Shadowed (Team Zero #4) by Rina Kent

Her head still leans against my shoulder when I’m finished. With a smile, I place a kiss on her throat where she’s sensitive the most. She arches against me, so I do it again, slightly biting. This time, a stifled moan leaves her.

“Come on, beautiful.” I let the cloth drop to the ground and place both hands on her hips while she’s still against me. “Open those hypnotic eyes.”

She remains still, so I suck her earlobe into my mouth and nibble on the sensitive skin.

Her moan comes out unrestrained. She sags against me and twists her head to the side, asking for more.

So I give it to her.

I slip my hand underneath her bra until my fingers find a perfectly erect nipple and twist it while biting her neck at the same time.

She gasps, then releases a series of needy sounds.

“You want more of that, beautiful?”

She nods into my chest, her sweet scent filling my nostrils the more her hair brushes against my bare chest.

Still kissing her neck and pinching a nipple, I slip her trousers and underwear down her parted legs.

She’s still hiding her neck in my chest, but Zoe will never be able to hide from me. She can run, and she did, but she never hid. I found her and I’ll continue to find her every fucking time.

I let her believe she’s hiding from me with her atrocious acting skills. I lift her and pull her closer so she’s straddling my lap. My hard as stone erection presses against her wet core. She’s ready for me.

A wave of possessiveness hits me. Zoe will always belong to me and only me.

I unhook her bra and replace my fingers with my mouth on her rosy-perfect-for-my-mouth nipple. She thrusts her chest forward and I reward her with a sharp bite. She cries out and clenches against my erection inviting me in.

With my head still buried in her breasts, I roll my hips and sink inside her. It’s a slow, almost torturous rhythm like I never did before. Zoe and I started with a battle. We grew with a battle. Every encounter was about conquering and winning. In truth? We’s been losing to each other all the fucking time.

This once, I want to savour every inch of her. I pamper her heated skin with a thousand kisses as I pound into her warmth with passionate, slow strokes.

She’s so fucking tight and right.

And mine.

Hades can mould me into a robot again, but he’ll never make me forget this. Her warmth. Her sweet scent. Her soft noises. How much she belongs to me.

I’d always been aimless. Rubbish Boy. Shadow. A nobody. For this woman, I want to be fucking somebody. Someone worthy of her and the life she’s carrying in her womb.

At the thought, I place a hand on her stomach and continue thrusting into her with escalating urgency. Her breathing deepens and she’s moving more frantically which means she’s close. The thought of her carrying my child springs a jolt of primitive desire.

My thrusts turn harder and faster as I drive her into orgasm. I follow right after. My release is the wildest I’ve ever had. It’s almost comparable to the first time I had her – almost. This one is nothing like an orgasm and more like a realisation. A fucking light bulb going off in my head.

I, Shadow, Rubbish Boy, who never had anything belonging to him has this woman and a mini human being that I hope as fuck looks like his mother.

Zoe collapses against me, arms encircling my waist. Our heavy breaths mingle together and fill the silence of the room. A sheen of sweat covers our skin and her citrus scent is all I can smell and taste.

She lifts her head and leans her chin against my chest. Her cheeks are crimson. I missed a few smudges of blood when I wiped her. Her eyes are puffed out from so much crying, but their green drips with affection that knots my heart.

“I love you.” Her words drift in a whisper, but the emotions behind them roar loud. “Don’t go.”

If there’s a moment I can freeze, then this will be it. I want this to be on fucking repeat.

I tuck a rebellious strand behind her ear and try to wipe the blood off her cheek. It won’t come off and I fucking hate the sight of blood near her. That filthy stuff is for people like me, not her.

“Remember when you told me I’m a hollow monster?”

Her lips twist. “That was before. I –”

“I know.” I cut her off. “You were right. I was a monster, and I sure as fuck was hollow that I only cared about myself. But guess what?”

She shakes her head violently, her voice on the verge of breaking. “I don’t want to guess anything. I want you to stay.”

I steal a quick kiss from that pouting mouth. “You filled me up, Zoe until I have no fucking room even for myself. So whatever happens.” I take her hand and place over my heart. “You will always be here.”

“If you leave.” She threatens even though her lower lip trembles. “I’ll find myself another man.”

My mood blackens and I see fucking red. The possessiveness returns with a choking hold. The idea of her with another man sickens me and calls for that primal savageness in me.

“Keep it up, beautiful. Just be ready to feel guilty when I kill the sorry fuck.”

“Then don’t go!” She hits my chest. “Stay. Please.”

Hearing her beg and not being able to do anything about it is like bleeding with no way to stop the haemorrhage. So I result to bargaining. “If I don’t do this, it’ll come back and haunt us.”