My Blade, Your Back (Dark Forces #2)

by K.M. Moronova

“I’ll figure you out, you know,” I muse, pressing my hands to the table as I rise. His sage eyes meet mine, warming as he takes in my smile. “Oh? And how do you plan on doing that?” I stroll out of the small room. “I’m not sure yet, but I’ll find your weakness. You can’t hide whatever it is you’re keeping from me.”

There it is again. Something so familiar, yet no more than a nagging whisper over my shoulder. I’m afraid I’ll become infatuated with that nostalgic feeling.

“You remember that?” His voice lowers with thought—with hope.

“Fine. But don’t expect much past getting along,” he snipes. I grin at how unthreatening it sounds. I’m starting to think he’s all teeth and no bite.

I lean forward to steal a glance at his book. He pulls it behind his back and a boyish grin flashes across his lips. “I’m afraid I don’t like sharing what I read.”

My eyes spring open and I look up, my nose only a breath away from Mori’s. His eyes light up as mine do.

I would do anything for her. Even if she never remembers my love for her.

He looks like he’s barely awake, skin so pale it makes the cold blush from the wind bright red across his cheeks and the scar on his eye darker. It only makes him more lovely.

“As mad as I am that you pushed me away, not very many people get to fall in love with the same crazy person twice.”

“There could be endless versions of you, and I’d love each one as fervently and entirely.”

“I love you. I love every wrong thing you’ve done, every right. We are far from perfect, Cam. Even though I’m still mad at you, I never want to take another breath without you near,”

“I will always choose you, Em. Over anything. I want to prove that to you. No matter what becomes of me and the monster they made me, I’ll only obey you.”

“Why do you think? Is Lieutenant Belerik not your half brother? Does he not have claim to half of what you’ve stolen from his rightful place in the Mavestelli bloodline?”

I am only a wicked man filled with demons, but she makes me feel like the sea on a stormless night—calm and clear.

“Part of me believed that you might tell your father. You were so angry with me… I didn’t know where your alliance was.” She leans back and looks at me like I’ve just torn her heart from her chest.

It’s then that I grasp the fact that perhaps Greg is much deeper in with the Dark Forces than I initially thought he was.

Does he have an in? How else would he have this much involvement in their operations?

One person comes to mind. Nolan.

I watch with stones in my stomach as Cameron walks to the keypad and enters in the same long code as he did in Coronado. The door opens and we set to climbing up.

Cameron has been working with Reed for far longer than he’s known about Belerik being my uncle. I don’t have time to scrutinize it right now, but the list of questions I have for both Cameron and Erik is growing exponentially.

I hate how easy it is for my anger to fade when it comes to him.

His pale hair is tousled like he had a difficult time deciding if he was going to enter my room or not. I don’t know why I find that so endearing, but I look away before smiling about it.

I understood it more when I was older, but as a child, I never understood why she distanced herself from me. Her lack of love and emotional abandonment made me a depressed artist; my father’s cold heart made me a killer. Reed, however, made me the executioner that will be remembered. The perfect cocktail to make monsters.

His hand gently comes down on the door knob over mine and instead of opening it, he flips the lock. I suck in a breath and hold it as he turns me around, gliding his fingertips over my collarbones. I’ve yearned for his touch, even when I’d forgotten him, I still longed for his hands to caress me.

“They took my hair because they knew I loved it, but I couldn’t shed a single tear over something as fickle as hair when what I truly loved was you. They can take everything from me as long as it isn’t you,”

“You’re not allowed to love someone as monstrous as me, Em. Not after everything I’ve done,” he says sadly, his British accent is heavier when he whispers. I smile at the sound of it. He leans forward, hesitating a moment before giving in and letting our lips connect. The world falls apart. The ocean of worries seizes its waves. The only thing that matters to me in all the universe is here. It’s him.

“I can’t help it. Even when I forgot who you were, I was falling in love with you all over again,” I say between his starved kisses. “I’m still mad at you and expect answers, but for tonight let’s forget everything except each other.”

“You never lost your ire. Not once.” He half chuckles and continues to undress me. “I love you, Em. I’ve loved you since before the last trial. Part of me hoped you’d never love me ...

“I’m going to kill every last one of them,” Cam vows with a hushed tone. “We’re going to,”

I laugh, cupping some water and splashing it into his face. He shuts one eye and laughs, like really laughs, and it’s my absolute undoing. I haven’t heard him laugh like that in such a long time. He deserves a life where he laughs like this every day. We both do.

Oh Cameron, you lovely thing. You have no clue how desperately I want you.

“I can’t promise that I’ll be gentle.”

“My balls are so fucking full. I’m going to make an absolute mess of you. You want me to put my come inside you, baby?”

“Oh, I love when my little soldier is so fucking wet for me,”

“That’s it. Cry for me, Em. I want you to remember how I worship you and fuck you until you’re begging for my come inside your sweet pussy.”

“You’ve just forgotten the shape of me inside you.” He kisses me and sucks on my bottom lip before pulling a breath away. “But you will remember it. I’ll make sure of it.”

This is the most intimate he’s ever been. The euphoric sensation of two damaged-beyond-repair people coming together is beautiful in its own sense.

“I’d pursue you to no end. You are the only home I’ve ever truly known,” he murmurs against my lips. “And I’d fall in love with you over and over, should I forget. I would always find solace in your eyes. Love inside your heart.”

His thrusts increase their pace as he smooths his hand down to my lower stomach and holds me tightly against him as he pumps deeper, longer, and harder.

After a few moments of long, voracious kisses, he finally pulls his head back and stares down at me like he’s beholding me with new eyes. We remain connected as we take each other in, wondering where we will ever be able to root our love in a place as ruthless and unforgiving as the Dark Forces.

“The first time my heart stopped was when Nolan dragged you into my cell. The second was when I let that rock hit your skull.”

“You happened, and I knew that Reed was right. That I would need him in some way or another because I wouldn’t be able to protect you. Not with the way that I am…

“I called him and he took care of it. I’ve never known a man to have so much power the way he does. He’s sly and malicious. He was close by, because it didn’t take him but an hour to have all of it handled. I still don’t know what part he plays in the Dark Forces, but it can’t be good.”

“We’re going to lie low. The best chance of survival is to act normal, get as recovered as we can for the mission, and make them believe that you have no idea what’s going on. If Nolan, Bridger…or the lieutenant are alone with you at any point on the mission, I suggest killing them before they do you. I doubt Riøt will come out before the mission is completed, but if you see any soldiers in black tactical gear that you don’t recognize, kill them.”

Hope. Emery.

Emery hooks her fingers around my lower set of teeth and pulls down hard. A gasp escapes me as she brings me to my knees in one swift motion.

realizing that maybe fear is all I ever wanted from people all along. That look of distrust and unknowing. Without the fear, it’s almost like it defuses the urge altogether.

“Better?” she murmurs softly. “Yeah, I’m still adjusting back to the pills after the break in doses. I should be back to normal in a day or two. It’s not nearly as bad as it used to be,” I promise her. “Good. I’ll make sure to stick close to you then.” Emery nudges me playfully. I don’t deserve this amazing woman.

A cheeky smile crosses her lips as her eyes dip down to my tented pants. “Someone likes being pushed around,” she says in that commanding voice I didn’t know I enjoyed so much. My dick throbs eagerly, and I have to suppress a groan. “Don’t tease what you cannot tame, love,”

Only she could take my mind from all the fucked-up shit in my life. Only she could make this smile hurt the way it does. I’ve never laughed the way I do with her. Never breathed as peacefully.