Chapter 233 Darkly Devoted

"Wanna tell me why you really suspect Elliot?" I asked, watching as Zade used a towel to dry his hair.

I admired how his muscles tightened. Seeing Zade shirtless was something I wasn’t gonna get used to. It made it more like a first-time experience.

While bathing me, Zade told me about his encounter with Ares King, Catherine’s husband, who was a Don and infamously called the devil. He also told me about the building at the docks that was secretly used by Julius—the Benefactor.

It was hard to wrap my head around the fact that the Benefactor operated on my father’s turf all this time without him realizing it.

"I already told you why." He came toward my bed.

"No, you didn’t... It’s normal for brothers to have a landslide. But this is something different, isn’t it?"

Zade chuckled as he leaned over to me. "You never had experience with brothers before. How would you know which is normal?"

"The twins fight all the time, but the next minute they are joining forces to dish out Jade. I think I’ve got quite the experience."

His amusement was seriously getting on my nerves, like the whole thing I said was practically funny.

He sat down on the bed, and it dipped from his weight. "The Benefactor has been laying low after I burnt down the building for his secret operations. But now he’s back on the move."

He just changed the topic, didn’t he?

I inhaled sharply, and despite my irritation, I asked. "How would you know? He has slipped under your fingers for years with his little group called the Syndicate."

"There are certain movements. Movements that shouldn’t be made, and now that I know someone like him is out there, it’s easier to tell."

I never thought there would come the day when I would be interested in the undercity, let alone anything that had to do with it. But this was something I couldn’t turn a blind eye to.

This benefactor has done nothing but destroy us. I—we can’t let him have his way anymore. Which meant our main priority was finding out his identity.

His identity was one of the deadliest weapons he had against us. And I certainly don’t buy the idea that Elliot was the one behind all this. It can’t be him for all the right reasons.

"What movement?"

Zade’s obvious stare made me realize how serious my question was, and what it meant.

"We already talked about this, Zade."

"Did we?" he countered, his voice turning dangerously low. "I wanna make something very clear, Anastasia. I didn’t watch you fight for your life on that bed just to stand by and watch you throw yourself headfirst into danger."

"Knowing doesn’t mean I’m running towards danger."

"All still the same for me." He pushed to his feet and walked toward the sofa. "I told you already to focus on your recovery. Dr. Keller said that, with time, the braces will come off and you won’t need them anymore."

I pushed off the bed, but I didn’t use the crutches, practically limping, and amid his rants he turned, catching me before I had the chance to fall flat on my face.

"Why do you have to be fucking reckless?"

"I came to you without my crutches."

Zade’s eyes bounced to the pair against the wall and then to me. "What are you hoping for then? A reward?"

"I want you to know that I’m not so weak and helpless. I don’t wanna be like that anymore. Soon, I’ll be up on my feet, and I’ll stand by you."

He picked me up so effortlessly and saddled me against his waist. I sank my teeth into my bottom as pain crept up my leg, but I pushed it aside, choosing Zade as my main focus.

"I don’t want us to disagree over this. It’s the last thing I want," I said.

Without a word, Zade guided us toward the bed, my nipples hardened at the sheer sensation of the contact with his bare chest.

My back met the softness of the mattress, and his gaze held mine as he leaned over me.

"There’s no disagreement when the decision has already been made."

He kissed me, and I wrapped my arms around his neck, pulling him closer. The kiss quickly deepened, growing hotter and more desperate with every passing second.

My heart raced a mile as the space between us disappeared completely, leaving nothing but his body heat melting into my shirt.

I moaned deeply when I felt his hand slip under and cupped my breast, giving one hand squeeze that caused his nails to sink into the soft skin.

"Stay right where I want you. And when the time comes, I’ll lock you away where you can’t escape."

Wha-What?

He covered my mouth before I had the chance to speak. With a tug, the buttons of my shirt were sent flying, and his mouth devoured my nipples like he wanted to rip them off with his teeth.

A strangled moan tore deeply from my throat, my hand digging into his hair.

Another rip, and my pants came off with my panties. His mouth slipped from my lips with a pop and then glided down my belly button with kisses and bites.

I heaved, chest rising and falling rapidly as Zade kissed all the way to my clit. And I dropped my gaze to his head moving between my legs.

I gasped, my gaze shooting toward the ceiling when his tongue landed on me.

I had one hand tangled in his hair, my fingers gripping tightly, while the other fisted the sheets as I fought to control myself.

This hospital room wasn’t exactly soundproof, and I was a loud fucking person to begin with. My control was unraveling faster than I could build it.

A breathless moan slipped past my lips when Zade sank his teeth into my thigh, and I saw stars. Literally.

"Z-Zade, not there!" I panicked when this time he bit closer to my opening, and my toes curled.

Pain zapped up my leg, and I was in a very torturous position because of the weight pressing toward my braced leg.

"Zade!"

He sucked me harder, tongue teasing too as he did exchanges and I tilted my hips higher, partially suffocating him.

A sexy rumbling groan vibrated from Zade as he gripped my thighs in an iron hold and forcibly spread me wider.

I screamed, both from pain and my sudden climax that came with it.

Tears slipped down the back of my head. I reeled from the lingering sensation that rippled through my core, along with the tingles spreading through my leg.

My eyelids grew unbearably heavy no matter how hard I fought to keep them open.

Before I knew it, darkness took over just as I felt Zade’s mouth covering my pussy once more.

~☆~

When I opened my eyes again, I couldn’t get over how sore I was down there.

Did he fuck me? I would have felt that piercing throb because of that fucking third leg of a dick, but I didn’t. It was simply soreness from bites.

He fucking bit me, right there no less, and I perfectly recalled hearing the sounds of my own moans in my sleep.

I sat up as I hissed, finding out I was in a new set of pajamas. Slowly, my eyes swept the room, and I hoped to hear the shower running, but there was nothing.

He’s gone.

"Stay right where I want you. And when the time comes, I’ll lock you away where you can’t escape."

I shuddered, recalling his words to me last night. A part of me shrugged it off as him making a pointless promise, but another part of me saw the darkness in his eyes when he made such a declaration.

It scares me. Especially when I reminisced about how closely guarded I have been ever since I woke up. And I wasn’t talking about the twins coming over, but the men I usually saw lurking in every hallway in this hospital who didn’t fit in.

At first, I thought it was for my safety. But what if they weren’t just keeping the danger out? What if they were keeping me in?

I heard a knock.

I cleared my throat, fixed my hair; I knew no doubt it was like a bird’s nest. "Who is it?" I pitched out.

"It’s Dante."

"Come in."

He did, closing the door behind him while holding a takeout bag.

"What about Luca?"

"Busy with something. Brought breakfast. You said you were craving some fried chicken and fries. I brought in some pasta too. From Ricky."

I can’t believe he took that seriously. I had said that on a whim that day when I watched a cooking show with the twins and Jade.

"Erm... thanks."

He placed the bag at the coffee table.

"You should probably shower first and then eat before rehab. Stuff like that drains energy, so you need as much as you can."