Two Weeks Later

Lianna double-checked the room number as she turned down the hall, and paused outside when she heard voices. The chiding tone of a doctor, followed by a gruff acknowledgment.

“You’ll need help for the next few weeks, and I have to encourage you not to lift anything heavy or exert yourself. You still have a lot of healing to do.”

“How will you be getting home?”

“Taxi.”

“Of course, I’ll call you—”

“That won’t be necessary.” Lianna walked into the room, and all three faces turned in surprise. “I’m here to take him home.”

“Oh, well, that’s wonderful.” The nurse smiled at her, and then moved to slip past her. “Let me just get the final paperwork.”

“Think you can keep him from doing anything strenuous for the next few weeks?” The doctor looked at her, a joking tone in his voice, and she turned on the smile she’d practiced over years and years.

“I’ll do my best.”

“All right, well, you have the post-op instructions in your folder. I’ll go talk with Sandy and get you discharged. Hope you’re feeling better soon, Mr. Gethen.” The doctor shook his hand and then nodded at her as he left the room.

David was almost too still on the edge of the bed, his gaze floating somewhere in the middle distance between them.

“Are you going to say anything?”

He shook his head slowly, staring down at the floor as he gripped the edge of the hospital bed.

“All right, maybe start with, ‘Thank you for saving my life, Lianna’. Go on.” She smirked when he looked up at her, those dark brows lifting just a fraction.

“I believe I saved your life.”

“But I kept the pressure on you until Michael’s medic friends arrived.” Tugging her purse higher on her shoulder, she leaned against the wall and spoke a little softer. “And you did kidnap me, and… did a lot of terrible things to me.”

“So, we’re even?” His lopsided smile reappeared, but she just rolled her eyes.

“You owe me a lot of answers.”

David nodded and tried to stretch, but flinched and stopped short, groaning. “I believe you may have mentioned that when I was dying.”

“And you stayed alive like I asked. I appreciate that.”

His expression darkened and he looked away from her again. “Why didn’t you tell the police about it, about what I did?”

It wasn’t just that Michael’s cleaning crew had erased the hard-drives on David’s computers, torn down the cameras, and obliterated any trace of her being there. It also wasn’t the strange confusion she’d felt in the last weeks when the memory of his touch would appear like a phantom on her skin, and she would react with a surge of heat, not fear. The way his voice would buzz in her mind as she touched herself, remembering his strength, his hard body pressed against her. No, it had been something more inexplicable. Something darker, something no one but the two of them could possibly understand. Lianna swallowed, and told the truth. “I didn’t tell them about it, about any of it, because I wanted you back.”

His eyes snapped up to hers with such a look of shock that he almost looked angry. “You what?”

“I want you. You. The person you finally let me see, the one under the mask. The real you. The one who referred to hating me in the past tense, the one—”

“Stop.”

“You saved me, you took a bullet for me.”

“Yes, I did, and I’ve spent two weeks in a hospital because I was that foolish.” His words froze her tongue in her mouth, making her flinch as he turned away from her again. “It’s time for you to go.”

“No, listen. David, I—”

“Get out!” He shouted at her and she took a step backwards, shocked by the sudden outburst of rage. This was not how she’d imagined this going in her head.

Turning, she shoved the door to the room closed and then rounded on him. “No! I’m not going anywhere. You promised me answers.”

“Fine. Ask away, princess,” he growled, his knuckles growing white as he clenched the bedding in his fists.

“Do you still hate me? Do you still want to destroy me?”

“Oh, there are a lot of things I want to do to you right now for being this fucking stupid.”

“Answer the question! Do you still hate me?”

“No.” The word came out through gritted teeth, and she could see the dangerous man underneath the beautiful exterior, the flash of darkness, but she was hopelessly drawn to it.

“Do you still want to destroy me?” Her voice wavered as those tawny brown eyes met hers with a fierce glare.

“Right now I want to get a belt, bend you over the end of this bed, and whip you until you’re sane again.” David shook his head and looked away from her. “But no, I do not want to destroy you. That would be such a waste.”

“I know you’re trying to scare me, but it’s not going to work.”

He surged forward off the bed, stopping just in front of her as she rocked back on her heels, but she held her ground as he stared down at her. “You should be afraid of me, princess. I’m still a demon. I’m just a demon with a bullet wound right now.”

“A bullet you took to protect me, and I don’t care. You just got caught up in the same shit that I did, only you’ve known about it. It’s been inside you, twisting you, shaping you. Making you this person.”

“And you were blind to all of it. So innocent and wide-eyed.” He stroked her cheek, and then shoved his hand into her hair, painfully ripping her head back. “Tell me you’re not scared.”

“I’m not scared of you. I’m grateful. You showed me the darkness that had always been there, you took away the lies.”

His other hand caught her hip and he shoved her back against the wall, his body crowded close, the fist in her hair keeping her face angled toward his. That tingling hum at the base of her spine returned with a flush of heat. “I almost got you killed using you like a pawn. I took out my rage on you instead of your father. I tore out all of your innocence, and I forced in all of my darkness. You can’t forgive that.”

“I wasn’t innocent, David.”

“You were whole, and beautiful, and pristine, and I tried my best to destroy it.” His grip in her hair tightened, the sting sending lightning down her spine. “I liked trying to destroy you.”

“But you failed.”

“I know.” He leaned in close, breathing in at her neck, his lips brushing her skin in the lightest of touches that made her silently plead for more. “But I can see the darkness in you now, princess, and I did that. I put it there.”

“Yes, you did.” She gasped as his body leaned into hers, pressing her against the wall, his hand inching up to her waist to squeeze.

“You would have been happier if I’d left you with him, you know that, right?” Even his voice was a growl, a texture against her skin that had heat stirring between her thighs.

“It would have been a lie.”

“You’d lived the lie long enough, you could have lived it forever. Been the good little heir, followed in Daddy’s footsteps.” With a nudge, his knee was between her thighs, his thigh rubbing against her, and she chewed on her bottom lip as he traced his mouth over her collarbone.

“I want real. I want honest.” She hissed when his teeth nipped at the side of her throat, but it turned into a moan as his next movement delivered a delirious friction between her legs. “I want you,” she breathed, and he laughed low.

“You don’t know what you want, princess.”

“Yes, I do.” She nodded against the grip in her hair, trying to keep her thoughts straight as her body turned into a bed of coals that he stoked at his leisure. “I want someone who understands the darkness in my history, the shit they’re talking about on every news station. I want someone who knows the truth, who can see me for who I am. Someone other than a lifeless doll, a hapless victim of circumstance.”

“Lianna…” A low groan left him as she used his own words against him, his hips rocking against her. “No. I won’t. I’ve already ruined your life, I won’t be responsible for filling you with more darkness.”

He released her and pulled away, leaving her heart racing, her skin hot, but she caught his arm and pulled him back. “That’s my choice, not yours.”

Leaning up on her tiptoes, she wrapped her arms behind his neck to bring his lips to hers, and she poured everything she had into the kiss. Desperate to get through to him, to not lose this connection, no matter how terrifying and unpredictable it was.

David was stiff for a moment, and then the hum of a growl buzzed against her mouth and he had her pressed to the wall. He nipped at her lip, and when she took in a breath he deepened the kiss. Their tongues clashed, warring for a moment, and her skin was alight with energy. It was like all the color in the room was amplified whenever he touched her, like the world was half-asleep until his touch woke it up.

“Dammit, princess,” he broke the kiss, pressing his forehead to hers. “I’m not a good man.”

“You’re not good? My father is responsible for so much horror that there’s a court case being put together about it.” She twisted her hands in his shirt and pulled him harder against her. “I’ve got plenty of darkness to share.”

“None of that was your fault. I was being an asshole.” His hands squeezed in at her waist, and she lifted up to press another kiss to his lips.

“What happened to your mother and father wasn’t your fault either, and you got your revenge. Everyone knows the truth now. The world is digging through those files. You finished his plan.”

“I’m still not a good man.” He rubbed himself against her, the erection straining the front of his pants, his hands roaming up to brush her breasts through her top, and then his lips were on her neck. “Even right now I want to hear you scream again.”

“That’s fine, I’ve been fantasizing about it anyway.” A smile spread across her lips as he leaned back to look at her in surprise.

“Have you?” he asked, a low rumble in his chest.

“Yes.” It was the truth. He was at the center of the storm with her even though his name wasn’t in the media. They were two halves of the same fucked up coin, except she’d only ever seen the light, and he’d only had the dark. It was time for them to share. He deserved some light, and she’d realized she craved the dark. His dark. Lowering her voice, she traced the hard ridge of his cock through his pants. “When we get back to my apartment, I’ll scream for you, I’ll cry for you, I’ll beg you to fuck me. I want you, David, and I’m not confused about who you are.”

“If I touch you right now, will you be wet, princess?” That wicked grin spread across his perfect lips, and she shifted her feet a little farther apart in invitation. One fist caught her by the hair, holding her back against the wall, and the other slid down her side until he could gather her skirt up and push her panties aside. The first brush of his fingers between her lips made her hips buck forward, and he teased her clit for a moment, too light, his eyes tracing her face as she bit down on her bottom lip to stay quiet. Then he thrust two fingers deep, and she couldn’t hold back the gasp as heat blossomed and rushed through her veins.

“David,” she whimpered, and he captured her lips again as he teased and tormented her, winding her up until she was slick and grinding against his hand.

He stopped as suddenly as he’d started. Lifting his fingers to his lips, he drew them in and groaned as he tasted her. “You still taste like heaven.”

“Does this mean you’ll come with me?” Lianna asked, breathless.

“I’m going to ruin you.”

“You’ve already ruined me, I’m just asking you to fulfill your promise.” She rolled her hips against him and he growled and pinned her back against the wall.

“What do you want from me? It’s yours.”

“I want to know all of it.”

“All right,” he nodded, his hips rubbing against her in a method that was almost too distracting.

“I want you to always be honest with me.”

“If we don’t leave soon, I’m going to fuck you on the floor until you’re in need of medical attention.” He bit down on her shoulder, and she felt a growl in her own chest as she squirmed against him. “How’s that for honesty?”

“Perfect.” She had to stifle a moan, focusing. “And I want a promise.”

“Anything.”

“Don’t call me princess again.” A moan slipped from her lips as he rocked between her thighs. They were making out like teenagers and she could barely think straight.

“Okay, I’ll go with angel. My fallen angel. Now choose where I’m fucking you, because it’s either here with Nurse Sandy as an audience or somewhere else.”

“My apartment.”

“How far?”

“Ten minutes.”

He pulled her away from the wall and with great effort pried himself back. His eyes were wild with energy, his beautiful face flushed, his hair a mess from her hands in it. “Lead the way.”

“You’re not going to walk with me?” She smiled when he growled.

“I’m going to follow you, and then in the car I’m going to describe in detail what I will do once I have you naked behind a locked door.”

“Do I get a hint?”

“It’s going to make you scream.” Heat hit her cheeks and she had to swallow as a dizzying wave of arousal almost made her knees buckle. “You should start moving now, angel. I’ve spent enough years waiting to have you.”

Lianna ripped the door open and started back down the hall, but she could feel him behind her, like a stalking animal, and it had slick heat pooling between her thighs. As she paused by the nurse’s station for him to gather his papers, she saw yet another news broadcast about the dissolution of Mercier Systems, a flash of the building on the screen that had been her home for her entire life.

But not anymore.

No more ignorance, no more naïveté, no more lies.

She was going to be someone new. Someone stronger. Someone that didn’t flinch back and hide from the darkness. Now, she was going to make the darkness hers.