The better option would’ve been to carry her to bed, to be a fucking human being, but I have no patience to reach the bed right now. The small distance seems like a light-year away. My steel-like control is null and void when it comes to this woman.

That’s why I keep her away from the brotherhood. That’s why I’d rather we don’t go out in public. I’m always tempted to go on a killing spree if anyone so much as looks in her direction, let alone talks to her. I’m always tempted to lock us both in a place no one can find us.

I unbuckle my pants and yank them down with my boxer briefs to free my engorged dick. Lia watches me, unblinking, unmoving. She even stops breathing for a second.

She’s usually watched my erection with a half-stunned, half-excited expression, and I’m praying for the excited part to win, because I’m on the verge of blowing up.

“I’m going to fuck you hard and fast tonight, Lia. I won’t be gentle. I can’t be gentle, but if I hurt you, if it becomes unbearable, tell me.”

Her chest rises and falls heavily, her rosy-tipped breasts pushing up and down with every movement.

“Is that clear, Lia?”

She nods once, her gaze sliding to mine.

“Use your words. I want to hear you.”

“Hear me?”

“Your voice. I want to hear it, Lia. So when I fuck you, don’t mute yourself from me.”

“Why is that so important to you?” she whispers.

“Because it’s all of you.” And because she’ll be my Lia. Wholly. Fully.

My arm is still wrapped around her waist as I use my other hand to part her thighs and rip her underwear. It comes undone in one go, coupled with her gasp, as I slam inside her wet heat.

She welcomes me into her warmth, walls clenching and legs trembling. Her body caves into mine and her arms wind around my shoulders, nails clawing at my skin with every roll of my hips.

As promised, I take her hard and fast. Her back hits the mirror with each of my thrusts. I can feel her tightening around me in preparation of her orgasm.

But not yet.

I pull out of her and she releases a sound that’s caught between a gasp and a whine. I bite her lip into my mouth before releasing it and flipping her around so she’s facing the mirror.

Her eyes widen when she sees herself, half-naked, the nightgown bunched around her waist. She quickly bows her head when I thrust inside her. I clutch her jaw, fingers digging into her flesh, and tip her head in the direction of the mirror. “Look at your face when I fuck you. Look at how your body responds to me.”

She tries to break eye contact again, seemingly ashamed of what she’s seeing, but I keep my firm hold around her jaw, immobilizing her.

“Look at me, Lia.”

She doesn’t, so I roll my hips, pounding deeper into her, my fingertips sinking into her leg. “Look at me.”

Her eyes meet mine through the mirror, hesitantly, almost as if she’s afraid of what she’ll find on my face. I’m not sure what she sees—it could be my animalistic need for her, my dark obsession with her, or the secrets and lies that wind our lives together.

Whatever it is keeps her rooted in place as I fuck her harder, powering into her with a maddening urgency. I place a protective hand around her stomach so she doesn’t hit the dresser’s edge with each of my raw thrusts.

Her small, perky breasts bounce and her legs tremble with the power of my hips.

“Adrian…” she moans, her voice the sweetest, most erotic, throaty sound I’ve ever heard.

She doesn’t bite her lip, doesn’t even attempt to look away from me.

Lia’s moans rise in the air like the time I fucked her after she was kidnapped. They’re raw and hungry, leaving the corners of her soul and slamming straight into mine.

That only manages to get me harder, my pace rising and my rhythm spiraling out of fucking control.

The fact that she’s letting me hear her voice, unbound, unmodified, fills both my groin and my chest with an unmatched sense of lust, of ownership, and something else entirely different.

I’ve always been meant to ruin this woman, but I also get to own her.

To confiscate her.

To have her all for myself.

Lia comes with a hoarse cry, her fingers gripping the edge of the dresser. I join her soon after, spilling my seed into her and staking my claim.

Harsh breathing fills the air as we both slowly descend from our high. Lia still doesn’t look away from me, as if her enchanting eyes are caught in a trance.

I brush my lips against her shoulders. A sheen of sweat covers her skin, but I couldn’t give a fuck about that. Everything about her is perfection.

“Adrian?” she whispers.

“Hmm?” I mumble, continuing my slow nibbling on her skin. I’m only giving her some downtime before I carry her to bed and fuck her again. Slower this time. Though I’m sure that when I’m inside her, I won’t be able to control myself.

Again.

“Have I been good?”

“Very, Lenochka.”

“Do I deserve a reward?”

“Hmm.” I slide my tongue up her throat before my lips meet her ear. “What do you want?”

“I want to go outside with Jeremy.”

“You do, every day.” I resume nibbling on her neck, fingers fondling her breasts and nipples, making her gasp.

“N-not to the garden.”

“Then where?”

“The park. A place with actual children and people he can see.”

“Security hazard. No.”

“Adrian, please.” She turns around to face me, so that she’s caged between me and the dresser, and places a soft hand on my chest. “Kids his age need to go outside and meet other children. It’ll just be for a few hours, and I’m sure your guards will keep an eye on us.”

I don’t like them outside, not even when my guards are with them. But I know that she’s been stressed. I’ve sensed it in her absentminded gestures lately and the rising intensity of her nightmares. If she doesn’t release that tension, she could—and will—start acting out soon.

While I’m not sure about the extent of what happens, patterns don’t lie, and she’s developing one.

But instead of agreeing readily, I raise a brow. “One condition.”

Her eyes light up. “What?”

“From now on, you’ll let me hear your voice.”