn't know the answer to that.

I suspected there were no boundaries I wouldn't cross when it came to her.

"Another pretty lie. We both know this is going to end with you coming on my cock, mi reina," I said, tugging her into my chest. She pushed me away again, unwilling to give up the fight so easily.

It was a good thing her resistance and the fire that burned inside her turned me on. Anything was better than the empty shell who'd stared at the water, but watching her come into her own and become my equal was unparalleled. The Queen I’d always sensed hiding beneath the surface and smothered by everyone else’s expectations of her could finally be free.

Because their opinions no longer mattered.

"Fuck you," she hissed, jerking in my grip.

Chuckling, I lifted her into my arms as she struggled. She buried her fingers in my hair, gripping the short strands with all her strength and pulling so harshly that my scalp burned beneath her assault. Nails dug into my head, but I persevered to get her to our bedroom. I kicked the door open when I made my way through the labyrinth of hallways designed to give us time to escape in the event of an emergency, using my foot to close it behind me.

"That is the idea," I chuckled, dropping her onto the bed. She landed on her back, bouncing as she stared up at me where I stood at the foot. "And you'll love it, just like you love me," I said, my confidence in her feelings growing every time I said the words. No matter what she said to me, it was never a denial of our connection.

"There's something wrong with you," she hissed, watching as I stripped off my suit jacket and tossed it to drape over the back of the chair next to the bed. "Why did you bother with that charade in Ibiza if we were always going to end up here? What was the fucking point?”

I unbuttoned my shirt, sensing the vulnerability in her words as I watched her. The vague traces of the brokenhearted girl peeked through the cracks, trying to return despite her resolve and her evolution. As much as I loved her innocence, Isa would need to be stronger than that if she was going to stand by my side through