His fingers crawled up my thigh in slow, deliberate strokes until they were at my pussy, ghostly touches teasing me until I was trembling. I writhed under his touch, a broken sound escaping me as he finally pressed inside. Two fingers filled me, the pace ruthless enough to steal the air from my lungs. My head lolled back, vision blurring, until his grip tightened at the base of my hair.
“Eyes on me, Acelynn, or I stop.” The command snapped through my fog. My lashes fluttered as I struggled to obey, but instinct betrayed me, dragging my gaze toward the ceiling with every wave of pleasure. He paused, fingers buried deep, grip in my hair turning iron hard.
“What did I tell you, kitten?” Kaius’s voice was a growl, thick with promise.
“Keep my eyes on you,” I gasped, forcing myself to focus, to anchor on the sharpness in his stare.
“Good girl.”
His pace resumed, faster now, a third finger stretching me wide. I moved with him, hips grinding down to meet each thrust of his hand. The world narrowed to this—Kaius’s eyes on me, his hand commanding my body like no one ever had, the chaos inside me unraveling into something raw and unholy.
“That’s it, Acelynn,” he coaxed, voice rough with hunger. “Ride my fingers like it’s my cock. I want to hear you screaming by the end of this.”
His fingers curled against that sweet spot inside me, thumb pressing hard circles over my clit, and the dam broke. Pleasure ripped through me, my voice shattering in a scream of his name as my body convulsed. I collapsed into the crook of his shoulder, shaking, his hand never faltering until the last tremor eased. Only then did he ease his fingers from me, smoothing down my tangled hair with a tenderness that undid me more than his roughness ever could.
I forced my eyes open, meeting his gaze, my voice raw. “I always thought you would be my damnation, Kaius Mordred. But that couldn’t be further from the truth.” Our lips brushed. My whisper carried on a breath that trembled with both exhaustion and certainty. “You are my salvation. The reminder that I don’t need to right the wrongs of the others in my life to be loved. I can be loved with every fucked-up piece of me, and you’ll be there to catch me if one day I shatter.”
His mouth crushed mine again, pushing me back against the table, swallowing the small giggle that slipped from me, a sound I never thought I’d find in myself again, not after Alec’s betrayal, Logan’s cruelty, or the endless fracture of Astoria’s pain.
But somehow, in this ruin, Kaius had found me. And in a world built on revenge, this time it had given me the one thing I hadn’t dared to dream of. Him.
epilogue one
ASTORIA
“Do you have that one, Tori?”Acelynn’s voice rang over the rowdy crowd. I turned toward where she pointed to a young redhead lingering at the end of the bar. Her eyes were wide as she drank in the sight of the Queen’s Table on a Saturday night. Poor thing looked like a lamb wandering into the lion’s den.
“Yeah, I got her,” I called back, though Acelynn was already halfway down the bar, taking an order from another patron. Typical, never waiting to see if I could handle things because it was just expected of me.
I rolled my eyes and made my way to the redhead. “What are you doing here, Penelope?”
“I am old enough to drink, you know.” She shot me a glare. Her hair seemed to glow under the neon lights. I laughed undermy breath. Sure, she was technically old enough, but there was no way this was about legality. This was rebellion—sweet, trembling rebellion against her father, the sheriff of Lovelen. If he even sniffed out that his precious daughter had stepped foot into the Knights’ bar, let alone ordered something, he’d have her locked in her bedroom until she turned forty.
“Okay.” I leaned into the bar, giving her a crooked smile. “What can I get you?”
Penelope’s shoulders sagged, lips pulling into a pout as she realized I might have been right in my question. “A water is fine.”
I sighed softly. Poor girl. She wanted to be wild, wanted to rebel, but fear still gripped her too tightly. She couldn’t even commit to one harmless drink, too scared of her father’s wrath. Leaning closer, I lowered my voice to something conspiratorial. “How about I make you a Shirley Temple and you can just say it has vodka in it? No one will ever know.”
Her eyes lit up, wide and hopeful. “Really?”
I nodded and went to work, stirring the grenadine and soda together. Setting the glass down in front of her, I caught her fumbling for her card. I shook my head. “It’s on the house. Go have some fun tonight, Pen. You deserve it.”
“Thanks, Astoria.” Penelope smiled at me like I’d just handed her a ticket to freedom before slipping back into the crowd. I straightened, only to catch sight of one of the prospects returning from taking out the trash. I snagged him by the collar before he could disappear again. His eyes widened like I was about to string him up in the alley. “Did you see that little redhead who was just at the bar?”
He nodded quickly. “Yes, ma’am.”
“Ew. Don’t call me that.” I wrinkled my nose. “Just make sure all the Knights know that no one in this bar is to mess with her tonight.”
“You got it.” He was practically trembling under my grip. I shoved him back, and he scurried away like a terrified child. I snorted. It was rare I got to pull rank on any of them, but when I did? Damn if it didn’t stroke my ego.
I turned, picking up a wineglass to clean. My eyes lifted, just scanning the crowd until they landed on a sight that turned my stomach to ice. Nolan Bedivere, leaning down over some petite blonde at the doorway of the pool room.
I froze. My pulse thundered in my throat. He reached up, brushing a strand of her hair behind her ear like it was the most natural thing in the world. She giggled, high and fake, but it didn’t matter. The sight alone was enough to shatter something raw inside me.
The stem of the wineglass shattered in my hand before I realized how hard I was gripping it. The sharp crack silenced those nearest as glass rained onto the counter in glittering shards. A few drops of blood welled across my palm. Nolan’s head snapped toward me, eyes meeting mine across the bar. His face drained of color, knowing I had caught him flirting with that bimbo.
“Hey, I got this.” Josie appeared at my side with a broom, glaring daggers at Nolan before turning to me. “Go clean up.”
