by Zoe Blake
Nothing.
I knew he wouldn’t call or text. He hated mobile phones.
I needed to stop thinking about all the good things and think about all the ways he was bad for me.
He was controlling. You mean protective?
He pushed the line. You mean got you out of your comfort zone, made you experience new things?
He was domineering. You mean the way he would push you against a wall and kiss you senseless just like in the movies?
I wondered if he missed me as much as I missed him. Was he just as miserable? Maybe he had already found someone new? Like that crazy woman from a few weeks ago. Had he already replaced me with someone more willing to take risks, more adventurous? Someone more willing to play his games?
Oh, my god! Stop it! I shouted to my inner mind.
Enough was enough. This toxic, twisted merry-go-round had to end.
Looking down at the bird pins, I swiped them with my arm, scattering them in a shimmering blur across the floor.
I knew what I had to do…
Chapter 30
Richard
“Get out!” I roared as I threw my glass at the partially open door. It crashed against the panel, sending amber liquid and shattered glass raining down onto the floor.
I should have forced her to stay. Should have tied her to my bed till she realized her fate was with me. There was no other choice.
This wasn’t the end.
I wouldn’t let it be.
She was mine.
End of story.
Mine.
My mistake was letting her continue to live her life as normal. I wouldn’t make that mistake twice. I needed to isolate her from everything. Only then would she finally realize her love for me superseded all else. She was my world. I needed to make sure I was hers. I needed to ensure she forgot all else but me.
Walking over to my bedroom mantel, I picked up the vial of pills I had gotten from Dr. Leilend. Popping off the cap with my thumb, I poured them out onto the black marble.
Four pills.
Four second chances.
There was no thought of this crossing a line; where Elizabeth was concerned there was no line.
I didn’t doubt I would get her back, by fair means or foul. The question was how could I make sure this didn’t happen again? Chaining her up in a room had no long-term appeal. There was no challenge or sportsmanship to that solution. No, I needed to make it her choice to stay. And the only way to make that happen was to eliminate all other choices.
Pouring myself another drink, I turned to look at the rumpled bedcovers. I had refused to allow the maids to clean in here. Even though it had been days, I swear I could still smell her scent on my own skin, on my sheets. I needed to get her back. Needed her in my arms. Under my control.
There was this restlessness in me, an eager darkness that clawed and scratched at my insides begging to be unleashed. Only she could calm that beast. Without her, I felt it rear up.
Walking to my dressing closet, I threw the doors open. I had cleared a corner for all the dresses I had made for her. Taking a sip of brandy, I pulled out the champagne chiffon Victorian gown that would be featured in the portrait I was having painted of her. Then the riding habit in a deep hunter green velvet. They were beautiful. My girl had real talent, unfortunately, mainly for gowns worn a hundred-fifty years ago.
Things would be so much easier if we both lived in the Victorian era. I would just marry her, then I would be her lord and master. She would be forever under my control. By the laws of god and man. Unlike today where even with marriage a woman still had independence and freedom.
The thought had appeal.
The fact was, even if she came back to me this time, it wouldn’t last. Once more I would do something that pushed her too far. It was inevitable. She would be forever questioning our relationship. The games I played. The problem was those games with her were what made life endurable, without them everything was colorless and boring.
I needed the thrill of the conquest as much as I needed air… as much as I needed her. That was why she was perfect for me. She was both.
An innocent treat with a dark and twisted center.
A woman who was both submissive but strong enough to challenge me.
Someone who would accept my cock up her ass but still bite my lip till it bled when I kissed her.
Fuck, I screamed into the empty room.
I needed to get her back… by any means necessary.
She was mine.
Mine.
Notifying my staff that I wanted the Aston Martin ready outside with the keys in the ignition, I tossed on a pair of jeans and a t-shirt. I didn’t have a fully formed plan yet, but I couldn’t wait another day without seeing her. She had more guards than the queen secretly watching over her, but it wasn’t enough. I needed her with me. I would convince her to return and then come up with a more long-term plan later.
What I really needed was a second chance. A chance to wipe the slate clean. What an exciting challenge that would be, to convince her to fall in love with me all over again.
The ultimate game.
Picking up my glass, I swallowed the final gulp, relishing in the burn, before turning and opening my bedroom door.
“You!”
Chapter 31
Richard
Elizabeth stood there wide-eyed. Her arm half raised, ready to knock.
“Your staff said I could—”
I didn’t let her finish her sentence. Grabbing her head, I pulled her in for a kiss. Wrapping an arm around her waist, I carried her over the threshold and kicked the door shut.
“Richard, I—”
“Shhh… don’t talk,” I breathed against her open mouth as I kissed her again, while carrying her to my bed.
Tossing her in the center, I tore off my shirt. My hands went to the zipper of my jeans as I kicked off my shoes.
“Richard, we need to talk.”
“No talking. Take off your clothes,” I growled as I placed a knee between her open legs and reached for the hem of her sweater.
Pulling it over her head, I palmed one naked breast while taking the other breast’s nipple deep in my mouth, scraping it along the edge of my teeth.
Elizabeth groaned as her hips bucked.
Moving down to kneel before the bed, I pulled off her yoga pants and leaned in to lick the fabric-covered seam of her pussy. Hooking one finger into her thong, I pulled it harshly to the side, knowing the thin elastic band would press against her tight dark hole as I did so.
“Richard, don’t do this. I can’t think straight. We need to talk,” she moaned as her fingers dug into my hair.
“Later,” I murmured, my hot breath brushing her exposed flesh.
Grabbing her ankles, I propped them on the edge of the bed, spreading her wide.
She was here.
In my bed.
Under my control.
And I was never letting her get away again.
Much later, I untangled from the sheets and strode over to the side table next to the fireplace. Pulling off the crystal stopper, I poured us both a brandy.
Looking over my shoulder, I watched Elizabeth sit up against the headboard, holding a sheet up over her breasts, as she ran a hand over her tangled hair. “You know, Richard, my being here doesn’t change anything. I can’t keep having the same fight, the same doubts, over you. It’s killing me. It’s toxic. We are toxic together.”
Placing the stopper on the brandy, I stared down into the dark amber liquid. “If only we could do it again, but differently.”
Elizabeth sighed. “There is too much baggage. I know that sounds crazy, we barely know one another and yet I feel like we’ve been doing this same dance over and over again for years. I know I love you but I just don’t know if that is enough.”
Reaching for one of the pills, I cracked open its plastic shell and dumped the contents into her drink, watching as the white powder fizzed then dissipated.
Walking over to the bed, I handed her a glass.
Elizabeth looked at it with suspicion. She raised an eyebrow. “What’s this?”
“Brandy. You’ll hate it. Drink it anyway,” I said, giving her one of my most charming smiles as I took a long sip, still staring at her over the rim.
“You know, no matter what happens, I’ll always love you.”
Her beautiful green eyes looked so sincere as she said it, and I believed her. How could I not? I was already forming a plan to make sure of it.
I held up my glass. “To new beginnings.”
Elizabeth drank deep, then choked. Grasping her throat, her voice raspy, she said, “Oh, my god, that burns.”
I chuckled before taking her empty glass. Caressing her cheek with the back of my knuckles, I said, “Brandy is a lot like love. There’s always a little pain.”
Chapter 32
Lizzie
Present day
I missed.
Richard’s full weight crashed into me, sending us both tumbling to the floor. He had my hips straddled, his erect cock pressing against my stomach as both hands closed like a vise around my wrists. Lifting my arm up, he slammed my right hand against the floor several times before I finally cried out and dropped the gun.
His chest hair brushed my cheek as he leaned over me to push the gun away. I watched in despair as it skittered across the wooden floor to land with a thud against the wall under the bed.
The room reeked of burnt sulphur as bright sunlight streamed down on us.
Transferring my wrists to one hand, Richard seized my jaw and forced my gaze back to him.
His eyes were hard and unforgiving. “I warned you, baby. If you missed, there would be no mercy.”
Tears spilled from my eyes, I honestly couldn’t tell if I was crying because I was happy I missed or devastated because I did.
Leaning over, caging me in, he whispered darkly against my ear, “It’s time we started a new game, my love. Except this one will have much higher consequences.”
Oh, god.
His weight was crushing me. I couldn’t breathe. Still, I rasped, “What are you going to do, Richard?” both dreading and excitedly anticipating his answer.
He stroked my cheek, a gesture I loved and despised at the same time.
“I’m going to marry you.”
The End
About Zoe Blake
USA TODAY Bestselling Author in Dark Romance
Zoe Blake delights in writing Dark Romance books filled with Overly-Possessive Billionaires, Taboo Scenes and Unexpected Twists.
She usually spends her ill-gotten gains on martinis, travel and red lipstick. Since she can barely boil water, she’s lucky enough to be married
to a sexy Chef.
Check out Zoe’s website here!
Join Zoe’s Facebook Reader Group.
Join her newsletter for free dark romance books and release updates.
WANT TO DISCUSS THAT CRAZY ENDING?
Join other readers in Zoe’s Spoiler Room and learn more about the hidden twists to the story.
Ward: A Dark Romance
It should have been a fairytale…
A Billionaire Duke sweeps a poor American actress off her feet to a romantic, isolated English estate.
A grand love affair… except this wasn’t love.
It was obsession.
He had it all planned from the beginning, before I even knew he existed. He chose me.
I’m his unwilling captive, forced to play his sadistic game for my own survival.
He is playing with my mind as well as my body.
Trying to convince me it is 1895, and I’m his obedient ward, subject to his rules and discipline.
Everywhere I look it is the Victorian era.
He says that my memories of a modern life are delusions which need to be driven from my mind through punishment.
If I don’t submit, he will send me back to the asylum.
I know it’s not true… any of it… at least I think it’s not.
The lines between reality and this nightmare are starting to blur.
If I don’t escape now, I will be lost in his world forever.
It should have been a fairytale…
Buy Ward: A Dark Romance here!
Available on Kindle Unlimited.
Thank you!
Stormy Night Publications would like to thank you for your interest in our books.
If you liked this book (or even if you didn’t), we would really appreciate you leaving a review on the site where you purchased it. Reviews provide useful feedback for us and our authors, and this feedback (both positive comments and constructive criticism) allows us to work even harder to make sure we provide the content our customers want to read.
Check out our Website!
Discover more naughty reads from Stormy Night Publications, learn about our company and join our Newsletter.