I close my eyes.
He raped her. He fucking raped her.
Before our honeymoon at some point. This whole time I thought it was some asshole she dated. Not my own goddamn brother.
“H-He, uh, he was d-devastated after your mom k-killed herself. Y-You were gone and I w-wanted to help. I went to check on him.” A sob escapes her. “He was c-crying and I was crying. And…and…”
I open my eyes and slide my hands to her hips. “And…”
“I had t-to get the b-blood off him,” she sobs, trembling. Her hands frantically cup my face. “I had t-to help him.”
Sweet, innocent fucking Talia.
“Kostas, don’t hate me.” Her face crumples. My heart crushes.
I hastily swipe away something wet on my cheek. The ache that settles in my muscles dulls the fury. He hurt her. He hurt my fucking wife.
“Kostas,” she whimpers.
I grip her throat again and pull her close. Our lips brush against the other. “Tell me all of it.”
Her fingers slide into my hair as she steals a kiss. Soft. Sweet. Apologetic.
I hate it. I hate the apology in her kiss. It’s dirty and wrong.
“Tell me,” I whisper. “Talia, fucking tell me.”
She needs to say it and I need to hear it.
“I was worried about him,” she whines. “And then…I don’t remember how it happened. He was j-just on me. K-Kissing me. The towel was g-gone and…”
Her body wracks with sobs. My fingers trace over her ribs and then my palms slide to her back, pulling her closer. She rests her forehead against mine. Salty tears fall on my face, mixing with my own.
He broke her.
He broke my fucking Talia.
And in doing so, he broke me.
“Tell me,” I plead. I need her to say the words. To hand me the proverbial sword. I need to destroy and wage war. I need blood. I need fucking vengeance.
“He was so strong,” she breathes. “I was scared.”
Her lips press to mine, attempting to distract me. I nip at her bottom lip in warning.
No distractions. No more lies.
I need the truth.
“And then…and then he forced his way in.” She sucks in a sharp breath before breaking down. “It hurt s-so bad, K-Kostas. I hated it. I was scared you would hate me.”
I grip her jaw and kiss her hard before pulling away. Our eyes lock. Intense. Vicious. Feral.
“I could never hate you. I love you, goddammit,” I growl, enunciating every word. “I love you so much it’s killing me to hear this.”
“I wanted to tell you,” she whimpers. “But he said you’d kill me.”
My chest feels like she cracked it open, shoved her hands inside, and scooped out my fucking soul.
“Talia…” My voice is low and deadly. I need her to understand me. “I would never fucking hurt you. Ever. Even if you slept with the motherfucker of your own free will. Fucking. Never. Don’t you see? I’m under your goddamn spell. You got inside me. It was so fucking dark and, Jesus, Talia, you were all light. I wanted that light so bad I could taste it.” I kiss her supple lips. “I’d never hurt you. Do you hear me? Never.”
Her kiss is frantic—thankful and desperate—as she claws at my tie. I rip her pants roughly down her ass as she sits up to aid in my effort. We’re both clumsy and overly eager as we yank off our offending clothes that stand between us. I manage to get my jacket and tie off by the time she pulls away her pants and underwear. She works on my slacks as I pull hard on my shirt, and the buttons go flying. As soon as my cock is free in her hot, soft hand, I grab her hips, pulling her to me. My hand wraps around hers to hold my cock as she slides down over my length. With a hard thrust, I drive into her from beneath her. We both groan in unison.
“Kostas,” she cries out. “I missed you.”
Our lips crash together as her fingers claw at my bare skin on my chest. She pushes the fabric down over my shoulders so she can dig her nails there too. My fingertips bite into her hip as I guide her to fuck me rough and fast. Being inside her is the best fucking feeling in the world.
Sliding my free hand between us, I find her clit to offer her some quick pleasure. I won’t last long. Not after a year of celibacy. I’m going to come like a teenage boy. Soon.
Her pussy clenches around me when I rub her clit in firm, rough circles. I hiss in pleasure, spiking my hips up harder. She bites on my lip and rakes her nails down over my pectorals.
“Fucking come, Talia,” I bark out. “I need you to come before I embarrass myself in front of my wife.”
She smiles against my lips and rocks her hips in unison with the way I rub her. When sweet whines begin climbing out of her throat, I know she’s finding ecstasy with me. I pinch her clit in the way she used to love and am rewarded with a full-bodied shudder. My name screeches past her lips as she comes wildly. The frantic, feral way in which she does it is enough to send me over the edge. I lean forward and suck on her neck hard enough to mark her as my nuts seize up. Grinding up into her, I groan as I flood her with a year’s worth of pent-up release.
Her arms circle around my neck as she hugs me to her. I bury my nose against her flesh, inhaling her sweaty, unique scent. I lick her salty skin and brand her with my teeth. I’m already hardening again like I’m fifteen years younger.
Fuck.
She does this to me.
I stand with her in my arms and kick out of my slacks and shoes. She holds on, worshipping me with her kisses as I carry us to our bed so I can return the favor. We fall into the bed—where we fucking belong—and I kiss her deeply. She helps me rip my shirt off the rest of the way and then I’m driving into her slowly, my eyes glued to hers.
I want to see her.
I want to look at her for-fucking-ever.
We spend hours tasting and teasing and fucking. I can’t keep my dick out of her. We’re sweaty and messy and fucking exhausted. And yet, we can’t part ways. It isn’t until we’ve showered and I’m about to bend her over the bed again that we’re dragged from our sex-fest haze.
“Da-da-da-da-da.”
The baby babbling in the other room warms me to my soul.
“I’ll get her,” I grunt as I yank on some boxers. Talia grabs one of my T-shirts from the drawer to wear as I leave to get our baby.
When I turn on the light, Zoe watches me with wide blue eyes. Fuck, she’s so damn perfect. I stalk over to her and pluck her from the crib. Hugging her to me, I inhale her hair.
“I love you, agapiménos,” I whisper. “I will kill that motherfucker for stealing you and your mother from me.”
I consider telling her all the horrible ways I will torture that monster, but then I figure that’s not a fatherly thing to do. It’s something my father would do. And I’m not him.
Carrying her back to the room, I can’t help but smile when I see Talia cozied up in our bed. She’s so fucking beautiful with her hair wet and messy. Her lips raw from kissing. Purple bruises from my mouth littering her skin.
I settle on the bed and adjust the little one so she’s nestled between us. On my side with my arm propped under my head, I admire the cute as fuck kid we made. Talia mimics my position and smiles proudly at our daughter.
Aris—my goddamn brother—took from me.