Severed by Vengeance (The Severed Signet, #1)

by Elle Maldonado

To all my readers who long to be devoured in the flames of passionate and all-consuming love. But also crave to be ravaged. Taken. And disrespected in the best way.

“You know”—she bit into what sounded like an apple—“this is the perfect way to have some cheap D-list actor play you in one of those murder docs, right?”

“Did he hurt you?”

“There’s something to be said about tragedies and how they shape the core of who we are. We either overcome or fall victim to our demons.”

Eva was mine. Mine to mark, wreck, and put back together as I pleased—only mine. And whoever had dared to touch her was as good as dead.

The ink on my body was a road map, a graveyard, and an altar to the dead. It bore the demons of my past, born of tears and despair. And those of ghosts forged in blood and darkness. And one day, a piece of her, too, would carve my flesh.

“Oh, of course not. They just fall at your feet, don’t they?” “Or crawl to them.” His voice deepened, and he threw me a sly gaze.

“But you on your knees, Evangelina—now, that’s something I would never forget.”

“Derek… we’re practically cousins.” What the actual fuck did I just say?

No doubt some warning about me. I wasn’t fluent, but I knew enough to understand her advice about making decisions with her head and not by what was between her legs—even though I looked good enough to eat. Her words. Not mine.

So, this was what they meant about feisty Latinas? I was oddly turned on.

I felt strangely… vulnerable.

Derek, that’s some Armageddon-level shit you’re about to jump balls deep into.”

why did I have this craving, this need to be ravaged, tossed around, and disrespected in the worst and best ways possible?

“But you’re no angel, are you? I can feel how wet that sweet little cunt is for me. Goddamn, Eva, you’re going to soak straight through my pants.”

“When I fuck you, Eva, I’m going to wreck you. Do you hear me? Every part of you belongs to me now. That sweet pussy only gets wet for me.” His breath fanned hot over the shell of my ear. “And when that time comes, you’ll be on your knees, taking this cock like a good fucking girl.”

As exhilarating as those thoughts were, they threatened to take me to a dark place I didn’t care to visit any longer. A moment in time when she was once the object of my revenge and the woman I had set out to destroy.

Nothing and no one else matters to me. I’d bathe the whole goddamn world in blood for you.”

“Never. But you, Eva, I’d give you the whole world. Just ask, and it’s yours.”

“You know, for a so-called detective, you sure are good at missing those brightly colored red flags.”

I loved her. I fucking loved her. And I needed her back.

“Don’t you do that. That’s not your burden to bear because I’d do anything and everything to have you. I’d make this whole goddamn world burn for you, Eva.”

what my heart and brain wanted were two different things.

The chef couldn’t make it, so he decided to prepare the meals himself.

“Baby, I got about 100 different ways to make you swoon, moan, and scream for me.