Damaged: The Dillon Sisters by Layla Frost (young adult books to read TXT) 📗

His direct words.

And the intense, inferno burning in his honey eyes.

It all worked together to make that current of electricity buzz through my veins, as if my entire body was being powered up. Coming to life.

Turning way the hell on.

His eyes narrowed and his jaw clenched, a muscle ticking in it. I braced, thinking he was pissed. It wasn’t like I hadn’t been goading him. But when he used his hold on my thigh to drag me to the edge of the table, it definitely wasn’t his rock-hard anger I was feeling.

Lowering his head, he took my mouth, grinding himself against me.

He kissed the way he fucked. Wild and frantic and crazed.

Like he couldn’t get close enough to me.

Like he couldn’t get enough of me.

At the feel of his body moving away, I reached out to yank him back to me.

“Settle, flower,” he whispered against my mouth, even though his voice was filled with satisfaction. With just enough space, he moved an arm between us, teasing his fingers along the waistband of my leggings before forcing his hand inside. Between the awkward angle and the tight confines, it couldn’t have been comfortable, but he didn’t seem to notice or care. No, his single-minded pursuit was centered around finding a way to touch me.

Just as single-minded in our shared pursuit, I released my grip on his shoulders and tugged my leggings down as best as I could. It wasn’t much, but it did allow him to finally slam a thick finger inside me.

The same way he seemed to read my mind, he read my body. He touched me just right, his finger stroking and thrusting as the heel of his palm ground against my clit. My hands shot out to clutch his shoulders again so I didn’t slide across the table.

Even if I wanted to hold back—to stubbornly not give him what he was so desperate to earn—it was impossible. All the intrusive thoughts, stresses, and anxieties flew from my mind as my body came apart in a way only he was capable of eliciting.

Still clutching at him.

Still panting.

Still buzzing as his finger glided in and out of me.

He picked that moment and struck. “We’re going out.”

I must’ve been weaker than I thought because the words flew from my mouth before I could stop them. “I don’t like going out. I feel awkward and on edge.”

He didn’t tell me I was stupid or dramatic—though I was both. Rolling with it effortlessly, he offered a compromise. “Then we’ll eat dinner at my place.”

Again, my answer flew out before I could even think. “Okay.”

I knew I’d regret my agreement as the day progressed. But right then, at the way he grinned down at me, I didn’t care.

Especially when he added, “And then I’ll eat you.”

That time, my answer was even more instantaneous. “Okay.”

“Okay,” he echoed, his pleased expression returning to pure, molten magma as he slid his finger out of me. Holding my stare, he raised it to his mouth to licked it clean.

It had no business being so damn erotically hot.

He had no business being so damn erotically hot.

My breath caught as he gripped my hips, but it came out in a disappointed rush when he simply helped me to my feet and tugged my leggings back into place before stepping away.

“I have an IUD,” I blurted.

He lifted his chin. “Good to know.”

“So we can…” I started, my gaze reflexively dropping to the bulge that pressed against his slacks.

He closed the small distance he’d put between us in order to take my mouth in a kiss so unhinged, it hurt my already puffy and oversensitive lips. But as I was quickly learning, Alexander’s pain always came with pleasure.

Tearing himself away, he stepped back as he studied my face. He ran his fingers through his messy hair before bringing his hand down to swipe his full bottom lip with his thumb. “I like seeing you so alive.”

For the first time in a very long time…

I kinda liked being alive, too.

Chapter Nineteen

Virtues

Briar

For time

“BRIAR, THERE YOU are.”

I looked out of the cage to see Melody—one of the other shelter employees—rushing my way. Some of the glee in her expression dimmed as her brows lowered. “Why’re you sitting in a dog bed?”

“Monkey see, monkey do,” I explained before amending, “or in this case, puppy see, puppy do.”

Since the pup in question was still cowering in the corner on the cold cement, it didn’t seem to be working.

“Right,” she drawled. Seeming to remember why she’d been hunting for me, she grinned. “You have a visitor.”

I didn’t have to ask who. I’d been expecting him eventually, though not so early. I should’ve known he wouldn’t risk me bolting.

Which I’d definitely considered, but I’d known there was a snowball’s chance in hell of me succeeding.

“Any way you can tell him I already left?” I asked, not holding out much hope.

The tiny sliver of it vanished completely as the loud metal door was opened and closed before Alexander came into view.

“I’m gonna go with no,” Melody said, not hiding her amusement.

Sometime between leaving my apartment that morning and right then, he’d changed into a pair of well-fitting jeans and a long-sleeved Henley. He’d looked amazing in the slacks and sweater.

He looked unreal and celebrity levels of gorgeous in the casual outfit.

Venomous ghosts whispered through my head, nurturing the seeds of doubt and cynicism.

Why me?

What’s his angle?

Is this a game? A challenge?

What was I thinking?

Sliding his hands into his pockets, he smiled down at me. But rather than the easy, charming curve of his lips, there was an edge to it. A wicked smirk. A glint in his too sharp gaze. “Is this your way of saying you want me to call you pet instead of flower?”

Melody inhaled so hard, I was worried she’d hurt herself. She exhaled in a shaky wheeze, and if she could’ve swooned with a case of the vapors, I’m positive she would’ve. Since I was fresh out of smelling salts—and also because I had