The Reaper (Dark Verse, #2)

by RuNyx

“If a hair on her head has been harmed, I will come back here again. Not quietly, no. This time, I will come to your house, and I will kill you, ...

“Don’t threat...

“I’m warning you. Post as many guards...

Tristan said, in that soft, letha...

“And pray she i...

“Why do you care so much about her?” her father asked point-blank. Morana felt her heart stop at the question, her hands shaking as she waited for his answer. Tristan di...

“That’s for me to know and her t...

he said in that menac...

"No one ...

Turning on his heel, he walked to the door again, then stopped, pinning her father wit...

“Stay away from her, ...

he warned, his vo...

“Come after her again, I’ll come...

“Her pussy must be magical for you to…” Before her father could finish that disgusting sentence, he was pinned back into his seat and Tristan punched him hard on his recently healed nose. Blood started to pour out of her father’s mouth, making her realize he’d probably broken a tooth too. Tri...

“One more...

he said in a tone that sent chills o...

“Give me just one more reason to cut out...

Her father stared at Tristan,...

“One ...

Tristan urged, the mask fallen from his eyes. Her father mut...

“Now, listen to me and li...

Tristan uttered, shaking her father’s jaw...

“She’s under my protection. Mine. Nobody hurts her. Nobody talks shit about her. Not me, not you, not anyone. Next time I hear you call her anything less than the woman she is, I will cut your tongue out and feed it to your dogs. Next time I see you anywhere close to her...

Her father nodded. Trist...

“Good. And anytime you forget that, just remember how I killed my father when I was a boy for her. And think on and think of the people I can kil...

Her father nodded mutely again. This time Tristan Caine left the room. Morana sat ba...

She had lived alone, never, ever thinking someday, someone would storm into her father’s office, fearless, hurt him, threaten him, all for her. And he had. Even before she had asked him to make a choice, he already had. Even before he knew that she knew, he had wanted to protect her. Even before she had exposed herself to him the way she had, he had wanted her.

his fierce protectiveness and the respect he had for her.

a man who would go to the ends of the earth for her without fear, her heart was full.

Without a moment’s hesitation, she ran towards him, and threw her arms around his neck, holding on tight. She felt his body go rigid with stunned surprise and buried her face into the crook of his neck.

And then she felt his arms come around her, tentatively, as if unsure of how to hold her. Morana wrapped her own tighter around his neck, standing on her toes, leaning her entire weight into him, pressed into him like that for the first time. His arms, slowly, held her tighter, one around her waist, the other coming up to cup the back of her head.

“Did something happen?”

he asked in a quiet, almost soothing whisper, the huskiness of his voice right next to her ear. Overcome with all the emotion bursting inside he...

“You ...

his tone relaxed slightly. She nodded into his neck. She could feel his confusion at the way she was behaving but for once, she didn’t care. She deserved to hold someone who cared for her as he did. He deserved to be held by someone who cared for him as she did. Without another word, he picked her up and moved in the direction of the seating area. Morana clung to the strong muscles in his neck, her legs hanging in the air. He turned, sitting down on the same couch she’d been sitting on and Morana bent her legs to accommodate, straddling him, feeling the gun at his waist press inside her thigh, still hiding in the space between his neck and shoulder. She could smell his musky scent and his cologne mixed around his pulse, feel the vein throbbing against her cheeks as she nuzzled into him, feel his soft hair against her hands as she ran her fingers through the strands. His heart beat against her breasts crushed to his chest. His warm muscles felt hard against every curve of hers. His pelvis tucked into her hips perfectly. His arms, tight around her smaller frame, didn’t move. Not to stroke, not to explore, not to do anything. She could sense he was half-afraid it would trigger her ...

“Thank...

His brows furrowed, just minutely, as he tilted his head slightly to the left, trying to figure her o...

“What...

Morana stroked his cheek with...

“For ca...

He didn’t get it. Of course, he didn’t. How could he? He didn’t know her entire history. He didn’t know what he had become to her. He didn’t know she’d seen him do what he had done to her father when she had been missing. He didn’t get it because he didn’t know how it had tilted her world on its axis again, how it had split her chest open, how it had warmed her to the bone in a way she knew she would never be cold or alone again. And she wouldn’t be able to convey it to him, to tell him any of it. So, she did it in the only way she could in that moment. She leaned forward and pressed her lips to his. He stilled. Completely stilled. His hands tightened slightly on the side of her hips but he sat frozen under her. Morana didn’t care. She held him with all the affection she felt for him in her heart, and tilted her head, pouring it into that one kiss. She nipped at his lips, sipped from them, kissed them gently, reverently, giving him tenderness she knew he had never received in two decades. He let her. He let her shower him and received it. Accepted it. Didn't kiss her back but didn't push her away. Morana tasted ...

Morana pulled away from the simplest, most beautiful of kisses and stared deep into his eyes.

“You,”

she whispered to the space be...

“Tristan Caine, are a beautiful, beautiful man. And my he...

The confusion and surprise on his face w...

Without another word, Morana stood up. It was proof of his shock that he let her.

“Can we have a moment?”

whiskey-and-sin asked from behind her, addressing Dante. “Another moment?” Dante grinned, before shaking his head and walking out the main door wordlessly. Morana turned to ask what he wanted to talk about when suddenly, she was slammed into the wall beside the door. She looked up, baffled, barely catching her breath, only catching a fleeting glimpse of the wild look on his face before his mouth crashed down over hers. Her toes curled into her shoes, her fingers going around his tight waist, feeling the gun tucked to the side of his trousers under her palm. Body catching fire, heart thundering in her chest, Morana caved to him like sand under an ocean wave. His hands fisted in her hair, tilting her head back as he devoured her mouth. This kiss was nothing like the one minutes ago. It was harsh, almost bruising in its intensity, but the undercurrent of something untarnished ran through them. She still felt his confusion in the kiss, but there was something else there too. Something precious. Something she couldn't understand and he was trying to tell her. She parted her lips gladly as his tongue swept through them, dipping inside her mouth before pulling out. His entire body pressed hers into the wall—feet to feet, hips to hips, chest to breasts—as he leaned down and she went up on her toes as high as possible. Sensations coursed through her body, her blood heated and burning every single part of her from inside out. His teeth tugged on her lower lip; a moan left her mouth....

“Din...