Devil Mine: A Dark Cartel Romance (London Underworld Book 1)

“What?” she asks, troubled by my bleeding lip. 

“I’m in love with someone else,” I confess to her, eyes searching hers. “What do you feel?”

The care in her gaze shutters, the concern over my cut wiping away in a heartbeat. She shoves at my chest, those tears I’d spotted earlier back in her eyes once more.

“I hate you,” she promises, her lower lip trembling.

“You hate me.”

“I loathe you,” she cries, voice breaking. 

“Why?”

Her arms flail and I grab one forearm, then the other, and yank her forward, pinning them both against my chest.

“I can’t stand you,” she says, fighting against my hold on her.

“Why?” I repeat through gritted teeth. “Why does Adriana bother you so much?”

I’m not sure how Tess knows of my sister’s existence when I haven’t mentioned her yet. Nor do I understand how she came to think Adriana was a previous love interest of mine. But I’m not afraid to use this opportunity to get to the truth, because stalking after Tess and tracking her down only to find her in a darkened hallway alone with another man did something ungodly to my insides, something I’m still recovering from.

The first thing I noticed before I even recognized Callum was that their hands were joined. The gut punch had been swift and debilitating, the feeling that I’d been shoved off an incredibly tall building and was quickly hurtling towards solid, deadly ground, completely crippling. Jealousy had slammed into me, brutally primitive and vicious. The fact that we hadn’t slept together meant that she wasn’t mine, not fully at least, and the need to immediately claim her had been crushing. I barely even registered the fact that I’d punched one of my closest allies, a man who I know has been very happily married for a long time.

Tess thrashes against me, furious tears seeping from the corners of her eyes and finally tracing down her reddened cheeks. It’s the first time I’m seeing her cry outside of her spanking and it’s not because of her father, or what I did to Dagny, or because she’s homesick, it’s because of me. Because the thought of me loving another woman drives her crazy. 

And if I had any doubts about whether any parts of my soul are salvageable, those are laid to rest with a resounding ‘no’.

Because I love it.

I fucking love that she’s shedding tears for me. 

“Are these tears because of Adriana?”

“Don’t say her name when you’re touching me. I’ll leave you,” she vows emphatically. “I swear to god I’ll do it. I’ll run away and this time I’ll make sure you never, ever lay eyes on me again.”

The smirk drops off my face faster than she can probably see it. One second it’s there, the next it’s gone, replaced by a livid expression. I grab her face and crush her jaw in my fist.

“Threaten to leave me one more time, Tess. I dare you.”

She sobs openly, tears rolling down her cheeks as she closes her eyes and hangs her head against my chest, exhausted and upset.

“Last time I ask you, Tess, and I want a real answer,” I demand, wrapping her hair around my fist. “Why does Adriana bother you? Why does mentioning her make you hate me?”

Her head snaps back, her gaze finds mine and she’s never looked more beautiful. Her eyes flash furiously, the anger and torment and pain in them obvious, and with that one look, the final shred of her resistance finally shatters, exploding to pieces around us.

“Because you’re supposed to be mine,” she cries, eyes flashing. “You made me put on this ring,” she says, thrusting her left hand in my face. “I shouldn’t have to share you with anybody else, just like you don’t have to share me.” 

Triumph bleeds into my veins at her surrender, a breath I’d been holding for a long time finally exhaling as the truth flows from her lips. Her hands drop limply to her sides when I release them. My arms fold around her and I pull her tightly against me in a suffocating embrace.

“I am yours,” I whisper, face buried in her hair. “There’s no one but you.”

Tess whimpers, hands coming tentatively up to my sides and staying there. I’m not sure if she intends to push me away or pull me closer, and she seems as in the dark as to her decision herself.

“Claudia means nothing. Less than nothing. I didn’t even remember who she was. You interrupted as I was about to tell her the only person who’s allowed to touch me, the only one I want smiling at me, is you. And Adriana.” Tess stiffens. “I don’t know why you think Adriana is an old lover, but she’s not. She’s my little sister. Was my sister.”

Tess pushes gently against my torso. Reluctantly, I let her move me so she can peer up into my face. Her eyes search mine, wide and unsure. “Was?”

“She was murdered almost a year and a half ago. I’m searching for the people who killed her so I can avenge her death. If you overheard anything that made you misconstrue who she was to me, I’m sorry. I’ll tell you all about it. Fuck, I’ll even show you if you want, but later. Right now…” I lick my lips. “Right now, I need you. Do you need me, Tess?” © 2024 Nôv/el/Dram/a.Org.

“Don’t call me that.” My hands tighten painfully on her, but then she whispers, “Call me amor again.”

Dark lust born out of territorial need blasts to life, spreading through my veins like wildfire. I reach down to the slit of her gown and palm the inside of her thigh, my large hand gripping her tightly. She gasps when she feels the bite of cold metal from my rings burning against her skin. Her pupils are dilated, her eyes are fixed raptly on me.

“Do you need me, amor?” I breathe. 

She nods urgently. A punishing smack to the inside of her thigh makes her whimper.

“Say the words.”

Tess reaches for me and that alone nearly brings me to my knees. After all this time and tension between us, seeing her hands coming towards me of their own volition to bring me closer feels like I’m about to be embraced by the only God I believe in. Her arms lock around my neck, her fingers run up my nape and dive greedily into my hair, and my eyes flutter shut in worship at her altar.

It might sound sacrilegious, but this devil lives proudly in blasphemy.

“There’s only me?”

I nod, my voice coming out throaty when I confirm, “Only you.”

She leans forward and claims my lips, initiating a kiss between us for the very first time and almost making me come undone in the process. I cup her neck to keep her mouth pressed against mine, but eventually she pulls back. Her lips hover a hair’s breadth away from mine because I won’t let her go any further.

She looks into my eyes and says, “Then fuck me.”

My eyes flutter close, savoring the hard-earned victory. “Beg.”

She arches her hips towards me, bringing the hand that I still have between her legs closer to her pussy. “Please.”

My fingers caress the sensitive skin of her inner thigh and she moans.

“Again,” I order.

She cups my face, forcing my eyes to open. Her gaze moves languidly over my features, her own eyes turning heavy. She rolls her lower lip and traps it between her teeth.

“Please fuck me,” she pleads.

A smirk stretches slowly across my face.

“It’s about fucking time.”