"Do it again," I dare her, tightening my fingers around her throat just enough to make her gasp. "See what happens."
Her eyes darken with something primal. "Fuck you."
I adjust my grip, thumb pressing against her pulse point. "I'm the one fucking you, Róisín. And you're taking it so beautifully."
My next thrust lifts her slightly off the ground. She moans despite herself, legs tightening around my waist. I can feel her fighting it—fighting the pleasure—even as her body betrays her.
"Look at me," I command, squeezing gently at her throat. "I want to see your eyes when you come apart."
"I won't give you the satisfaction," she spits, but her lids are already heavy, pupils blown wide.
I slow my pace deliberately, making each thrust deeper, more deliberate. "You will. You always do."
Her nails break skin as they dig into my shoulders. The pain only fuels me, driving me deeper into her, harder, faster. I want to break her open until nothing exists between us—not the past, not our families, not the weight of our history.
"Tell me you hate me again," I growl against her ear, my grip tightening. "Tell me while your body's begging for more."
Her breathing comes in short, sharp gasps as I control it with my hand. Her eyes are wild, defiant even as she clenches around me.
"I—" she starts, then moans as I change the angle, hitting exactly where she needs me. "Fuck—I hate what you reduce me to."
I laugh darkly, releasing her wrists to grip her ass, supporting her weight as I drive into her relentlessly. Her hands immediately find my shoulders, nails creating half-moons of pain that only sharpen my need.
"You love it," I taunt, watching her face contort with unwanted pleasure. "Being taken like this. Being reminded who you belong to."
Her hand shoots up to my throat in retaliation, squeezing with surprising strength. "And who do you belong to, Finn?" she asks, voice ragged but triumphant.
The truth slams into me like a physical blow. I do belong to her. I've always belonged to her. Always will.
"Yours," I rasp, the word torn from somewhere deep and primal. "Always fucking yours."
Her eyes widen in triumph before she throws her head back, her entire body convulsing around me. She comes shaking and furious, her fingers tightening on my throat, her body clamping down on mine with such force I see stars. The sight of her—undone, vulnerable, yet somehow still commanding—pushes me over the edge. I follow her into oblivion, burying my face in her neck as I empty myself inside her, marking her from the inside out.
For several moments, we stay locked together, breathing hard against the wall. Her pulse thunders against my lips. I can feel her trembling, aftershocks still rippling through her body. When I finally pull back to look at her, her mascara has smudged beneath her eyes. It makes her look dangerous, feral.
"Don't," she warns, reading whatever expression has crossed my face. "Don't you dare look at me like that now."
I let my forehead rest against hers anyway. She doesn’t shove me off, doesn’t lean in either. We stay there, breathing the same air, bodies still too close, heat slowly cooling into something sharp and dangerous.
“This doesn’t change anything,” she says hoarsely.
“No,” I agree. My hand drops from her throat, fingers curling slowly like it takes effort. “It makes it worse.”
Her laugh is quiet, broken. “Good.”
She slides out of my arms before I can stop her, smoothing her dress like she hasn’t just come apart against a wall in my house. Her chin lifts, spine straightens – Lady Malloy back in place like armour snapping shut. When she reaches the door, she pauses.
“If you ever try to own me like that again,” she says without turning around, “I’ll carve you open in your sleep.”
A promise, not a threat.
My mouth curves despite myself. “You already have.”
The door closes behind her. I stay there long after she’s gone, hand braced against the wall where her body was, pulse still pounding like I’ve made a mistake I’d make again without hesitation. She hates me, aye, and Valentine’s Day is coming.
Chapter five
Velvet Vows & Bleeding Strings
