by Zoe Blake
She slumps against me, lifeless, but I hold the stethoscope in place for a full minute to ensure I’ve done my job and eased her into the darkness of death.
Finally, I let her go, sliding her limp body to the ground. I check her pulse. The red marks of the stethoscope on her neck are beautiful, the scars of her final struggle on earth.
My cock hardens when no pulse quickens beneath my fingers.
Paige is dead.
I swallow the lump in my throat.
This wasn’t how I planned it, but hell, I’ve just been handed a fucking gift, as if fate herself orchestrated this turn of events.
Standing, I carry her in my arms back to the place of seduction, my sanctuary. Opening the door, I find a vacant bed for her. I strip her and lie her down on the cool metal as if I’m laying a sacrifice on an altar. I bow my head, the moment sacred.
Her body’s too warm still, but within hours, she’ll be ready.
Tucking a sheet over her, I kiss her still-warm lips.
I’ll take my time.
Then tonight, I’ll give Paige her final send-off.
About Jane Henry
USA Today bestselling Author
& Amazon Top 100 Author
* * *
Jane Henry pens stern but loving alpha heroes, feisty heroines, and emotion-driven happily-ever-afters. Her books are sometimes dark, sometimes sweet, but always kinky.
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Also by Jane Henry
Island Captive: A Dark Romance
I was hired to apprehend a monster, a Dom sentenced to life for murdering his submissive. But when our plane crashes, we are the only survivors. Now I’m the one pursued.
* * *
The Bratva’s Baby: A Dark Mafia Romance (Wicked Doms)
My orders were simple: Capture her. Marry her. Take her inheritance. Get rid of her. The bookish little recluse is worth more than she knows. And now she’s mine.
* * *
Deliverance (NYC Doms)
He’s bred to protect, and he has his eyes on me. Accidentally keying the car of a dominant may not have been my smartest move.
All Wrapped Up in a Bow
By Ashleigh Giannoccaro
My phone won’t stop buzzing in the pocket of my bloodied pants. I fish it out with my sticky fingers, making it hard to swipe on the glass screen. I haven’t even bothered to go wash off, I just want to get this over and done with. I thought it would take longer. In a way, I was unprepared for her to lose it so soon. The doctor said it can take months for them to become that desperate.
“What, Sarah?” I sigh into the phone as I continue to fill out the tedious forms that come with the death of a spouse. “I really can’t talk right now,” I whisper so the orderly behind the desk can’t hear what I am saying.
“Jack, I think something went wrong.” Her voice cracks with the threat of tears. How does she already know? “I know you’re with your wife, it’s Valentine’s, I’m so sorry. But, David went into his house and left me in the car. He left my gift at home, he wanted to stop and get it on the way to my place.” She’s rambling and I don’t have time to listen to her shit now.
“I really can’t, Sarah. Julia passed away this evening. I have things to do.” I turn my back to the counter and see the way my bloody footprints have made a path down the shitty linoleum floor from her room to the nurses station and waiting area. A trail of my guilt, it follows me, a bloody shadow.
“Jack, I’m so sorry. I’m sorry.” She’s not sorry, I’m certainly not sorry. I am ecstatic.
“Why are you sorry?” I ask her. “This is what we wanted.”
“I know. I’m sorry I bothered you, but Gwen just came running down the street covered in blood, stark fucking naked. I'm afraid to go inside, and David hasn’t come out. Your sister has finally lost her shit, why do you two always protect her?” Ah, Gwen, the real whack job in this plan. Why my mother didn’t drown her as a baby I will never understand.
“Call a cab, go home. Do not go inside. I’ll have Gwen dealt with.” Fuck me, did it all have to happen on one night? “I’ll see you at the house later.” I hang up and sign the bottom of the form allowing for Julia to be cremated as soon as possible and her ashes sent to me. There is no grief, no sadness, only relief — I am glad to be rid of my crazy fucking wife.
“Is Dr Chaucer in this evening?”
“No. I’m sorry, sir. He had a date for Valentine’s, can I help you?”
“My sister, I think she’s done something wrong. The neighbor says she just ran down the street naked and covered in blood. She was at home with my brother, he looks after her.” I pocket my phone and place the clipboard back on the counter. “She’s had problems before, she was a patient of Dr Chaucer’s and I think she may need to be brought in.”
“Do you have an address, sir? I will alert the authorities and they can bring her here if she’s found.” I rattle off David’s address and silently hope she did a proper job and he’s dead, I don’t need a pissed off brother, and a dead wife. Both need to be dead. He makes a nine-one-one call and stays on line with the operator while firing off questions to me. I hope Sarah gets the fuck out of there, quickly.
“I’m worried my brother may have been hurt,” I lie through my teeth.
“Don’t worry sir, the police are on their way.” Police, I should be concerned about that. No one is going to come after a grieving man. I remember my wife is dead, and summon all the fake tears I can muster and sniff out.
“It’s been an awful night, I can’t take much more.” A chubby nurse with faded scrubs comes and puts her arm around me, guiding me to chair in the waiting area. “Sit, we will take care of everything for you. I’m going to go find a doctor, and let him know Gwen is coming in. I saw one down by the morgue earlier.” She scuttles off. I have to bite my tongue, because I know there’s no doctor by the morgue. My heart skips a beat at who is down there, and I fight hard not to smile. I’m grieving.
I watch as a cleaner mops up the remnants of my wife off the floor, it’s quiet inside my head. I don’t hear the noise behind the desk, or the shouting of madmen behind doors. The mop turns from dirty grey to red as they clean the crimson splatters off the floor. Her blood is dried on my hands, and clothes now, the stickiness has gone. Left me, like her life left her. The doors swing open as a gurney is hurtled through the door.
Gwen’s shrill screams break the silence I was so enjoying. She is tied down, restrained. Naked and bloodied from head to toe. Oh, she did a good job — clever girl. Look at all that blood, and the bagged fire poker in the EMT’s hand is a beautiful confirmation that David will no longer be a problem. For any of us.
“What happened?” I put on the mask of concerned relative. “Where’s my brother? What did you do, Gwen?” She screams louder now. They allow me to get close enough to see the insanity in her feral eyes. She can’t even focus, she thrashes and pulls against the restraints.
“Sir, we need to get her into a room and sedated,” The imposter doctor says, not letting on that we are already familiar. “The officer would like a word, then we will take you to see her. You are family?”
“Yes, we are family. She’s my sister.” I nod, wondering if I look bereft enough? The heavy-set police officer stands waiting for me. I make eye contact and hope he sees a sad, grief-stricken husband.
“Mr. Boyd.”
“Call me Jack,” I say, slumping down into the uncomfortable plastic covered waiting chair again.
“Jack, is David Boyd your brother?” I nod, watching his discomfort as he has to deliver bad news to me. “Sir, I understand you have already had a bad night, but I have to inform you that your brother was murdered earlier this evening. Gwen, your — um, sister, has confessed to us. You told the hospital a neighbor called you?” I nod again. Talking might tell him things I don’t want to say.
“Yes. Okay, sir. We will need a statement and those
details form you, sir.”
“Officer, I have just lost my wife and my brother in one night. My sister has finally gone completely mad, and I am going to have to have her committed. So with all due respect, could I please do this in the morning? I would like to see Gwen, and then go home.” Tugging at his collar, I can see he is uncomfortable in here.
“Sure thing, Mr. Boyd. Here’s my card. You can pop down to the station tomorrow. Or call me and I will come to you.” He looks around the empty room and then at the state of me. “Is there someone to drive you home, sir? Do you want to call someone or I can give you a lift?”
“I’ll call someone from my office to fetch me. Thank you so much.” He leaves me and for a few moments I am all alone in the room, no one watching me. A smile creeps onto my face as I think of how perfectly this storm has all come together — albeit faster than I had thought.
I have one lose end to tie up, and I text her to come and fetch me.
They call me to see Gwen. I take a walk down the corridor and into the room where my wife just killed herself. It’s clean now, no sign that Julia was ever here. The white walls and floor wiped clean, and the bedsheets crisp and fresh. The smell of Lysol and fear fill my nostrils as I take a breath, and walk towards Gwen. The nurse who was watching her steps out, and allows us a family moment.
“Oh Gwen, you’re such a good girl. You finally grew a back bone.” She opens her mouth to scream, but I put my bloodied hand over it before she can. I get so close, I can see her pupils as they dilate. “You’re going to be so happy here, everyone will love you. The medicine will keep that little devil from slipping out again. If you misbehave, the doctor will sort you out. You remember him, don’t you?” Bradley stands in the doorway. Her eyes go wide and start to tear with salty tears. She shakes her head under my hand. I can feel her body tremble. I will never understand why she is mad, the short-circuit in her brain. Maybe I took all the good genes in the womb, because Gwen is mad, David was stupid — and I’m perfect.
***
“Jack.” Sarah shoots up out of the chair in the waiting room, then realizes where we are and contains herself. The switch goes, and she’s the demure, professional office assistant without a single emotion showing on her porcelain face.
“Thank you for coming. I had no one to call,” I say, putting on a little show for the staff.
“It’s no problem, Mr Boyd. Let’s get you home.” I like professional Sarah. She’s fuckable, intelligent and almost useful. Her high heels click-clack on the floor as we leave down the long hallway, and out the front doors. Once we exit the front door into the dead of night, mist hides the shadows and dark corners, and Sarah takes my hand in hers. My heart flutters with a momentary ‘what-if’ before we walk along the damp sidewalk to her car. Her perfume is soft and sophisticated, the delicate scent matches her carefully chosen outfit.
I don’t let her drive, I never would — women are terrible drivers and I am fine to drive. In fact, I feel better than I have since I found out my brother had screwed my treacherous wife, and told her about Bradley. She thought by being perfect, I wouldn’t notice, but I notice everything. She thought she could fix me by changing herself. Stupid woman. I notice things, that’s why I am alive and they’re all dead. The way I noticed how much he liked my Sarah. I never liked sharing my toys with my siblings. And when I saw the cracks in Gwen, when she started to fall apart, I noticed it and he didn’t. I wonder if he ever knew that she saw him with Julia, that she came to me and told me — babbling like a nutcase. That night broke her, why did no one love her and everyone loved Julia.
Sarah puts her hand on my thigh, right where Julia’s blood stains the fabric of my pants. I should feel guilt, sadness — anything. Instead, my dick gets hard when I see her red manicure, and I imagine those nails biting into my skin when I fuck her. The atmosphere changes and professional Sarah dissolves into Sarah the slut. I can’t drive fast enough.
Wheels squeal as we pull into my garage a little too fast. I make sure the door is closed so no one can see us before we go into the house. Appearance is everything.
Sarah walks into my house like she was made to be here, and pours me a rum from the wet bar. Perfect wife material. She strips the blood stained clothes from my body as I sip on our victory, both my problems taken care of, and I didn’t need to do a thing. Who knew it was so easy to drive a person crazy, so simple to break their mind like a toothpick. Sarah’s nails drag up my thighs after she discards of my pants. On her knees, those perfectly painted red lips parted just slightly, looking up at me through her lashes. Julia’s blood is still on my skin, marking me as hers.
I fist my cock, it’s already hard at the thought of the freedom that finally awaits. She kneels below me, eagerly looking up, getting more excited as my breaths get noisier.
“Fuck,” I grunt.
“Yes,” She murmurs.
“I’m going to come,” I moan.
Sarah opens her mouth, smiling, tongue out. I’m going to miss her greedy little mouth.
“Fuuuck!” I growl as I start to erupt into her waiting mouth. Painting her pretty face in my cum, I stand over her and imagine how this would have gone had she not been so eager to please my brother too. I rub my cock, milking it until the last drop. When I’m done she has my cum on her breast, face and tongue. She is like a Jackson Pollock painting. Keeping eye contact, she swallows, then wipes her chin with her finger and sucks it clean.
“Fuck, you’re so sexy,” I gasp.
“You’re sexy,” she says a shy smile on those ruined red lips. “That was the hottest thing I’ve seen in my life. Death and destruction suits you,” She says, looking at me adoringly, like she admires the fact that I just wiped out my entire family in a single evening. Looking into her sultry eyes, my cock is already getting hard.
“Let’s go take a bath, tie you up and get dirty all over again,” I say, holding my hand out to help her up off the floor. Her cheeks blush and she looks down, biting that plump bottom lip. Ushering her up the stairs to the master bathroom, I whisper to her, “You look so pretty with my cum on your face, baby.” She giggles and acts shy, I know better. Sarah only pretends to be shy. “My pretty little fuck doll, what am I going to do with you? You know all my secrets.”
“You can do anything you want with me — Sir,” She teases. “That’s why you love me, isn’t it?” I don’t love her, but I certainly love fucking her.
“I’m going to shower and get Julia off of me. I expect you to be ass up on the bed waiting for me.” I smack her perfect, firm ass and close the bathroom door between us. Sarah is a loose end, and as much as I enjoy her company, she has to go.
***
I hold her hips, and she grips the edge of the bed as best she can with her bound hands, while I fuck her with long steady strokes. Drawing my cock nearly all the way out before sliding back in deep. Steady, hypnotizing strokes.
“Feel my cock, baby. Feel how hard it is,” I grunt in her ear, my body bent over hers, our sweat mixing. “Feel every vein bulging for you.”
“Fuck,” She sighs out as her orgasm grips her like my hand on her throat. Once she comes, I start to fuck her with more urgency.
I can feel my orgasm building, ready to crash on me soon.
“Fuck,” I say without meaning to. Sarah is struggling to breathe, riding the end of her own wave and fighting the way my big hand is throttling her delicate neck. “Fuck, baby,” I hiss, pulling out of her. Using my other hand I rub my cock fast.
“Yessss,” I grind out, loudly, the veins in my neck bulging. I groan, and spurt my cum all over the bed sheets.
She didn’t moan. She just went limp, lifeless, and collapsed forwards, sliding off the bed. Her head hitting the hardwood floor, her neck making a cracking sound as it jammed sideways. Her own body weight snapping it.
Well, that was convenient. I really didn’t want to have to drown her in the bath full of bleach. I guess I can just clean her up now. Wouldn’t want evidence or anything ruining my p
erfect plans.
I tie a bow around her with my tie and snap a picture of her, then send it off to Bradley with a caption.
Happy Valentines, my love. I got you the perfect gift.
About Ashleigh Giannoccaro
Ashleigh lives in sunny South Africa with her husband, children and pet meerkat Porky. She writes dark and twisted romance that will have you swooning over the villain in no time. When she’s not writing she can be found traveling the country or with her nose in a book traveling to magical places no one has been.
Join Ashleigh’s Facebook Reader Group!
Also by Ashleigh Giannoccaro
Cirque Act 1
“If no one loves the clown.
Then I will make you no one.”
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Cut & Blow Book 1
“There’s only one place to shampoo
your dirty mob money.”
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Written In Flames
“Broken people shouldn’t play with matches”
First Chapter Teasers
Fight Me, Daddy
By Zoe Blake
How deep does a grave have to be?
Wasn’t there something about animals?
Chloe gripped the small heart charm which hung about her neck, taking solace as the metal warmed beneath her hand. The blue-white beam of her flashlight bounced off dark tree trunks and the thick bed of wet leaves and twigs which covered the ground.