Page 37 of Bleed with Me

I could barely breathe when his weight dropped on me, but at the same time, having him this close, feeling his skin on mine, his breath on my neck and his lips almost brushing my cheek, felt like all the trouble was worth it. My breasts pushed against his ripped chest muscles with every inhale. My painfully erect nipples begged to be released and met with some attention from his hands and mouth. Despite the frightening realization that with one movement, he could ruin everything I built, I was more aroused than afraid.

Fuck. Where was my common sense when I needed it?

“I love the position,” I said in a hushed voice, panting from the exhausting, futile fight. “Very intimate. Are we going to consummate the marriage?”

“Not yet,” he replied, observing my mask. “First I want to know who you are.”

Yet? That sounded promising, but I had to focus on the more disturbing thing he said. My identity couldn’t be uncovered.

“Be careful what you wish for, hubby,” I whispered, wriggling to free my hands, without any success. He held my wrists tightly with one hand while his other traveled up my neck slowly.

“I’ve never been so certain of what I want,” he muttered, his clouded eyes locking with mine.

For a split second, I was sure I saw a spark of affection there before it shifted into something dangerous, like a predator realizing the prey wandered willingly into its jaws. His fingers tightened around my wrists possessively. A dark thrill shot through his expression, as though having me pinned beneath him was exactly where I belonged. And God help me, it felt so right.

My thundering heart missed a beat, and my lungs forgot how to take in oxygen when his hungry gaze dipped to my mask. But beneath the desire glowed confusion.

I felt his chaos, the disorder he couldn’t hide or deny. Maybe it was only my wild imagination, my deepest wish, or the desperation, but at that very moment, I would swear on my life that he considered me his.

“Dorian!”

The sudden, loud bang on the door, along with the terrifying voice, made me flinch, and Dorian abruptly woke from his trance. He blinked, lifting his eyes to stare at the door as if he wasn’t sure he had heard his name coming from behind it.

“Dorian!” the male voice yelled again, trying the doorknob, but it was locked. “I know you’re inside.”

“Fuck,” Dorian hissed, letting me go. He sat on his heels, his eyes frantically scanning the room. “Malin can’t find you here. He’d hang you from the shelf by your intestines.”

My stomach dropped. The monster from my nightmares was only a few feet from me.

“Tell your friend to unlock the door,” Dorian commanded, standing up. He wiped his hands on his sweatpants and helped me to my feet. My body cooperated, but panic quickly rose in my chest.

“Dorian!” Malin called out, his chilling voice seeping into my bones like a poisonous curse. “Fine. Your choice.”

Dorian shot me a startled look and shoved me behind the closet just as the gunshot cracked through the air. The fucking psycho shot the door, leaving a hole as big as a fist where the knob was a second ago. An alarm went off, the annoying sound piercing my skull as I shook in the tiny space between the shelf and wall. With my fingertips, I found the earpiece in my pocket and put it back in my ear, the end of Lucas’s sentence hitting me right in the gut.

“…how, but they caught me,” he mumbled, his fingers running over the keyboard. “Fuck, I can’t escape. I have to abort.”

“Go,” I whispered, hoping he heard me. I dropped the device on the floor and crushed it with my foot just as Malin walked into the office. His emotionless expression made my knees buckle.

“Someone hacked the cameras in the hospital, brother,” he announced coldly, his shadow moving across the floor as I pressed my body against the wall, trying to melt into it. “I’ll only ask once. Where are they?”

-23-

Dorian

The second my fingers brushed the edge of her mask, the universe decided to fuck with me. Her breathing hitched under me; that tiny intake of air made my cock twitch, and my brain melt.

I had her. I fucking had her!

One more second, and I would have ripped that mask off and finally seen the face of the woman insane enough to kidnap and marry me.

One more second, and that missing piece would have snapped into place.

“Dorian!”

Malin’s voice slammed into the moment like a bullet through glass, shattering it into a million pieces. For a heartbeat, I thought I imagined it. Still, my brain violently woke up, the haze peeling away like steam rising off heated metal.

Ma vilaine flinched under me, her eyes widening. I went motionless; my every muscle was tight, and my hand froze on her throat.