Corrupted Union (The Byrne Brothers #2)

by Jill Ramsower

What kind of person was aroused by a man holding a knife to their throat? It was a question I didn’t want to answer.

Then his lips were on mine, his hands gripping me tightly to him. I met his kiss with an intensity that rivaled his own. We were two magnets unable to resist one another.

No, that wasn’t right. Calling her eyes hazel was like simplifying the vastness of the Universe by calling it space. She had entire galaxies of color in her irises—full spectrums of green and gold and brown—different hues sparking to life depending on her mood. And her moods, dear God did she try to keep control of her fiery nature with a stranglehold. She was utterly fascinating.

He raised his hand as if to cup my cheek, but instead, his thumb tugged on my bottom lip before drifting down until his large hand cuffed my throat.

Like the last time, she didn’t taste like strawberry lip gloss or mint gum. That would be too typical for her. Rowan Alexander tasted like summer rain and heartbreak. Mine or hers, I couldn’t be sure. Either way, I was addicted. It took every last shred of my control to finally pull away from her.

“If I see him near you again, I’ll kill him.”

“You’d rather let your father live in some fairy tale while you’re miserable than make him face reality?”

“It has to do with you and the way I feel alive every time I’m around you. Like I can fucking breathe for the first time in my life.”

“I’m going to fuck you against this wall,” I informed her, sounding half savage even to my own ears. “I do something you don’t like, I expect you to fucking tell me.”

He might not have been a criminal, but he was a politician, so that wasn’t far off.

I’d learned to manage it by keeping calm, but fuck if Rowan didn’t make me feel like a stuttering kid again.

Rowan was meant for me, and one way or another, I’d find a way to prove it to her.

“My bed is your bed. I wake alone, and I will not be happy. Understood?” Holy hell, why did I feel like saying yes, sir? It was there on the tip of my tongue, but I kept it at bay, nodding instead. He made a masculine rumble deep in his chest, then swatted my ass. “Good, now keep moving.” Suddenly, I wasn’t so tired.

“What we’re about to do is all about trust. Your control lies in your trust of me to respect your limits and take care of you.” “And what do you get from this?” I asked curiously. “I told you. Your trust.”

“That’s my girl. My wife. You’re mine, Rowan Byrne. All. Fucking. Mine.”

Stetson isn’t a criminal, and you still ended up in danger. Sometimes the scariest monsters hide in plain sight.

“You want to live, Rowan, so do it,” I growled. “Live your life in a way that Ivy would have been proud of.”

“Keir!” she gasped. “We’re in a cemetery.” Undermining her objection, she tilted her hips to give me better access. Two fingers found their way deep inside her. “They’re dead. They’ll be grateful for any action at all.”

“Good, now let’s get you home before I get arrested for fucking you on someone’s tombstone.”

Rowan was mine, and I’d prove it to her every damn day if I had to until she finally understood.

“Nothing like a little pain to make a man feel alive.”

My tone was drier than an AA birthday party.

“I know you have a lot of old scars to heal, and we didn’t start down this road in the most conventional way, but the one thing in this world I never want you to doubt is me and my commitment to you. I don’t care what you did or didn’t do in the past. I don’t give a fuck about what your father does or how you ended up in my club. All that matters is that I chose you, and I will continue to choose you so long as you’ll let me.”

“Corruption can hide anywhere, especially in positions of power.”

Being with Keir felt like coming home, and I never wanted to leave.

“My love for you, little lamb, is endless. I love you so goddamn much it hurts.”

I needed her just as much as air in my lungs and blood in my veins.

My wife. My love. My life.

Candy Land

I used to love this game omg