Rebel Roused (Untamed #5) by Jinsey Reese, Victoria Green Read Free Book Online

even when the tears came or when my knees buckled and I crashed to the floor.
    Still, I went on punching.
    My thighs. The floor.
    Eventually the rage ebbed, and I was left with this hollow, numb feeling inside.
    But nothing took away the pain.

nine

    O h, god. Walking into Rex’s studio, I saw him. Really, truly saw him.
    All paint and pain and passion.
    It shattered me. I felt Dare’s agony to the very core of my being, pulsing painfully hard with every moment Rex was gone. I didn’t say a word as I rushed across the room and wrapped myself around him, wishing I could somehow funnel the pain away.
    His voice sounded soaked with tears. “Fuck…this hurts, Ree. I can’t…”
    “I know, baby.” I murmured into his hair. “I know.”
    Color had fully claimed him, streaking his face, splattering his jeans, covering his hands and arms. Even his disheveled hair was tipped with bright tones as if he’d tugged at the strands.
    He was color—a living, breathing piece of artwork.
    But the look he was giving me was filled with only darkness.
    I gripped his face, forcing him to look at me, and pressed my lips against his. “Don’t let him win, Dare. We can’t let him win. Rex wouldn’t want that.”
    “Rex is dead.” He fisted my sweater so tightly the hem lifted off my stomach, exposing the still healing scar. “And there’s nothing I can do to bring him back.” His shoulders shook. His entire body was quaking against mine as he wrapped his arms around me. “Why does it have to hurt so fucking much?”
    “Because you loved him so much.” A lump formed in my throat, and I hugged his head to my chest, pressing kisses against his forehead. “It hurts because you loved him.”
    My fingers wove through his hair, and I kept kissing him, willing my touch to relieve his pain, to bring light back into his darkness. His breathing calmed and changed as I covered his face with kisses, and when my lips found his again, his fingers dug into my waist, pulling me closer. His lips met mine, hard and hungry, leaving me breathless as his darkness morphed into intense need.
    Dare’s tongue delved inside me, greedy and demanding, possessing my mouth almost like he was staking his claim all over again. The kiss was the lovechild of lust and passion, want and need. It burned through me, dispersing a wildfire of tremors down my body, igniting sensations that had been dormant for far too long.
    For the past month, as I recovered from my injuries, things between the two of us had been very… gentle . Dare had been so intent on not causing me any more pain, he’d limited himself to sweet kisses and soft embraces.
    But this moment was the exact opposite of that. It was fiery and hot. Unrelenting. Raw. Pulsing with life. Dare’s desire vibrated through me, mingling with my own.
    I wanted more. Closer. Harder.
    I was ready, and I needed him as much as he needed me.
    His name was a string of pleas on my lips, and he drank every one of them, lapping up my words with his tongue, giving me exactly what I wanted.
    Hands brushing through my hair, he tugged gently on the locks before gliding his fingers over my back to my sides. He held on tight and pulled me onto his lap, shifting my peasant skirt up so he could lock my legs around his waist, bringing me even closer into his warmth, his lips never leaving my body.
    Kissing down my neck, he slipped one hand under my sweater and glided his palm over my stomach to cup my breast, caressing my nipple over the fabric of my bra.
    “I love you so fucking much,” he said into my lips, the deep, husky words making me tremor with longing. Tugging the sweater over my head, he blazed a trail of kisses down my neck and collarbone. “And, god, I’ve missed you.” He unclasped my bra and caressed every inch of my breast with his mouth, teasing my nipples to tight peaks with his tongue and teeth.
    Arching my back, I pushed against him and moaned for more.
    Always more when it came to Dare.
    “I get so