A Cut so Deep (Thornes & Roses Book 1)

by Dani René

  “Show me.” Her gaze snaps to mine in a confident challenge.

  I step back, pulling her with me. Spinning us around, I push her against the cool glass wall. My hard cock presses against the globes of her ass. She cries out, as I grip her hips and hold her steady.

  “You feel that?” My voice is inhumane, the monster inside me baring its teeth, ready to sink into the beauty before me.

  She tries to nod, her voice not even audible, as she whimpers when I push against her again, pinning her between me and the cold glass. “Is that what you want?”

  I crave her taste more than I do my next breath, but I know the moment I do, I’ll never ever let her go. It wouldn’t matter if her mother and my father were to threaten my life, I’d never leave her.

  The thought of being hers, of her being mine, is like a shot of fucking adrenalin straight through my veins. It’s as if I’ve stuck my fingers in an electric socket, and I’m being shocked back to life.

  That’s what this girl does to me.

  She sees me.

  Not the pristine exterior that most girls do; Nesrin sees my darkness, and yet, she’s still here.

  “Yes.” Her hiss sends me into the darkness. My eyes close, and pleasure sparks through me. I want to drive myself into her, I want to feel her slick heat. I want to know how tight she is when she finds release, but I can’t. I know it’s wrong, on so many fucking levels, that I push away from her.

  This back and forth is driving me insane.

  She spins around, her wide eyes on me. “Don’t tease me, I don’t like playing games.” I watch her race from the greenhouse and into the main house. My feet are frozen to the spot when I think about what I almost did. My control is hanging on by a thread, and I have a feeling, tonight, it’s going to snap.

  23

  Damien

  I swallow back the bourbon before I sigh at the thought of watching Nesrin run from me. I fucked up, but I’m not a man who apologizes. I’ve never allowed anyone to believe I’m anything but an asshole.

  She ran inside, and even though I haven’t gone up to her bedroom, I know I have to. Apologizing doesn’t come easily to me. But with her, I feel the need to do it anyway.

  Making my way up the stairs, I walk down the hall and stop outside her bedroom door. I knock twice and wait. Moments pass, and I knock once more.

  “If you don’t open this door, I’ll break it down, Nesrin,” I tell her through the thick wood. I know she can hear me. A couple of minutes pass before I twist the doorknob to find it unlocked. Pushing the door open, I step inside. The room is so tidy, you’d think that nobody lives here.

  I move through the room into the bathroom to find it empty. A growl rumbles in my chest, as frustration takes hold of me. She must’ve gone to the party, but what’s got me even more concerned is that I don’t know how she would’ve got there.

  Pulling my cell phone from my pocket, I unlock it and scroll down to one of my brother’s names. I know it’s easier to call Cassian because Finn will be off with one of the girls already.

  My focus is on getting Cassian to find Nesrin and keep her away from Creed. Hitting dial, I put the device to my ear and listen. The incessant ring only seems to set my body on edge. If he’s drunk, he’ll never hear the fucking thing. My nerves bristle with annoyance. I’m about to hang up when I hear his voice.

  “What’s up, bro?”

  “Where are you?” I ask Cass.

  The background noise breaks through the line, and I hear laughter and girls giggling. A loud guttural shout from one of the partygoers comes from the speakers before I can hear Cassian’s response, “The lake.”

  “Is she there?” I wonder if he can hear the concern in my tone, but, right now, I don’t give a shit.

  “Yeah, Nesrin and Mali just walked up,” he tells me.

  “See you soon,” I hang up before he can say anything more. I race down the hall, leaving her bedroom door open. In a matter of seconds, I’m in the garage and in the driver’s seat of my Camaro, before I have time to rethink the shit that’s about to go down.

  The engine roars to life, and I put my foot on the gas. The speakers vibrate with Echos singing about Saints, and I can’t help but chuckle. A saint is far from what I am.

  The drive won’t take me long, but it gives me time to think. The town is built on a hill, giving off the illusion of being sunk down in a forest, with the lake at the bottom. Surrounded by thick trees, Thorne Haven has been cited as one of the most haunted towns in America.

  The beauty of it is indescribable, with tourists frequenting it every year, while we have our summer months. But by the time winter hits and the snow comes down, we’re locked away from the rest of the country, as if we were on our own island.

  Hidden within the trees, we’ve played our games. Toyed with the girls who wanted to take a chance on The Black Knights, but over the years, I’ve seen the destructive behavior it brought about. That’s why I don’t want Nesrin anywhere near them.

  If something happens to her, Dad will kill me. Even though I know I shouldn’t play these games with her, show her what they’re like, I can’t deny that my curiosity for this girl has taken the forefront of my thoughts.

  My attention has been caught, like a fly in a web. I’m drawn to the tormented girl who has just as many scars as I do. Who would’ve thought a princess from the glittering lights of stardom would be so broken?

  Even her name gives away her hidden depths—my wild rose.

  When I pull up to the lake, I find almost all the town’s teenagers standing around drinking, smoking, and making out against the tall trees that surround the body of water. This party is going to get out of control, just like every other one we’ve had here for years.

  At twenty-seven, I’m used to seeing the newbies puking their guts out after Cassian makes his infamous punch. The blue liquid is nothing more than far too much vodka mixed with some other shit I would rather not know about.

  But because it tastes like candy with the syrupy sweet mixers, the kids, who visit from out of town, think they can handle it. The difference between some of the kids here and us is that we grew up drinking this shit, while Daddy Dearest went out to find us a new mother. And each time he brought someone home, we would send her packing not long after.

  “Hey, Brother.” Cassian smiles at me when I stalk toward the tables that are set up with red cups and jugs of alcohol. “You still looking for Nesrin? Seems our little sister has made some friends.”

  “I don’t want her with those fucking girls,” I tell him, as I pick up one of the cups. I fill it to the brim and swallow down a mouthful before I have time to reconsider drinking this shit. I shouldn’t be drinking tonight, but I can’t calm down after my encounter with Nesrin.

  “What the fuck is up your ass?” Cass questions, shoving me in the shoulder, playfully. But when he takes note of my expression, he stills.

  “I kissed her. I touched her, more than I should as her stepbrother,” I tell him. “I shouldn’t have fucking gone there with her, but I couldn’t help myself.” Cassian understands the darkness that I fight daily. He saw how much control I’d lost when I was a Knight. Even he walked out after the first few times.

  The games.

  The burning roses.

  And the thorns.

  “And?” He nudges, knowing I won’t just offer up information if he doesn’t want it. That’s how we’ve always been—keep things to ourselves, until we need an outlet. Mine being rather violent compared to my brothers, but they’re just as dangerous as I am.

  “I don’t know. This isn’t going to go anywhere. I mean, as soon as Dad gets back, I’m heading out to the offices in London. He won’t allow me to keep Nesrin for my own. No matter how I feel,” I tell him.

  “What about her finding out about The Black Knights? She could be one of the girls they toy with.” He’s right, but I never wanted to consider it. Even though we had a run out in the forest, she’s not ready to hear about my past.


  “Creed will not have her.” My tone is adamant, but even so, I know what my former best friend is like. Since Brody and Keirin have joined the ranks, they’ve only gotten worse. It doesn’t help that our neighboring town’s students keep coming through here. Each semester, new girls pop up, and each year, more roses are scorched.

  “Will you tell her the truth about…?” Cassian knows it’s not an option. Not right now, anyway. She needs time, and that’s something I’ll happily give her, but that doesn’t mean I can’t toy with her.

  “Soon,” I tell him, and swallow down another mouthful of his secret concoction. “Right now, I need to party.” I leave my brother and move deeper into the crowd. The song playing is loud, echoing through the woods. The water is silver under the moon’s light, and I take a path deeper into the forest to find myself alone. No doubt Gen will find me, she always does, but for now, I can breathe, as the alcohol courses through my veins.

  From here, I can see Creed with Brody and Keirin. They’re laughing, smoking, and hanging on every word some pretty blonde tells them.

  Girls are squealing from behind me, and when I turn to look at them, my chest tightens, when I see my wild rose walking with Mali, and they’re headed right for Creed and his pack. She doesn’t see me, at first, it takes a second for her eyes to lock on mine, and it’s as if time stops.

  I lift my cup, tipping it toward her. My eyes don’t leave hers for a long moment. I can feel her glare on me, which makes me smile. I’m not here to encroach on her, but I’ll be watching.

  “Hey, handsome,” a gentle whisper comes from beside me, and I turn to find the bottle blonde that I haven’t seen in a few months. She’s one of those curvy girls with pouty lips that look good wrapped around my dick.

  “What’s up, Brittany?” I ask, but keep my gaze on the dark-haired beauty who’s now shooting bullets at me with those pretty golden eyes.

  “I missed you.” Brittany grins happily, and her eyes spark with desire like I knew they would. All these women are the same; they see a Thorne, and they drop their fucking panties, lightning-fast. “I didn’t think you’d be here,” she tells me.

  “Why not?”

  She steps up to me, her body flush with mine, when she leans up to my ear and whispers, “Because you’re a lone wolf.” Her words bring back a memory of the night I fucked her in the woods. It was so dark. It was also dangerous, which is why she’s back for more.

  She was one of my first burnt roses. One of the first girls I took into the woods as part of my initiation. And even though it was just high school games, at the time, she thought it was love.

  I didn’t think Brittany saw it the way I did. She was too young for me to toy with her, and I made that mistake far too many times to count. Girls became a distraction from the bullshit I had to deal with at home.

  Being the eldest, I needed to prove something to my father, even though I know he’d never let me rule over the corporation; I still wanted him to see me for who I was. A man. But Bradford didn’t like that.

  “Being alone is part of my charm,” I inform her. “But tonight, perhaps company would be nice.” I finish my drink and head to a table to fill up my empty cup. Brittany follows me like a lost puppy, just like I knew she would.

  I perch myself on one of the tables, my feet on the bench seat, as I take in the party. I find Nesrin talking to Creed, and it looks friendly enough, but when he leans in to whisper something in her ear, every muscle in my body tenses. She laughs when he finally steps back, and he does as well.

  His gaze locks on mine, for a moment, before he releases his hold on her arm and hands her a Solo cup, with what I can only assume is filled with his cocktail. She takes a sip, tentative in her movements, then smiles up at him.

  “Damien,” Brittany calls to me, dragging my attention away from my nemesis and the girl who is surely going to bring me to my knees. I glance at Brittany, taking her in for a moment, and I wonder what the fuck I’m doing. “Are you listening to me?”

  “Want to do something for me?” I ask her. I know she’ll obey me. She’s a groupie, she wants a dick—Thorne or Haven—and she’ll do anything to get it. Granted, she has had mine, but that was years ago. When I fucked her, I had no clue what the hell I was doing.

  “Yeah.” She bops her head happily, and I bite my lip to keep from smiling.

  “Go to Creed, tell him you’re ready for him to finally take you into the forest,” I tell her in a whisper, not allowing my gaze to leave Nesrin and Creed. “And if he refuses, tell him you’ll do anything he’d like.”

  I smile at her quickly, offering a nod, before she notices my attention is nowhere near her. She drops her hand to my thigh, slowly moving it up toward my crotch, but my dick has no intention of fucking her tonight.

  I wanted to release tension using a body, but, right now, all I can think of is taking Nesrin deep into the woods and showing her just how violent I can be. I want to hear her scream. At that thought, my dick decides it’s time to wake up, and Brittany smiles, thinking she’s the one doing that to me.

  “Did you not fucking hear me?” I ask, arching a brow when I look at the blonde. She gasps at my rudeness, but when I tip my head to the side and offer her my smirk, she blushes and nods.

  I watch her ass bounce all the way to Creed, who seems taken with her the moment she sidles up to him. He wraps an arm around her waist after she whispers in his ear, and I can’t help but laugh.

  Nesrin’s gaze locks on mine, and I gesture with my head for her to follow me, as I get up and move toward the forest. I don’t turn to see if she’s following me, because I know she is.

  Call it overconfidence, but girls do as I say, when I say. When I hear the grass under her steps, I turn to find those golden eyes on me.

  “What are you doing?”

  “Get on your knees,” I tell her, as I pull at my zipper. My eyes are locked on the woman I really want as the blonde takes Creed into the darkness with Keirin and Brody following behind.

  “I’m not one of your groupies,” Nesrin bites out, crossing her arms over her chest, as she looks up at me with fire burning bright.

  “Let me make something clear, you’re mine.” My voice may be low, but she hears every fucking syllable. “Now, when I tell you I want you on your knees, you drop down for me. If you want this, want me, this is what you get.”

  “Let me make something clear—”

  “Once you’re done swallowing my dick,” I tell her, with a growl, “I’m going to feast on your pretty pussy until you’re crying. I want to see tears streaming down your cheeks when you come. And you know why you’re going to cry?”

  Her mouth opens, then closes, and I can’t help but chuckle at her sweet innocence. Sometimes, she seems so grown up, but I know she can’t have much experience because of the blush on her cheeks.

  “Because you’ll feel like the holy fucking spirit has entered you,” I bite out, and she obeys, slowly dropping to her knees. Soon, I’m fisting my cock and painting Nesrin’s lips with the arousal that’s seeping from the tip.

  I’m not ready for the moment her lips wrap around my dick. It’s as if fireworks are taking flight behind my eyelids because all I see are sparks.

  She works me like a fucking pro. Back and forth, taking me deeper with every suck and teasing me with the tip of her tongue with every pull. When she finally takes me into her throat, I see the edge of euphoria teasing me.

  It’s at that very second, Cassian’s gaze falters, as it lands on me and Nesrin. He watches with a grin, shaking his head when he realizes my hips are thrusting toward Nesrin’s mouth.

  I fuck her faster, as I feel my balls draw up, and my fingers tangle in her hair, holding her steady. Her movements are nothing short of expert level, as the alcohol and music take hold, spinning us in the darkness. My desire burns hot and electric for her.

  I glance down and smile at her, tipping my drink, as I take a gulp. She blinks a few times, as her lips slide down my shaft and the vision of her taki
ng me like this is too much; I can’t stop the feral growl from vibrating through my chest, as I empty my seed down her throat.

  Moments later, I watch her wipe those swollen lips. She rises slowly, before I mouth, your turn next.

  “You’re an asshole,” Nesrin tells me, “I’m not a fucking toy you can use when you need release.” Her biting tone belies the way her pupils are dilated, and her lips are wet and inviting.

  “No, you’re not,” I agree. “But I needed to make sure everyone knows who you belong to.” Even though I expect her to tell me she’s not a possession, I’m shocked when she doesn’t say anything. Instead, she smiles and laces her fingers with my outstretched hand. I lean in to plant a kiss on her lips. “Now I’m going to take you home and make you come on my face until you’re seeing God in Heaven.”

  And I always make good on my promises.

  24

  Nesrin

  I’m being dragged through the crowd. It feels like everyone is watching me. As if they know what I just did, but they couldn’t. We were hidden behind the trees. By the time we reach the car, Damien stills, and I stumble into his back.

  “What the hell are you doing?” I bite out in frustration. I didn’t expect him to be the cuddling type, but he seems angry. As if what just happened was a mistake. And if he feels that way, perhaps I should just leave. I wanted my answer about what is going on between us, and now, I have it. He’s not interested. Which hurts, but I’d rather know now than to fall in love with him and then deal with this bullshit.

  I’m still reeling from the taste of him—saltiness mixed with him, just a masculinity that’s slowly seeping through me. I shiver at the thought and bite my lip to keep from giggling. I think that punch was stronger than I anticipated.

  He opens the door, gesturing for me to get inside, but I’m not obeying him like one of his groupies. Folding my arms across my chest, I arch a brow, looking directly into those luminous blue eyes.