Lethal Temptations (Tempted #5)(8)

“You in pain, Lace?” I asked hoarsely. “Came here looking for someone to make it go away?” I ground out.

She shook her head.

“I came here, hoping someone, anyone, would see me.”

“I see you,” I said as her hand dropped from mine.

“You see what I allow you to. No one sees the real me,” she whispered.

She was going to f*cking bury me.

“Show me what you’re hiding,” I coaxed. “Take off your armor, peel back your mask and let me see you. Otherwise you’re going to let that shit tear you down. Pain is a bitch and it’ll swallow you whole if you let it.”

“Like you did?” She snapped. “You haven’t let anyone in, never ‘peeled back your armor’, you never gave anyone your pain, never gave anyone a chance to take it away from you. You hang onto it like it’s an organ you need to survive.” She paused, sucking in a deep breath. “We’re not that different, Blackie. You and I, Leather and Lace, on the outside we’re total opposites but inside, deep down inside, we’re the same.”

“God, I hope not,” I said, twisting in my stool as I stared at her.

I wanted to hang on to the belief that there was still good in this world, still purity and it was there looking back at me.

Then I saw her.

The Lacey she hid behind, the fractured soul that was tortured by the pain no one knew existed in the sweet girl with the pretty smile.

I saw her.

And I wish I hadn’t.

She wouldn’t just bury me.

She’d own me.

She’d make me wish I had given up the pain.

She’d make me wish I was a better man.

Someone who could take away her pain.

A man fit to rescue her from her demons.

She’d make me wish I wasn’t a f*cking junkie with a death wish.

She moved off her stool, stood in front of me and took one dangerous step toward me and then another, until I felt her breath against my face.

“Don’t,” I said.

“Look at me,” she whispered.

The addict in me surfaced, and I was drawn to her like any other toxic substance, lifting my eyes to hers.

“Do you see me, Blackie?” She asked, taking my face in her hands, her fingertips brushing over the scruff hiding my face.

She leaned closer, her lips just a breath away from mine.

“Say it,” she demanded, as she pressed her lips to the corner of my mouth.

I pushed back my stool, the legs dragging across the floor as I stood. Her eyes widened and her lips parted as she took a retreating step, backing herself up against the bar.

Bury me, girl.

Make it end.

I braced one arm on either side of her and gripped the edge of the bar as I caged her in.

“I see you,” I said huskily. I was about to add that I wished like hell I didn’t when her arms wrapped around my neck and her mouth came crashing down over mine. Her lips were frantic as they worked mine, begging me to respond, to give in to her and give her what she needed.

I lifted my hands to her face, heard her moan against my mouth and then I did the one thing that would secure my place in hell and bring me there soon… I gave into the lethal temptation that was Lace.

I slid my fingers roughly through her hair, tugging at the ends, forcing her to angle her head back and watched her eyes flutter open and look up at me.

Bury me.

Make it end.

I crushed my mouth over hers, my tongue slid out and ran along the seam of her lips demanding entry. She opened for me and the high I was on from the drugs faded away and was replaced by a high induced by her taste. There was nothing sweet and innocent about the way I kissed her, or even how she responded. We kissed like we needed to, like it was our survival and maybe it was for her. But for me kissing her, it was my desperation to ruin myself.

I had finally found a way out of this misery and it was wrapped around me, asking me to take away her pain. I grabbed her hips and lifted her up, her legs wrapped around my waist and her tits against my hard chest, awakening the beast inside of me.

I f*cked her mouth, creating a rhythm she easily adapted to as I started for the stairs. Her hands were everywhere, exploring my body over my clothes, before she threaded her fingers through my hair and pulled.

Driven by the need to take her pain, to claim her as mine and secure my hell, I made my way up the stairs, slamming her back against the wall once we reached the landing. I squeezed the back of her neck and kissed her so deep, so f*cking hard that she forgot whose air she was f*cking breathing.

My hands slid down her throat, over her tits, cupping them in my hands before snaking around and grabbing her ass—bringing her body flush against mine again. I stumbled back, find my balance and carried her down the hallway to my room. I kicked the door open with my boot and stepped inside, balancing her waith one arm I swiped my free hand across the desk and set her down on top of it.

I pushed my hair back from my face and stared at her, my dick straining against the denim as my eyes dipped to her chest and watched as it rose and fell with each exasperated breath. She reached out, taking my shirt in her hands and pushed it over my chest. I reached with one arm, behind me and pulled the shirt over my head, letting my messy hair fall back into my face. Her fingers ran down my chest, over each tattoo that marked my skin, stopping to flick the barbell pierced through one of my nipples.