Page 44 of The Villain

“Well, I’msosorry.” His sarcasm was noted.

I slid my hand higher until I could grip his chin, then turned his head to the side so our eyes met.

“I don’t care that you woke me. I care because you sounded like you were in pain. And no one gets to hurt you but me. Not even in your nightmares.”

Devlin went very still. I could feel his heart pounding against my forearm as his eyes shifted between mine. I let go of hischin and settled back against him, breathing into his hair. “Now sleep.”

For a long moment, he remained stiff and still. And then slowly, muscle by muscle, he relaxed against me. The last thing I felt before sleep claimed me was a ghosting touch along the back of my hand at his throat.

THIRTEEN

Cian

I woke up with the kind of morning wood that felt like a two-by-four between my legs. My body was already moving before my brain caught up, rutting against the warm, smooth skin in front of me. I opened my eyes to find the devil looking back at me, green eyes hazy with sleep and want.

His hand was working his pretty cock slowly, lazily, and I reached down to squeeze his balls. His mouth opened on a long, low moan that made my dick jerk. “Starting without me?” I asked, my voice rough.

“You—” He gasped. “—started it. Nearly stabbed me in the back with that thing.”

Fuck I wanted him. “Blow me while you jack off.”

Devlin scrambled up like an eager puppy, then slid down my body to settle himself between my thighs. He tugged my boxers down, and his mouth was on me immediately, taking me as far as he could before he gagged. His arm moved quickly as he worked his cock while stuffing his mouth. I was way too keyed up to last long, and it only took a few minutes of that hot tonguesliding over my shaft before I was coming down his throat. He sputtered around me as his body bucked, then I felt a warm splash on my leg as he came too.

Sated and still half-asleep, I let myself sink into the bed as I draped a forearm across my eyes. Devlin’s tongue hadn’t stopped its exploration, and I felt small licks across my balls, along my piercing, then up my stomach. I rested my other hand on the back of his head, tangling my fingers in his soft waves. He nuzzled the hair on my chest, then nudged my arm away from my eyes and grinned down at me, a drop of my cum still on his lower lip.

I fluttered my fingers down the knobs of his spine, then back up. I pushed his hair off his forehead. For one horrifying moment, I almost kissed him. I almost pulled his head down and tasted his lips. He was my enemy, my father’s murderer. I was supposed to kill him, not wake up tangled in some mutual morning orgasm near-kiss bullshit. What the fuck was I thinking? Was thiscuddling? Last night had clearly fucked me up bad.

I huffed and shoved him away, and he toppled to the mattress with a surprised grunt. I caught the flash of hurt in his eyes before he covered it with an eye roll. But something about that brief glimpse of emotion stabbed me in the gut.

I sat up and moved to the edge of the bed, trying to get my bearings while Devlin remained blissfully quiet behind me. I glanced over my shoulder to find him flat on his back, completely naked. His eyes were fixed on the ceiling, one hand tucked behind his head and the other resting on his flat stomach. Morning sunlight filtered through the kitchen window and cast his pale skin in a soft glow. His pink lips glistened, still swollen from taking me, as he ran his tongue along the corner of his mouth. Then he turned his head and looked at me.

I tried to picture what he’d look like without life in those pretty eyes. How the emerald would dull. How his expressive face would go vacant. My stomach cramped. Nausea swept through me, and I covered my mouth with the back of my hand as bile rose up my throat.

Devlin’s eyebrows drew together as he propped himself up on an elbow. “You just went pale. Are you okay?”

No, I wasn’t okay. I wasreallyfuckingnotokay.

I turned away from him without answering. “I’ll go make coffee.”

As I stood on unsteady legs, Devlin shot out of bed and landed on the floor with a thud before hurrying to my kitchen. He whirled around to face me with one palm out and the other already on the coffee maker.

“I’ll do it!” He flashed a smile. That stupid charming smile that made him look ten years younger. I fucking hated it. “I’ll make the coffee. Yours sucks.”

I bristled. “My coffee doesn’t suck.”

Devlin busied himself scooping the grounds from the tin. “Your first problem? The brand.” He held up the coffee can. “I know you’re not poor, Cian. Try springing for something that doesn’t taste like piss.”

“How wouldyouknow what piss tastes like?” I muttered as I joined him at the kitchen counter. I crossed my arms over my chest and watched as he poured water into the machine and turned it on. Then he grabbed matching mugs out of the cabinet, the blue ones that had been there since I was a kid. He moved around me like he owned the place as he pulled out the package of hard-boiled eggs and sliced an orange into neat wedges.

By the time the coffee was ready, he’d plated the eggs and orange wedges in some sort of pattern on a chipped plate. I took a sip of my coffee and grimaced. It was better than when I madeit. That fucker. He knew it, too, because he smirked at me over the rim of his mug.

How had we gotten here? I’d let him make me coffee, wield a knife, and nearly kiss me—all in one morning. But I couldn’t bring myself to end it. Not when he went on about how much he’d liked the burger at O'Shea’s. Or when he explained why the restaurant’s color scheme could use an update. Or when he argued that Jace needed a leash of his own.

And I stared at his mouth the entire time.

I watched his lips move and wondered what it would be like to kiss him. How would he react? Would he melt against me, or would he give me something bruising in return?

“Cian?” His voice shook me from my thoughts.