The devil's advocate

Chapter 15 Cain

Eden’s orgasm is as fiery and turbulent as she is. My chest swells with pride as she comes with tears trailing down her face and my name on her lips, her svelte, curvy body shaking with the force of it.

It’s a vision if I ever saw one.

Too bad it’s a tainted one.

I nip her little clit as she spasms. “It’s too much.”

It’s not enough. It will never be enough.

I seize her wrist when she tries to push my head away and repeat the action. She doesn’t get a say in this.

I control her pleasure and her pain.

And unfortunately, her pleasure will come at a price.

Eden has to pay for sleeping with the enemy. After she helps me keep him at bay.

I suck and bite her soft flesh, ignoring her whimpers and pleas for me to stop.

I’ll never stop. Not when it comes to my Eden.

Not when I need her now more than ever.

“Good girl,” I soothe when her body goes slack and I’m certain the fight has drained out of her.

I give her cunt one last kiss, then walk over to the sink so I can wash my hands and face. I don’t want to chance what will undoubtedly be a ghastly fallout if Margaret smells another woman on me.

When I look in the mirror, I notice Eden’s still propped up against the bathroom stall. Her red lipstick is smeared, her once pristine face is marred with black streaks, and her dress is ruffled.  

A long sigh leaves me. My former i

Fortunately, her appearance is now Damien’s problem. Not mine.

Something my nemesis failed to realize when he came back to town and declared war.

I’d send him a thank-you note for taking the hot stepdaughter obstacle plaguing me out of my way during the election, but the moron probably has the reading level of an elementary student.   

I eye her in my peripheral as I rinse off my face. “Now that we’ve kissed and made up, I need a favor.”

She gives me a wary look as I walk over to the paper towel dispenser. “What kind of favor?”

Dabbing my chin, I turn around to face her, making sure my expression conveys exactly what I need it to.

Fear. Vulnerability. Need.

All the things that will get Eden to agree to help the love of her life.

“I’m in trouble.”

My gullible girl’s brows pinch in concern. “What’s wrong?”

“I didn’t hire Damien to kill you…but that doesn’t mean he’s not dangerous.”

She doesn’t look fazed by my statement. Probably because Damien isn’t exactly Casanova. The barbarian wouldn’t know how to treat a woman—hell, a human—if his life depended on it.

Especially someone like Eden.  

Eden’s like a delicate flower. She needs to be watched and cared for just so. This way you’ve already earned her trust and she’ll be none the wiser when it’s time to tear her from the soil and rip her pretty petals off.

“I don’t understand why he’d make me think you hired him to off me, or why he would bring me back to his home.”

Eden’s also like a small child. You have to explain simple things to her like you would a toddler.

Lack of experience with the world will do that to a person.

“He did it to trick you, sweetheart. He took you as part of his revenge against me. He knows how much I love you and that makes you an important person to target.”

She closes the space between us. “Why does he want revenge?”

I cup her cheekbone. “We were good friends in high school. Until he did something unforgivable. I was going to tell the authorities, but he fled the country. This is the first time I’ve seen or heard from him in eleven years.”

She worries her bottom lip between her teeth. “What did he do?”

I grip the back of my neck. “You know what? Forget it. I shouldn’t be discussing any of this with you. I’m go

“Gone?” Her face turns ashen. “What do you mean, gone? What the hell is happening, Cain?”

I rub my forehead. “If I tell you this, you have to swear you won’t tell a soul.”

She palms my cheek. “Your secrets are safe with me.”

“I know they are.” I kiss the inside of her wrist. “Sometimes I feel like you’re the only person in the whole wide world I can trust.”

“I feel the same way.”

I pull her close. “I’d never betray you, Eden. I might do some things I don’t want to and make choices I’m not proud of—like marrying Margaret in order to help me win the election. But you and me? We’re the real deal.”

She places her head on my chest. “We’re family.”

“That’s right. And family doesn’t turn their back on one another.” I kiss the top of her head. “Want to know what my biggest goal is?”

“Becoming President one day?”

My girl knows me well. “No.” I trail a finger down her arm. “It’s us. More specifically, our future. After I serve my two terms as President, I want to spend the rest of my life making love to you. I want to die old and gray in your arms, Eden Williams. I want to take my last breath looking into the most beautiful eyes belonging to the most beautiful girl I’ve ever known. The only person I’ve ever truly loved.”

I inhale her sweet scent. As many lies as I’ve told her, this isn’t one. Eden’s my end game. Always has been. Always will be.

I’m livid as hell about her sleeping with Damien, and she’ll get punished for it—but I’ll never love anyone the way I love her.

She sees the best in me. Even though I know she can sense the evil lurking within.

She gives me my humanity back.  

She’s a reminder of my past…and my North Star guiding me toward my future.

“I don’t want anyone to hurt you.” She looks up at me. “Tell me what’s going on with Damien. Tell me why he wants revenge. Tell me everything so I can help you.”  

“You’d really help me after everything I put you through?”

I should be nervous when she doesn’t answer immediately. But I’m not. If anything, it tells me she’s carefully considering her answer and the one she gives me will be set in stone.  

“You’re the only one…” Her lower lip trembles. “You’re everything to me, Cain. I wouldn’t know what to do without you. I wouldn’t even…I need you.”

I give her a big smile.

Love is a capricious thing—it can change with the wind.

But dependency is constant. Resilient. Permanent.

It can bend, maybe even chip. But it never fully breaks.

I make a mental note to phone her shrink and psychiatrist later so we can discuss the new game plan since Eden’s no longer living with me. I doubt Damien will welcome either of them into his home with open arms, so we’ll have to figure something out sooner rather than later.

Damien’s already managed to get her outside of the house. Once she realizes the world isn’t so big and scary…or worse, that she’s capable of handling it when it is—my butterfly might use her newly discovered wings to fly away.

I can’t let that happen.

Eden doesn’t belong to the world. She belongs to me.

But first thing’s first. I have a bomb to drop.

“You know how my family died in a fire when I was a teenager?”

Sadness colors her features. “Yeah.”

“It wasn’t accidental like everyone thinks. It was Damien who caused it.” I hold her gaze. “He killed my family, Eden.”