Saint: A Dark Romance (Saint and Sinners Book 1)

by Ruby Vincent

Sinjin cut around my knees, turning my pants into shorts. His next stop was my button.

  I tried to fling myself away from him—swinging on the chain-link hook. “You said you wouldn’t!”

  Grasping my hips, he held me steady and got to his feet. “Bunny, I will have you many, many times. And all of those times, you will want it. I dare say, you’ll beg for it. Understand?”

  “I’m supposed to believe someone as unpredictable as you?”

  “About this? Yes.”

  His sincerity reached deep inside of me, flicking off a deep-rooted fear. “Then put away that knife,” I said, “and get your hands off my zipper.”

  “Ah. That I cannot do unless— Are you ready to make that call?”

  “Are you ready to live in a cell like this one? Minus the décor.”

  This man found everything I said amusing. “I’ll take that as a no.” Sinjin punctuated his sentence with a hard tug that ripped my jeans off my thighs. “A word I don’t hear from my Merchants, and I’m definitely not about to hear it from my bunny. It’s time you learned respect,” he said, moving to the executioner’s chair. “If the lesson sinks in on time, it won’t have to be your last.”

  Sinjin pressed the back of the chair to my stomach and then lowered the chains suspending me. I draped over the back, face smooshed in his sweet-smelling jacket and ass in the air.

  His leg brushed my cuffed hands moving around the chair and behind me. I was a girl who preferred boy shorts, so Sinjin wasn’t getting much of a look.

  “Do you know why you don’t have a boyfriend?”

  The question was so out of left field, my jaw worked for a full ten seconds before I pushed out a reply. “Who says I don’t?”

  “He’d be in the top three dialed calls.”

  My cheeks warmed though it was nothing to be embarrassed about. “So what? I’m focused on my career—”

  Thwap!

  A sharp stinging blossomed from my left butt cheek.

  Did he just spank me?!

  “That’s not why,” Sinjin said. “You don’t have a boyfriend because you’ve never met a man who wasn’t intimidated by you.”

  Thwap!

  My right cheek was given a slap to match, pulling a cry out of me.

  “Everything you’ve got, you’ve fought for. From proving yourself to an overinflated chef to looking out for your old man. When a woman like you learns how capable you are of taking care of business, you start to wonder why everyone said you needed an other half.”

  Thwap.

  “And every guy that tried to get close to you could sense it,” he went on. “That they could never do for you what you couldn’t do for yourself. Isn’t that right?”

  Yes.

  “No!”

  “They couldn’t support your career.”

  Yes.

  “No.”

  A harder smack tightened my thighs—crossing my legs at the ankles.

  “They couldn’t help you claw your way out of a dead-end life.”

  Yes.

  “No,” I gritted out.

  “If all that wasn’t enough, none of those useless shits satisfied in bed. Their hands shook undoing your bra.” Thwap. “They grunted like western lowland gorillas, rutting on top of you for a few minutes, and then passing out before you got close.” Thwap. “Have you ever had a toe-curling orgasm that you didn’t give yourself?”

  Thwap. Thwap.

  “Ahh,” I cried.

  No.

  “No— I mean, yes.”

  Sinjin draped himself over me. Kisses dotted my hair till he found my ear. “You don’t have to lie to me, Bunny. The frustration is what makes you smell so lemony.”

  My whole body was burning from my stinging backside to the pants heating the air between us.

  “Deep down, you’ve ached for a guy to bend you over just like this.” A finger ran up my thigh and ended with a playful swat. “And spank you just like that. But you knew if you shared your true needs, they’d slink out the door and never come back. Which, of course, they did anyway.”

  My chest heaved, bobbing my hardened nipples on the expensive fabric. “You don’t know anything about me.”

  “I’ve got you spot-on, Bunny, and we both know it. So, here’s what you need to know about me.” His weight disappeared. “I am that guy.”

  I scoffed. “You’re the guy who’ll support my career and build a white-picket-fence future with me? Is that before or after your reign of terror over Cinco City?”

  “No, Adeline. I’m the guy who isn’t afraid of you.”

  Thwap!

  I didn’t know much about torture, but I assumed it wasn’t tailor-made to the individual. The tried-and-true methods worked on everyone, so no need to mix it up. On my honor, I wished Sinjin prescribed to the same belief. I would have taken the knives, guns, or even the rack compared to what he did to me.

  “—guess your fantasy,” he said. “Tied to my bed and covered with a bottle of hardening chocolate sauce. I’d have to bite, lick, and tear to get to that sweet center.” Another slap arched my hips off the seat.

  I’d lost track of time somewhere around the declaration that Sinjin was the man I’d been waiting for. Since, it’d been a never-ending loop of spankings and detailed descriptions of the various things he planned to do to my body once I became his girl, and a deep-rooted hatred sprouted in my soul.

  I prided myself on my control. On being the very same woman he named me. Strong, independent, and unshakeable.

  Sinjin unraveled that woman with a gentle tug of a loose thread. I wondered if she was ever truly there. He had me hot, sweaty, and shaking. Thighs quivering. Breaths ragged. Panties damp.

  “If you think you’re wet for me now, Bunny, just wait till we move past my hand.”

  My legs squeezed under the unsummoned vision flashing in my mind.

  I hated him. I hated him so fucking much... because I was about to come.

  Sinjin spanked me again, zinging electricity up my middle like a finger stuck in a socket. Then his presence retreated.

  “So, how did you cook that lobster?” he asked. Through my fogged vision, he propped himself on the rack—the picture of coolness if not for the raging hard-on. “Butter, of course, but did I taste some paprika as well? Also, is it true that you have to boil lobster alive? I’m a cold bastard, but even I think that’s harsh.”

  The pressure faded, swirling down the depths to start the ride again.

  “Sinjin!”

  “What’s that, Bunny?” He cupped his ear. “If you want something, ask for it.”

  I bore a hole in him, poured magma into that twisted mind and saw with perfect clarity his exploding head. Over and over again, he brought me to the brink of orgasm and then retreated to a corner to prattle on about nonsense. He said I’d begged for it and, heaven help me, any more of this and I would.

  “Are you ready to make that call?”

  “No,” I cried.

  “Then I’m not ready to give you that orgasm.” Sinjin rubbed himself through the fabric. “You held out much longer than expected. This is becoming torture for both of us. Isn’t it time we skip to the chocolatey part of the evening?”

  Calm down, Addy. I took a deep breath and held it, willing my heart to slow. Sinjin was right about one thing. The man to own me has not been born yet.

  “Love to,” I croaked. “Let me out of these handcuffs and I’ll show you where I’ll shove that bottle.”

  He hummed. “Tempting.”

  A creak cut off my response.

  “It’s five minutes to five,” Cash called down. “Is it done?”

  Sinjin cursed. “I lost track of time. It’s not done, but one way or another, it will be in four minutes. Prepare to move out in case.” Advancing on me, Sinjin claimed the gun his jacket concealed. He held my phone in one hand, and dug the muzzle into my scalp with the other.

  “Wait, Sinjin!”

  “Playtime is over, Redgrave. Tell him to delete the email, or Daddy gets a f
ront row seat to me blowing your brains out.”

  “You’re not going to do it. You just spent the last two hours detailing your obsession with me!”

  “Three minutes.” Sinjin put the phone to his ear. “Yes, I’d like to speak to Oscar Redgrave. It’s urgent.”

  Mrs. Rowe’s faint voice replied.

  My mind screamed at me, silencing the rational thought that fought to get me out of this mess.

  “Hello?” I heard my dad say.

  “Alright, stop. Hang up,” I half-screamed. “I lied. There is no email. I said that to get out of here.”

  Sinjin covered the phone. “If that’s true, there’s no harm telling him you’re home safe, you won’t make it to dinner, and should he feel the need to get on his computer—don’t.” He held it up to me.

  Taking a steadying breath, I said, “Hi, Daddy.”

  “Adeline? What’s wrong? Rowe said it was urgent.”

  “I wanted you to know I won’t make it to dinner tonight, so don’t wait up for me.” I raised my head and was pushed down, muzzle pressing deeper. “I’m home doing a movie night with the girls, so... there’s no need to send any emails.”

  “Send emails? What are you talking about?”

  Of course he didn’t know. My bluff was just that.

  And it didn’t work.

  “Nothing, Daddy. I’ll see you tomorrow. Love you.”

  “Alright, baby girl.”

  Sinjin ended the call. “Interesting,” he said. “It was putting your father on the phone that did it, wasn’t it? None of my threats moved you until the promise of Daddy hearing them carried out. You didn’t want him to know you were in trouble, so it was all a bluff.”

  For no good reason, the bastard laughed. “You let me go through all of this for nothing, enjoying the ride while me and the guys were sweating. I’m almost tempted to reward you with that orgasm.”

  “You want to reward me? Let me go.”

  He lifted me up, setting me on my feet. “We’re back where we started, Redgrave. You didn’t have the option of walking out of here when you came in, why would you have it now?”

  “I won’t work for you.”

  “I also didn’t expect you to take us up on our offer from the start,” he said. “Why do you think that cage was open and ready for you? Now that we’ve settled this email situation, we can resume negotiations. Here is my offer: take the job now, or stay down here until you do.”

  “You wouldn’t.”

  Sinjin told me what he thought of that by uncuffing me, throwing me over his shoulder, and tossing me inside my new accommodations. He left me in the dark without a backward glance.

  Chapter Five

  Sinjin

  “They’re searching hard for us,” said Cash. “One of the Kings questioned the Donatello brothers, asking if they hired us to do the Cinco Savings and Loan job.”

  “We knew they’d get to the Donatellos,” I replied. “They told the whole family they got us to do the job and suggested the entire outfit look into outsourcing. It was only a matter of time.”

  “I had this planned down to eleven months minimum.” Cash’s fist came down on his stack of now worthless plans. “With their full attention on us, we’re looking at a couple of months before they finally get the right person to talk.”

  The four of us were bent over the dining table, having the same argument we’ve been fighting for four days.

  “Then that’s how long we have,” I said. “Figure out how to take them out in two months.”

  “Impossible,” Cash forced through gritted teeth. “They’re the oldest gang in the city. They’ve survived for over forty years. What the fuck are we going to do in two months?”

  “The Roman Empire lasted a thousand years, and they crumbled like the rest.”

  “Yeah,” Mercer drawled, “but they didn’t do it in two months.”

  I propped my knuckles on the table, letting them bear my weight. “What do you two suggest? We give up? Throw open the fucking door and invite them to slit our throats before dinnertime, so it’s not too inconvenient? Do I need to remind you that they’re the first and only lead we have to Kieran?”

  Three pairs of eyes hardened as they always did when I said that name.

  “They’re coming for us either way, so I say we strike hard and we strike first. If you’re not with me, walk away now.”

  Cash scoffed. “Keep your hair on, we’re not going anywhere. You’re going to get us all killed, but we’re in this to the end.”

  The kitchen timer went off.

  Mercer peered over my shoulder. “What are you making?” he asked.

  “Food for my pet. A bunny’s got to eat.” I took the pot off the stove and poured the contents into a bowl. “Overthrowing a gang is the same as an empire,” I said. “Drain their funds, shake their followers’ loyalty, and cut off the head. I expect your new plan in two days, Cash.”

  He stood from the table. “You’ll get it when the fuck it’s ready.”

  I let him walk away unharmed. Cash could get away with more than most.

  He was my brother after all.

  Whistling, I jogged down the stairs and entered the basement. Adeline shrank against the bars, wincing under the harsh lights.

  “Good morning, Bunny. Ready for breakfast?”

  I knelt before the cage. The woman inside looked nothing like the one we locked up four days prior. Plump lips were shrunken and chapped. The wild mane of bronze hung in limp, greasy hanks. I reduced the outfit I loved so much to tatters by day two, leaving its remains on the floor. On day three, she jumped me with the rope she made out of the scraps, trying to strangle me. The result of that scuffle gave her a lump on her forehead.

  “Break... fast?” Adeline saw the bowl, and threw herself at the bars. I dodged her swipe. “Give it to me.”

  Her eagerness was understandable. Four days without food would do that to a person.

  “It’s yours,” I said. “First things first. Handcuffs. Can’t have you attempt to kill me again.”

  Adeline was too weak to argue. It took her three tries to get the cuffs on her wrists. Attention on her, I drew my shirt over my head and tossed it to the side.

  “You... said food?” Her voice was barely a rasp.

  “And that’s what I have.” Unlocking her cage, I beckoned her out. “Here.”

  I held the bowl just above her head, making it impossible for her to see inside. She inched forward, distrust etched into the haggard lines of her face, but hunger pushing her on. “What is it?”

  “What else would it be?” I tipped the bowl over, splashing the melted, warm confection down my chest. “Chocolate.”

  The white of her irises shone stark in the spotlights. Her breaths came faster, rattling in her half-exposed chest.

  “I promised you’d get to lick this off me, and I’m a man of my word.”

  Adeline didn’t move. She watched with rapt attention as a dark line traveled down my abdomen and soaked into my waistband.

  “What’s wrong? Not hungry?” I made to get up. “In that case—”

  Adeline tackled me to the floor. I struck the concrete hard, skull bouncing off. Twice I was surprised by the burst of strength she could summon in her weakened state.

  She attacked me like a savage beast—licking, slurping, and scraping her teeth over every inch of me. I was hard in seconds.

  I sat up, holding Adeline between my legs. She ducked down, seeking where the chocolate soaked my waistband, and stuck her tongue through the lining.

  I clamped hard on my jaw. Just like that, I regretted my little joke.

  For four days she resisted me, fought me, refused to cower when men in her situation had given up by day two. Cinco City was a dangerous place that twisted men and women alike. It’s not that I never met another woman with my dark needs. I never met one who looked into the soul of me and didn’t blink.

  A sharp pain shot up my abdomen. Scorching desert sand trapped my gaze, daring a reaction to
the teeth ripping through my skin.

  She got one.

  I raised the bowl over our heads and poured the rest over my collarbone, trickling down my chest. Adeline was a thing of beauty tearing at me—biting my chest, stomach, and nipples. She came for every speck of chocolate, and punished me for the insult. That she saw no reason the former should hold her back from the latter, tightened the chains binding me.

  I was sick of her being down here. I had long stopped enjoying our game, and every day she refused to give in stirred equal parts resentment and respect. I couldn’t end this until she let me.

  Placing a finger under her chin, I raised her to meet me. Glistening smears of red and brown covered her mouth and chin, so like the strands running through my fingers. No wonder it suited her. Blood and chocolate.

  “Take the job, Adeline,” I whispered.

  She was coming toward me. Or maybe I was closing the distance. It didn’t matter because her mouth was on mine.

  The kiss was gentle at first—as if both of us were remembering how to do this. Then my tongue darted out, tasting her sweet, metallic lipstick, and Adeline clamped down, drawing me in.

  Warring tongues battled for dominance, clashing in a shower of sparks like those cast off when I sharpened our blades. It was hungry—almost frantic. We fell over, her leg between mine, and the other wrapped around me. Sweet and sharp. Soft but fierce. An addiction that would be the end of me. I knew it as though I woke with a vision of my future. The worst mistake I ever made was letting her out of that bathroom alive. Now my heart would lie on her palm until she inevitably squeezed.

  I flipped us over and Adeline made a distressed noise. I didn’t think twice in removing the key from my jacket and freeing her trapped hands. They were around my neck in a flash, shoving me back.

  My nose hovered centimeters above hers. We gazed at each other, both of us likely wondering what she’d do and if I’d stop her.

  “What’s your name?” The question left her unbidden—if I named the look of surprise that followed correctly.

  That she wanted to know so badly made the devil in me refuse to tell her.

  “St. John.”

  But it seemed he had been tamed by her too.

  “Saint,” she whispered.