The Drazen World: Destroy (Kindle Worlds Novella) Read Online Free PDF

like punishment. “And I only took from two artists. Two, very specific artists.”
    “Who?” More importantly, “Why?”
    “Phillip H. Moore and Skye Martin.”
    The desire in me was a thick sludge, making me slow. I had a hard time seeing the connection. “They . . . opened a gallery together last year.”
    Alec nipped the inside of my thigh. “Yes, and they used to have a third business partner.”
    Oh. It made so much sense now.
    He licked where he’d bitten me as if trying to relieve the non-existent discomfort. “It was stupid revenge, but fuck them. I struck back where I could do the most damage.”
    Because there was nothing more sacred to an artist than their art.
    “I didn’t realize what it’d do to my name,” he added. “I wasn’t thinking—”
    “You could only focus on what they’d taken from you.” I understood his dark motivations perfectly. I’d suffered from the same shortsightedness.
    “Yes.” He blinked back surprise. Alec sighed into me, kissing a line back to my center. “And you haven’t given me an answer yet. Collaborate with me. Your aesthetic and my execution could produce something . . . phenomenal.”
    There was no other option. The push and pull of his slow finger made me climb once more, and I gasped my answer. “All right.”
    I was making a deal with the devil, I was sure. No respectable deal was made by a woman when she was on her back. His mouth was sin, which was further proof. On my agreement, his tempo took off like a rocket. I groaned and reached a hand behind me, slapping my palm flat against the wood, and turned my head into my arm, hiding from him as I neared my orgasm.
    Just as I closed in, his fingers slowed and withdrew. He walked his hands beside my body, working back up until his face was level with mine, and his hips pressed against me. Alec grasped my chin and turned my face to his, dropping a kiss on my lips.
    “I have what we need in my wallet. Are we doing this here?”
    It was a clever way to ask consent, but it was also persuasive. It assumed I’d already said yes. He kept his hold of my chin, and his thumb brushed gently against it.
    I nodded slowly.
    His bright blue eyes turned warm and pleased the moment before he placed his mouth against mine and shifted so he could dig out his wallet. I lay still while he rose up on his knees, pushed his pants down, and tore open the wrapper with his teeth. His gaze never left mine as he pulled the condom out, but his hands slowed and hesitation flooded his expression.
    “What?” I asked, my vocal cords tight.
    “You . . . seem nervous.”
    I sighed and glanced away. “It’s been a while for me.”
    “Oh.” Relief tinged his voice. “I’ll go slow. And if you decide you’re not into it . . . we can go back to what we were just doing.”
    I couldn’t get a read on Alec at all. One minute he was manipulative, another he was understanding and sweet. “All right,” I whispered.
    When he was ready, he lowered down on one hand and used the other to position himself to bring us together. I held my breath. I wasn’t the woman who jumped into bed with men. I didn’t give in to lust. After Jon, sex was carefully metered out and calculated. My heart was too fragile to risk.
    As Alec began to sink inside, I told myself this was necessary to save myself. It had nothing to do with the debilitating need he’d created in me. I took another inch of him in my shameful body and continued to lie to myself. This is a transaction only. Sharing your body with him is closing the deal. You don’t enjoy it, or the sound of his hurried breath in your ear.
    But I did enjoy it.
    I moaned as he moved all the way inside until we were completely connected. The stretch of him was uncomfortable, yet familiar. It made me feel useful and needed.
    He groaned with satisfaction against the side of my neck, and then lifted his head to peer down at me. “Okay so far?”
    Again I nodded. Who knew what would come out of my foolish