Page 22 of After the Chase

"What are you writing?"

I tilt the journal so he can see. His eyes scan the page, reading my observations about the carjacking, my reaction and fears.

"You liked how powerful I looked?" he says.

"Yes."

"While I was killing them."

"Yes."

His hand tightens on my shoulder. "And that upsets you?"

I close the journal and turn to face him. "It makes me question myself. Noah, this isn’t me, is it? It scares me how nothing you could do would ever turn me away. I’m struggling to accept it."

His eyes search my face, looking for deception, but he won't find any.

"You're not afraid of me," he observes.

"No."

"You should be."

"I know."

He pulls me to my feet, his hands framing my face. "I've killed a lot of people, baby, and you’re still here. You never changed, this was always inside of you, the darkness waiting to be found."

“Your manipulation isn’t helping.”

“How can I manipulate what you already feel?”

This guy is a class A manipulator and he has no shame in it. But I’ll never fight the pull I have toward him.

“You’re an asshole.”

“Then why are you with me?”

I take a breath. "Because I love you. Because I understand you in a way no one else ever will. Because watching you today, seeing you move like that made me want you more.”

He kisses me hard and full of passion. When he pulls back, his eyes are wide with nothing but feral need.

"I'm going to fuck you," he says. "And while I do, I want you to tell me exactly what you felt watching me kill those men."

My cock hardens instantly.

He strips me efficiently, then pushes me onto the bed. He doesn't bother with preparation beyond slicking his fingers with lube. I'm still loose from earlier, still open for him.

When he pushes inside me, I gasp at the stretch, the fullness, the absolute savagery of it.

"Talk," he says, his hips moving in slow, deep thrusts.

"I was terrified at first," I manage. "When I saw the gun. When I realized what was happening."

"And then?"

"Then you moved. So fast. You broke his wrist before I even processed what you were doing."

He thrusts harder, deeper. "Keep going."