Ruthless Lover

RUTHLESS LOVER The Institute Series A.K ROSE ATLAS ROSE Copyright © 2023 by A.K Rose All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review. Contents 1. Alexi 2. Alexi 3. Leila 4. Alexi 5. Leila 6. Alexi 7. Alexi 8. Alexi 9. Leila 10. Alexi 11. Leila 12. Alexi 13. Leila 14. Alexi 15. Leila 16. Alexi 17. Alexi 18. Alexi 19. Leila 20. Alexi 21. Leila 22. Alexi 23. Alexi 24. Alexi 25. Alexi 26. Alexi 27. Leila 28. Leila 29. Alexi 30. Leila 31. Alexi 32. Alexi 33. Leila 34. Alexi 35. Leila 36. Leila 37. Alexi 38. Alexi 39. Alexi 40. Leila 41. Leila 42. Leila 43. Alexi 44. Leila 45. Alexi 46. Alexi 47. Leila 48. Alexi 49. Leila 50. Alexi 51. Leila ONE Alexi Now… There was pain in her eyes before they closed. A cruel pain…a cutting pain. Pain I caused. “I hate you.” Her voice shook as though deep down she didn’t believe those words at all. Still, I played her game. “I know you do.” Her jaw clenched with the trail of my finger along the edge of it. Muscles flexed under my touch. She felt this. The heat of my breath on her cheek. The hardness of my cock. My betrayal. One she wore on the side of her face. I caressed the deep purple bruise as disgust grew inside me. It was a cold, dark empty pit, filled with the demons of my past. I’d existed in that pit for what felt like forever, fighting those beasts with teeth and claws, desperate to survive. Never once stepping into the light…until I met her. Then I fucked it up, didn’t I? In the worst possible way. I skirted the deep purple edge, then trailed down her throat. Her breath caught; panic filled her eyes before she swung. Slap. My head jerked with the blow. Heat followed, searing through my cheek. Her lips curled; sparks ignited in her eyes. I took that rage. I needed that rage. Because it was better than not having anything at all. It was better than not having her at all. Agony consumed me at the thought, my heart pounded harder. Still, I forced myself to focus, to be consumed by the sting in my cheek and the disgust in her eyes. She was real and alive, safe with me, even if she thought otherwise. Her screams filled my head. Gut wrenching screams. Hopeless screams. The screams of agony and betrayal. The sight of that man on top of her, holding her down while she fought. My throat thickened and I glanced to the purple outline of her jaw. All because I used her family to get myself out of this fucking mess…a mess that almost killed her. She’s alive…she’s alive and that’s all that matters. Everything else I’d handle… Even if it meant a bullet to the brain. My touch trembled as I trailed down her throat to the hollow at the base of her neck. Her blow came again, this time curled into a fist. I moved, catching her feeble blow with my other hand. Hard commanding breaths consumed the space between us. The sound raspy and ragged. I captured her fist, dragged her hand over her head, forcing her spine to arch, jutting her breasts upwards. With my other hand I gripped her wrists, pinning them in place before I turned my attention back to her. Her chest stilled, a shudder tearing free as I grazed along the edge of her dress over her breast. Her hips bucked from the bed in a surge of desperation. “Get the fuck off me, you lying piece of shit!” But I couldn’t leave her. Not anymore. I grabbed the strap of her dress and yanked, tearing the satin strap down her shoulders, spilling her breast free. That resounding thud in my chest grew louder. The back of my finger crested her small, firm breast. Her nipples hardened instantly. Puckering under my gaze. My mouth watered and balls grew tight. I lifted my focus to hers. Her eyes are wide open; panic, desire and hate swirled inside them like a hurricane. Hate for me…hate for what I’d done…and what I was. “You do this and I’ll never forgive you.” “I know,” I repeated. Because it’s all I have left now. I know… I know I don’t deserve you… I know I’m dead after this…so please…give me this moment…just give me…you…once more. That sickening dread inside me howled and raged, screaming at me to stop. To crawl from this bed like the piece of shit I was. Vile…lowest of the low. I wished I was stronger. I wished I could let her leave, even though she’s now ruined…ruined by me. I should wipe myself from her existence. Hand myself over to the Commission and fall on my knees, taking whatever punishment they delivered. Death. That’s what would come for me. I knew that. There was no way they could let me live. Not once they knew the truth. That need to do the right thing raged in the back of my mind. Still, I gagged that scream, my hand pressed over the bastard's mouth. Muffling his pleas. Hunger is what drives me now, and it has nothing to do with using her anymore. Because I don’t want to use her…I wanted to own her. To consume her…to have her again and again and again. The back of my finger circled that tight little rose-colored nub before falling lower. She shivered under my touch. I caught the ripples along her belly before I found my way to the slit of her dress. She stiffened as I widened the part. “No, Alexi…no.” Her words were a whisper. Still, they howled like a hurricane in my head.