The Afterthought

by K.M. Baker

To anyone looking for a man who would burn down the world for you, and then fuck you like a god in the ashes.

He grabs me by the back of the neck before I can make it any further and bends me over the arm of the couch. "If my count was correct, that was definitely less than five minutes. I'll take what I want now." Fuck, I love it when men actually take control.

The truth is people are who they are, and it's just a matter of whether or not you can accept them for it.

She stands up from the table and looks upset. He reaches out to grip her wrist, and immediately, I'm subconsciously walking across the street toward the shop. Nobody puts their hands on what's mine. Fuck what I’ve been trying to convince myself. Regardless of whether or not we are together, Avalynn Blake is mine. She has always been mine.

"If you insist on staying in Dune Valley, then you belong to me. This town is mine. As long as you are here, so are you. If I have to put my mark on you to prove it, I will."

"Tell me what I want to hear, little shadow," he repeats. "Get the fuck off of me." I squirm under his grasp, but he only holds me in place tighter. He pulls my leggings down enough to sneak his hand into them and swipes his finger across my panties. "Even your pussy knows who she belongs to. So wet for me." He's not wrong. That traitorous bitch is aching for him. My heart pounds in my chest, and my breathing is heavy.

"Such an obedient slut for me when I want to taste you." He licks his lips, and his eyes land on my glistening pussy. I shouldn't let this happen. I should kick him out, but I'm blinded by the lust. He leans in, and I almost lose my mind when I feel his hot tongue glide up my center. Immediate pleasure courses through me as he feasts on me like I am his last meal.

How did I let her get inside my head this fast? I was supposed to be making her leave town, but the only thing she hasn't been able to leave is my mind. I walked away from her all those years ago, but I don't know if I'm prepared to do it again.

Ava thinks she doesn't belong to me, but she's wrong. She’s mine, whether she wants to be or not. I'll just have to make sure I remind her every time she forgets. I'll burn anyone who tries to come between us alive and spit on their charred bones.

I would gladly light it up and watch it all burn for her. This whole town could burn for all I care.

She has this uncanny control over me. I made a mistake letting her go before. She will be mine this time, whether she wants to or not. This life, this town. She doesn't get to leave again.

She says she hates me but hate and love aren't really that different. Both inspire passion. Both require you to think of that person often. My little shadow says she hates me, but I’ll just have to remind her exactly why that’s not true at all.

"Tell me, Ava. Be a good slut, and tell me how much you hate me." Her eyes light up. "I hate you." There's my girl. She wants to play. Who am I to deny her?

Countless lines cross the entirety of her abdomen and chest. My brows furrow, and I look up to meet her glare. "Who did this to you?" I see the tears well up in her eyes, but she refuses to speak. Slowly, I lean down and tenderly kiss each one of the scars. I hear her whimper under me, and a piece of me breaks. Somebody hurt her. Somebody hurt her because I made her leave.

"When I find out who did this, I promise you they will pay. I will fucking burn them alive for hurting you." She stiffens under me. "It was a long time ago. It doesn't matter." "Someone hurt what's mine. They will pay for that."

"I wasn't yours when it happened, and I'm not yours now," she says just before I lick up the length of her. "Oh baby, that's where you're wrong. You've always belonged to me. Let me remind you how good I am to what's mine."

Her eyebrows are pinched together, her mouth is slightly open, and her eyes are squeezed shut, so I pull back. "Eyes on me," I tell her. She opens them, and reluctantly, they meet mine. It makes my heart bloom in my chest.

He grabs a handful of my hair and pulls my head back. I whimper as my back meets his chest, and I look up at him. "You don't get to come without begging for it. That's your punishment for not looking at me. Beg me to make you come like the desperate slut you are." Chills spread through my entire body. "Please."

"I fully intended to let you go. I didn't think you would ever come back to Dune Valley. You didn’t come back when your mom died, and there wasn’t anything here for you. When I saw you again, I tried to convince myself I didn't want you. I tried telling myself I could make you leave again, and things would return to normal. The truth is, you’re the only thing I’ve ever wanted more than the flames."

"Listen carefully, Avalynn. Anything that has to do with you has to do with me.

"I promise you. I will do everything in my power to find this piece of shit and give him the death he deserves. He will feel every ounce of fear you felt and then some," Greyson states with a harsh expression.

"Nobody is ever going to hurt you like that ever again," I say. She pulls her head up to look at me, and the sorrow in her eyes grips my heart like a vice. "You don't know that." "Here's what I know. The next person who tries to hurt you will end up char-grilled on a skewer stick. I'll burn them to a fucking crisp and bask in every moment of it."

"You’re my flame. Mine. And I’ll never stop flying to you. You’ll never be free of me again.”

I would burn down the world for her if it meant she never had to live with a single painful memory ever again.

"You are more than just an afterthought. You are everything. My past. My present. My future. The reason my heart beats in my chest. You are my biggest regret and my greatest gift, all at the same time. I would do anything for you if you let me."

"The problem now is that people have started to associate my love for Ava as a weakness. They will realize real soon how wrong they are. She may have my heart, but I'm that much more unpredictable when it comes to protecting her." I look him straight in the eye. "If a person even looked at her wrong, I wouldn’t even think twice about reducing them to a pile of ash. I mean it, Kai. You know I wouldn’t even feel any remorse when doing it either."

"My greedy girl." He runs his fingers through me again. "Look at you, soaking wet, and I've barely touched you. What a dirty, desperate slut." Two fingers slide into me with ease and curl up to hit the perfect spot. "Oh my God!" I cry out. "God's not here, little shadow, but I promise, what I plan to do to you will be just as heavenly."

"I would burn down the world for you. Anyone who gets in your way. Anyone who threatens you, touches you, or upsets you. I would burn it all."

"I'll always find you, Avalynn." I lean in and kiss her. "You are the very air I breathe. The oxygen that fuels the raging inferno inside me."