I held up my hand. “Stay right there.”
“Jethro...don’t do this.”
“No,youdon’t do this,” I snarled. “You don’t know what you’re risking.”
Nila didn’t reply, and she didn’t stop.
My throat dried up. I was stuck between the wall my father had erected and the chasm she created.I need help. My hands shook as I charged toward my bedside and scooped up the bottle of pills.
My body blared from the fight, but it was nothing to the way my mind bled being around her. It was like claws on a blackboard, forcing me to listen—regardless if I wanted to or not.
The tablets offered quietness. Peace.
I needed that.
“No!” Nila sprinted forward, knocking the bottle from my hand. The tablets spewed all over the carpet.
“What the fuck?”
“Whatever they are—don’t take any more.”
My temper bubbled. “They’re painkillers!” I held up my torn knuckles, shoving the evidence in her face. “See.”
She scowled. “No, they aren’t.” Rummaging in the first aid kit, she brought out some anti-inflammatories and paracetamol. “Theseare painkillers.” Snatching my hand, she dumped the blister packet into my palm. “Whatever those others are—they’re hurting you, not helping you.”
Throwing away the pills, I ran a hand over my face. Being this awake after a month of listlessness, my old concerns came back. I missed Jasmine. I missed Kes. And fuck, I missed Nila. So damn much.
I looked at her beneath my brow, unable to fight anymore.
She wanted to talk? Fine. I’d talk.
We’d played cat and mouse too many times. The trap had sprung, and if death was the reward, then I sure as hell would make it worthwhile.
Capturing her hips, I dragged her closer. She gasped as I circled my thumbs on the cool satin of her night-shorts. “You came here for a reason. What was it?”
Nila blinked, lust blazing in her black eyes. “Eh...I came to...”
I tugged her closer, fitting her small frame against mine. “Yes?”
My heartbeat raced. My cock thickened. Giving in was an ultimate aphrodisiac, and the pain dissolved in favour of my intense need to fuck her.
I cocked an eyebrow, dragging my gaze down her body.
She had magic. I didn’t deny that. Magic that we hadn’t managed to take even though we’d treated her like a witch with the ducking stool.
Swallowing hard, I slinked my fingers into her hair, curling them around her nape. She bit her lip as I pressed my thickening erection on her belly. “You didn’t come to talk, did you? You came for this.” I rocked again.
Her eyes snapped closed.
“Admit it,” I purred. “Admit that all of this is our version of foreplay. We argue. We fight. And then...” My fingers tightened around her neck. “We fuck.”
She made a breathy noise that made my heart crack and bleed. “You’re right...” Her hand disappeared between us, latching around my cock through the towel.
I bit back a growl as her thumb pressed the crown, shooting electric bolts into my balls.
Her nipples peaked beneath the black satin. The lust she’d conjured in my office at Diamond Alley came back in full force.
“Goddammit, you test me.” Fisting her hair, I jerked her backward, supporting her spine as I ducked to suck her nipple.
