Sparrow by L.J. Shen Read Free Book Online Page A

fighting and fucking, and he did both with a passion, rage and brutality most girls wouldn’t forget.
    But even if I wanted to get nasty with my husband, I couldn’t forget who he was—the guy who murdered Billy “Baby Face” Crupti, a murder so brutal the media reported that Crupti’s body had been chewed on by animals prior to being dumped in the water. And there was a priest who’d been found dead in our parish church, his tongue cut out.
    Everyone in South Boston knew that Troy had killed them both.
    No one said a word.
    That should have told me a thing or a dozen about my husband.
    His cruelty was infinite. His hands had touched blood, weapons, knives, dead bodies. Thinking about him caressing my body with those hands should’ve made me nauseous. Yet somehow, it didn’t…
    “Not scared at all. You don’t know anything about me.” I turned in bed, offering him my back and hugging my knees to my chest. I buried my face in the soft pillow.
    His side of the mattress lifted unexpectedly. I heard him pad across the floor to the bathroom, but he didn’t bother to close the door. I listened closely. He took a leak and washed his hands, whistling. When he returned, he stood there at the end of the bed in his underwear, his cock saluting in my direction.
    “First time you've seen a boner?” he mocked.
    I didn’t want to tell him the truth. Yes . So I gulped and looked up, concentrating on a piece of modern art, a painting of a naked woman behind him. I shrugged. “Yours is nothing special.”
    “That’s where I can prove you wrong.” His smile almost passed for human.
    “Thanks for the offer, but beside the fact I’d rather chew on used needles, I just got my period.” I pulled the duvet all the way up to my nose.
    “Bull-fucking-shit.” His mouth twisted into a vicious smirk. “Let’s see it.”
    “What?”
    “Let’s. See. Your period,” he said slowly. “Take off your briefs.”
    I scooted away from him, looking around me, trying to marshal my thoughts. “You’re not serious?”
    “I don’t do humor, Sparrow. Besides, you’ve shown some spine so far, don’t wanna ruin it by chickening out on me, do you… wifey ?”
    “But…”
    “The butt is a good option,” he said evenly, not a trace of amusement in his voice, “but I’m more interested in seeing your blood right now.”
    I glanced around me, looking for...what? Sharp objects to throw at him as I ran? He could probably kill me just by breathing in my direction. Instead of taunting him like a three-year-old, I should’ve told him the truth.
    “I’m not chickening out.”
    He moved closer toward me. “Actions speak louder than words.”
    Screw it. He wanted to play, and I was starting to understand his twisted game.
    I stood up in front of him and peeled my PJ shorts down an inch at a time. My fingers scraped my pubic bones and despite my hatred of him, I found myself self-conscious about my scrawniness. I bet he was used to sleeping with women who were all curves. And I looked like a boy, with my pale skin, fragile frame and bonfire hair.
    But he’d challenged me, and I had my stupid pride to keep intact.
    “Underwear, too.” Brennan sat, falling onto my side of the bed with a soft thud as I stood in front of him, removing my clothing inch by inch.
    My body vibrated as I held back my hatred. His gaze zeroed on my pelvic area, tucking one hand into his underwear and stroking himself leisurely. I took off my underwear, feeling a mixture of disgust and thrill with the situation. What the hell is wrong with you, Sparrow? Appalled, I wet my lips, watching him. Are you freaking high?
    “Show me your blood,” he rasped.
    I winced again, sucking my lower lip and releasing it slowly. My body hummed with embarrassment as I slid one of my index fingers between my folds, scraped the surface of my inside shallowly, and displayed my finger, showing him a scarlet smear of fresh blood.
    I’d put the blood there while I was in the bathroom,