Black Thorns (Thorns Duet, #2)

by Rina Kent

“Funny coming from you when you were out to destroy our relationship back in college.” “It was the exact opposite, idiot.” “What?” “I remembered why I even came up with that bet. I would’ve told you before if you hadn’t ghosted all of our asses.”

Remember when Lucy had a crush on Prescott? I found out he shared those feelings, so I encouraged him to go for it. But then I saw him kissing that freshman and decided to out him. Until he told me he was drunk and mistook the girl for Lucy, and that’s why I let him have a go again.” “Are you gloating about playing matchmaker for Lucy and Prescott? You should include that in your speech for their tenth anniversary.”

You were sitting at the fountain, headphones on, listening to that god-awful loud music and humming while sketching in your notepad. Sebastian was standing by a tree, watching you and smiling. He wasn’t passing by. He wasn’t preoccupied with something else. He stayed there on purpose for several minutes.”

You were watching me while being on your husband’s arm, probably fantasizing about how I’ll tear through that tight cunt of yours and fuck it right. Should I take you on the floor like a dirty whore? Or maybe I’ll do it outside against one of the trees and give everyone a show. Your fucking husband included.”

those words, no matter how wrong they are, turn me ablaze with a wildfire. And Sebastian is the reason behind the flames. He’s the damn volcano.

His wild heartbeat makes my lips part. “Hear that? That’s the sound of my fucking heart ever since you returned. Because no matter how much I tell the fucker you betrayed it, he doesn’t understand. Make him fucking understand.”

“I wish I’d never met you. I wish you’d never returned.”

“Don’t go back to him.” “W-what?” “In the morning, stay here. Don’t fucking go back to him.” Her leg hooks over mine and she snuggles closer so her whole body is looped around mine. I turn around and hug her. For the first time in seven years, I sleep without nightmares of Naomi turning her back on me.

He’s wearing his yukata, but it’s open, revealing his lean muscled chest and his cock as he rams it into the mouth of the last person I expected. Ren. My father’s guard is on his knees in front of my husband, his shirt open, his face flushed, and his wrists are wrapped in thick rope behind his back.

“Do it right or I’ll use your ass, Ren. Actually, I’m using it anyway, but whether I take it easy or tear through you while you scream depends on how you please me,”

My husband Akira, the damn liar, and my nemesis Ren, who I’ve been metaphorically stabbing in my brain. How? When? Though I should’ve suspected something was going on when Akira insisted on working with him instead of Kai, and Ren’s reaction to it. Or the endless hours they spend together.

“I have evidence of your preferences, Ren. Something that will get you kicked out of the Yakuza and have you killed by Kai’s sword.” “No! He made me!” He points a finger at Akira, who’s merely watching us with a tilted head. “He’s lying,” Akira says with a gentle shrug of his shoulder. “His mouth wanted my dick as much as his body begged for my knife.”

“I thought you were asexual.” “I thought so, too. Turns out, I’m just selective.” “And Ren of all people is the one you selected?” He smiles, it’s rare and filled with pure sadism. “He could use some discipline. A lot, actually.” “He’s loyal to my father.” “If I want it, his loyalty and everything he has to offer will only belong to me.”

“I asked you nicely to stay, but you don’t want nice, Naomi. You want me to fucking kidnap you.”

We’re twisted. We’re fucked up. But we’re us.

“No one has.” She pants, her dark, teary eyes meeting mine. “No one has fucked me since you.”

I survived without him for seven years, but now that he’s back to touching me and being one with me, it’s torture to be away from him even for a minute.

It should’ve been my name attached to yours. My ring on your finger. My fucking arm around yours. You were my Naomi first. My fucking woman. But you went ahead and ruined it.”

He’s Abe Hitori, as in, the head of the Yakuza in New York. It was by his order that you were shot that day in the forest and held in the cell. He did that to break me in and make me into his obedient daughter. And it worked. It fucking worked. If you hadn’t gotten medical care, you would’ve died, Sebastian. You would’ve disappeared as if you’d never existed. They would’ve buried you in some damn hole and no one would’ve found your body. So yes, you asshole, I did it to save you. I left and married Akira so you’d survive.”

When Ren and Kai, my father’s men, gave me the choice of following his orders or witnessing you die, I didn’t think twice about it. I was ready to sell my body and my fucking soul if it meant seeing you safe and sound. That’s how much you meant to me. That’s how much I cared about you. But that’s not all. My father would’ve sold my younger sister, Mio, who was only fourteen at the time, without batting an eye.

And you know what? I don’t regret what I did. I don’t regret saving you from my father’s wrath and continuing to do so until now, because if he finds out I’m endangering his precious alliance with Akira, he won’t hesitate to kill you this time.”

that’s how it felt without you, Sebastian. Breathing was a chore. Waking up every day, putting a smile on my face, and pretending I was fine was a damn struggle. I’m tired… I’m so tired.”

“The only time I’ve been able to breathe was when I got back, when I saw you at that party the first time, even though you hated me.”

I hated a lot of things, including your fucking husband, whom I fantasized about killing a thousand times, but I never managed to hate you. Not for one second. Not for a single fucking breath.”

“Let’s go get you a shower and then we’ll watch one.” “We will?” “The fucking things grew on me.” “I told you they would.” “I only like them because they remind me of you.”

You’re fucking mine and that means you belong with me, not with some other asshole.” “Then get rid of Aspen, too. The next time I see her on your arm, I’ll kick you in the balls.” “You will, huh?” “Yes! And you know what else I’ll do? I won’t let you chase me.” “Now, that is pure torture.”

“I’ve never been in a relationship since you.” “Oh.” “Not even for sex. I wanted to that first year, just so I could erase you, but I couldn’t get it up for anyone. Except for the memory of you while I was in the shower. Thanks for the world’s longest cockblock.”

My dick blames you for his strained relationship with my hand, by the way.” I smile, my heart feeling lighter than it has in years. “What are you smiling at, Tsundere? My dick’s issue is a real one. That’s why I nearly broke you that first time after you came back.” I wrap my arms around his neck. “I’m just happy.” “Wow. You’re happy for my dick’s misery? Now he’ll really hate-fuck you.” I laugh. “No, I’m happy because you never forgot about me. It makes everything worth it.” “Who’ll make up for my slaughtered sex drive?” I lick my lips. “I’ll apologize with my lips. They’re friends with your cock.”

It doesn’t matter how many years have passed, he’s still the only man able to twist my stomach and make me fall head over heels. I met ten years ago, and I still have a major crush on him. I don’t think I’ll ever stop.

“Have you ever thought about going back to Japan?” “No. It reminds me of my parents’ deaths.” “I’m sorry.” “I’ll go with you, though.” “Really?” “I’d go anywhere in the fucking world with you, baby.”

“Who’s the only one who gets to fuck your tight little cunt?” “You…” “Who’s the only one you unravel around?” “You!” “Who the fuck do you belong to?” “You, Sebastian! You!”

“I love you!” I scream as my orgasm hits me and wetness like I’ve never felt before pours out of me and soaks my thighs. But I don’t focus on the embarrassment as I scream, “I love you, Sebastian!” “Only me?” “Only you.”

Until last night, I’d been suffocating with each passing second. I’d been dying and she was the only air I could breathe.

Here’s the thing. Naomi thinks I’m the one who sent her those letters. The ones you used to send through your old Japanese address. See, my family owns that building and I was curious when I learned someone from the United States had rented a PO box with my first name on it and made a request that his letters be sent from that Japanese address back to the States. I thought to myself, there must be a story there. And what a story it was.

Don’t you think it’s a wonderful coincidence that your middle name and my first name are the same, Sebastian Akira Weaver?

“And what’s your type? A skirt?” “Brunettes in a skirt. Abso-fucking-lutely.” “A blonde broke your heart?” His lips twist in what resembles disgust before he smirks. “Not as much as Akira’s wife broke yours.”

“If someone betrayed me, I’d make sure to slowly destroy their lives until they fell to their knees at my feet.” “Someone betrayed you? Is it the blonde?” “Maaaybe.”

“You’re only saying that because you’ve never loved someone so much that being apart from them feels like drowning and burning alive at the same time. You’ve never stayed up all night, staring at the fucking sky with the minuscule hope that she’s also staring at it from a different nook in the world.

“Your parents didn’t really die due to an accident.” “I kind of figured that out on my own. Mom embezzled something and she paid for it with her and Dad’s lives.” “How do you know that?” “The day they passed, I overhead them when we were in the car. As I grew up, I connected the dots.” “That’s not the end of it. Do you know who Julia stole from?” “Who?” “The Yakuza. I don’t know if it’s the same branch Akira’s connected to, but it could be.”

“You were kidnapped in Japan. They called Mr. and Mrs. Weaver and told them that if they didn’t pay, they wouldn’t be seeing their grandchild again.” “They…paid?” “Of course they did. They might have cut Nick off when he chose to be with Julia, but they always had this misconception that sooner or later, he’d come crawling back into their laps. So when they learned their precious eldest son had died, it devastated them. You were all they had left of Nick, therefore, they didn’t hesitate to pay the kidnappers.”

“Nee-chan?” “Yeah?” “I…saw him.” “Who?” “The man Papa wants me to marry. His name is Damien Orlov and he’s a leader in the Bratva.”

“That little bastard should’ve died twenty-two years ago for his parents’ sin, but I spared his life for his grandparents’ money. Turns out, it was never worth it and he should’ve joined his thieving mother.”

He killed Sebastian’s parents. My father is the reason he was orphaned at a young age and turned out the way he is now.

I might be as Tsundere as you. Whether as Sebastian or Akira, the only woman who has ever managed to flip my world upside down is you. And you bet your sweet ass that I will hold you accountable to it for as long as we live. The one you named BABE on your contact list is the same pen pal who will send you black envelopes on our anniversaries. He’s the pervert who’s fucking proud of your eclectic taste in porn. He’s the person you understood and he understood you back. He’s the friend who smiles when reading your words late at night. He’s the man who fucking loves you with everything he has and doesn’t have. Sebastian Akira Weaver

I’m mad about the whole double identity thing, but at the same time, I can’t help the giddiness at knowing he was there for me from the beginning. Even before we were officially together.

“It was all scary, but I would do it all over again for you, Sebastian. I would go to hell if it means I get to be with you.” “Good because I have a special spot in there.”

“Seven fucking years.” “Promise me we’ll never be apart again.” “Oh, I promise to chase you to the end of the world, baby.” “Yeah?” “Fuck yeah. Also, you’ll keep the promise you made seven years ago in this same place.” Her breath hitches. “What…promise?” “You’ll marry me. For real this time.” She bites her lower lip, staring at me from beneath her lashes. “You still want to marry me?” “I never fucking stopped. You’re the only woman I ever wanted to be my wife and that will never change, not even when you had a bastard for a husband before me.”

That man stole my heart when I was eighteen and has never given it back. He confiscated my body when I was twenty-one and turned each of my fantasies into a reality. And along the way, he also stole my soul. He took my innocence and twisted it into something absolutely addictive and never gave it back to me.

“You’re so fucking beautiful,” he whispers in my ear. “I want to claim you here and now, baby.” “Stop it.” I laugh, biting my lower lip. “I mean it. You’re killing me, Tsundere.” “Be patient.” “And what do I get in return?” “Chasing me?” I whisper. “In your wedding dress. In the forest.” I nod eagerly.

“I can’t believe we’re actually married, Sebastian.” “I’ll spend the rest of our lives reminding you of it.” “Promise?” “I fucking promise.” “I love you so much. I loved you seven years ago and I love you even more now.” “I’ve been in love with the idea of you since we were fucking eighteen, Nao. Then three years later, I found the one woman who not only didn’t judge me, but also embraced my crazy. I never stopped loving you, baby, not even when a part of me hated you. Not even when you left. And for the rest of our lives, I’ll love you hard, love you fucking right.”