by Crimson Syn
“I wanted to tell you! But I was afraid Max! I was afraid you’d think I betrayed you. I swear. I wouldn’t have done this if my father wasn’t in danger.”
I was barely able to make out her words, the sound of her voice wafting through the empty office.
“Max? Max, please, you have to believe me.” She knelt before me, grabbing my leg and sobbing onto my lap. I stared down at her and then at the screen. She hadn’t had time to shut it down and shocked, I stared at the blueprints I kept secured on my desktop.
I shut the screen off not wanting to see the cause of my stupidity. I looked down at her, dumbstruck from her words. Words that cut deep, that were like sharp knives slaying at my heart. Slowly, my heart closed off. It was a familiar feeling, one I’d hated lately, but today I welcomed it.
“I don’t have to believe anything. I won’t ever believe one word that comes out of your filthy mouth.”
Her eyes widened at my harsh words yet I didn't care. The tears rolling down her cheeks, only made me feel disgusted. I was disgusted at myself for wanting to believe in her. I stood up and she slid back, quickly pulling herself up. I watched her in disbelief as she swiped the hard drive from the desk like a true thief.
“Max, I…”
I stalked over to her and clamped my hand around her throat. Pain, mixed with fury, and I squeezed until she began to struggle and claw at my hand. I dragged her up to me and stared at those eyes. Those pretty amber eyes that had hypnotized me into believing any lie she'd fabricated. I cut off her air and with it her words because if she continued to speak I feared I'd fall again under her spell.
“Shut. Your. Mouth.” I seethed. “You’ve told me enough bloody lies.”
I held her there, forcing myself not to snap her pretty little neck. “Give me the hard drive.”
She struggled but managed to gargle a single word that drove my fury. “Never.”
I roared and shoved her back, slamming her against the wall.
“Max,” she struggled for air as she squeezed my wrists. “Please. Listen to me.”
“I will never again listen to another thing that comes out of your mouth, Victoria. If that’s even your real name.” I stared at her hard wanting to know.
“Is it?”
“What?” She trembled in my arms.
“Is it your goddamn name?” I shouted at her.
“Yes! Yes, it’s my name. It’s me. It was always me. I never lied to you about that. I never lied….”
I pressed my hand to her lips, cupping her jaw. “Understand one thing. Not a single word uttered by these lips will move me. You’ve fucked with the wrong man, beautiful. You’ve fucked with the wrong heart.”
“Please,” she begged and I pressed my forehead to hers, sliding my hand down once again to her throat, barely applying any pressure.
“That’s it. Beg. That’s the only thing you’ll be doing from now on. Begging for your freedom.
She shook her head, her hands coming up to cup my cheeks and I let her touch me. I fucking hated myself for still wanting her touch. For still craving it.
“Please. Help me,” she whispered and I snapped.
I took a step away from her, watching as she crumpled to the floor. I stared down at her with disdain, feeling myself slowly grow numb. I didn’t even feel hate, just a deep emptiness. I felt my walls rebuilding. Brick by brick. Layer by thick layer.
“Help you? You have the audacity to ask for my help.”
“If you would just let me explain, you’d understand.”
She sobbed as I crouched down beside her, gripping her chin tightly. “Understand what, exactly? That you were using me? That I was some sort of pawn in this game of yours?”
She shook her head as her tears trickled down to my hand. “I’m a pawn too. I’m a pawn too, can’t you see that?”
I closed my eyes and shoved her away from me. I couldn’t stand these feelings that consumed me. I had been happy with her, I was considering asking her to be my woman, eventually my wife. I’d never felt so strongly for another. Yet here I was again, being torn to pieces by the one I loved. Only this time, this time she was still alive.
“Please, Max. I beg you, help us,” she wrapped herself around my arm and I grimaced trying to shake her off. I didn’t want to feel pity for her. I didn’t want to feel anything for her at all.
“William told me to tell you. I should have listened. I’m sorry I didn’t listen.”
The trusted name caught my attention and I wasn’t sure how to take it. I didn’t trust her, but hearing y best friend’s name shook me. Uncertainty swept through me nearly breaking down my walls. What if what she was saying was actually the truth?
“What about William?”
I saw hope flicker in her eyes and I grabbed her arms, forcefully dragging towards me. “Listen to me. If you lie to me I swear to God I will put you away for so long you won’t ever see the light of day again. If I find out what you are telling me is a lie, Victoria, I will destroy you and that precious father of yours.” I spat out at her and I felt her tremble in my arms.
She shook her head and took gulps of air as she tried to stop the sobbing. “William Marx, he has also been blackmailed into this. His wife, Lucy, she’s in danger. If I don’t get that flash drive to them by morning, they’ll both be dead.”
“Fuck!” I ran a hand through my hair and let her go. She fell back against the wall and closed her eyes.
“Call him if you don’t believe me. He’ll tell you the truth.”
I got up and began to pace as I went through the events of the last few weeks. They had chosen the one person I trusted the most. William was my brother, I should have sensed something. He was acting nervous the last time we spoke, jittery, barely talking really, which I thought was out of sorts for him. He was always so talkative especially about Lucy and the baby. The baby.
I took out my phone and started to dial when Victoria suddenly flung herself at me. She swiped my phone away and it slid across the floor.
“No!” She looked up at me and then suddenly she was falling. I leaned in and caught her just as she crumpled to the floor. Her eyes fluttered and tears flew down her cheeks.
“Don’t call him,” she whispered. “They can see you.” She pointed up at the ceiling and the cameras. “You need to get me out of here. The feed will come back at any minute. They’ll be able to see us then.”
I looked up at the cameras and cursed under my breath. I had to move quickly, but as I shifted her, her body slumped down and I realized she'd fainted.
"Victoria? Victoria!" I slapped her cheeks, now looking pale and grief-stricken. I took a moment to caress her cheeks and memorize her face. I wasn't sure if I could trust her, but one thing I was sure about, I didn't have the heart to leave her at the mercy of these men.
I hid the flash drive in my jacket pocket and lifted her into my arms. Taking the keycard with me I left the office. I quickly made my way down the hallway and into the elevator. I knew where all the cameras were and how to divert them. I was good at making calculations and I wasn't sure how much time had elapsed before they'd turn the cameras on again. I practically ran out the doors and made my way to my car. I tucked her carefully into the driver's seat, but as I pulled away she reached out for my wrist.
“My phone,” she sighed, almost struggling to breathe. I felt bad I had mistreated her, but anger still poured through me. “My phone,” she reached into her side and pulled out a small cell phone. I looked down at it and then at her. “This phone is safe. Search in the contacts under Professor. Dial him and then let it ring three times. Hang up he’ll call you back from a secure line.”
Tears poured down her cheeks as she looked back at me. “I’m sorry Max. I’m so unbelievably sorry.”
I frowned and secured the seat belt around her. “Lay back, sleep for now.”
I slammed the door and made the call.
8
VICTORIA
“G et inside,” he shoved me into the bedroom
and stared back at me. He’d been kind before, but now he was like a beast. His anger permeated through me and I wished I could take it all away.
“William isn’t answering so until he does don’t move, don’t even breathe, and stop crying! Your tears won’t help you here!”
I stared at his back and jumped at the sound of the door slamming. He’d shut it so hard it nearly vibrated off its hinges. I started to shake on the bed and I couldn’t stop the tears from falling. The pain I felt was so severe it had knocked the wind out of me. It came in powerful waves, this sense of loss, of being lost. I missed him already and he was only a few feet away.
I curled up onto the mattress and wept. That ugly crying that comes when you feel like your heart is broken. The kind that rattles you to the core as you try not to scream. The kind of crying that comes with mourning. Cause that’s exactly what it felt like. It felt like our love had died and I was at fault, and the more I thought about, the more the guilt set in.
I don’t know for how long I cried, but when I stopped, long enough to take in my surroundings, I realized it was late in the day and the sun had hidden behind the city skyscrapers. My muscles ached as I slowly got myself up and walked to the window feeling emotionally exhausted, the tears didn’t stop, and the pain throbbed. I looked out to the city and the sorrow I felt cut deep. I’d never felt this before, this sense of loneliness, the sense that the person, my person, now hated me. I had no idea what to do with that emotion.
How could I fix it? He wasn’t even giving me a chance to explain and everything I did try to say was designated as a lie for him. I couldn’t blame him either. I kept picturing his eyes. Those beautiful bright blue eyes had turned into the color of the deep blue sea, dark and full of pain and turmoil. They’d changed right in front of me, and a coldness I’d never experienced, exuded from him. He was so blunt, so cold, so angry. He was just so angry, and he had every right to be.
I should have told him when I had the chance. I should have said something. I should have asked him for help. But I’d done that, I’d gone to him and he wasn’t having it. What if I begged? Would he help me, or would he just turn his back on me?
I couldn't believe he would just leave me to die. He wasn't that ruthless of a man, at least I hoped he wasn't. You don't really know a person until you hurt them until you see their pain, that's when you know just how much they loved you.
What angered me the most was that I had destroyed a man I loved for a man I barely knew. I moved around the room quietly, trying not to disturb him, yet at the same time hoping he’d come to me. That he’d say he forgave me and that he’d be my hero. But the love I wanted wasn’t going to be, I’d managed to ruin that, all I had now was the hope that he’d protect me. That what Professor Marx had told me about him was true.
Walking into the bathroom my reflection caught me off guard and I paused looking into the mirror. I gasped at the sight of me. My mascara had run, and deep dark circles underlined my eyes. My lipstick was smeared, my hair in disarray. My eyes and nose were swollen from crying, my lips red and puffy. I looked as fucked up as I felt.
I turned away, disgusted with myself and slowly made my way to the shower. Turning on the hot water I was about to undress when he stormed in through the door. I stared back at him in shock and lust quickly traveled up my thighs and to my core. He'd walked in completely naked and he was seething. His chest puffing in and out from his ragged breaths and his muscles rippled as he stalked me.
I stepped back, the warm water cascading down my face. I wasn’t sure what to expect from him, and I protectively raised my hands just as he slammed into me. He wrapped his arms around me and grabbing the seams in the back, he ripped my dress down the middle, yanking it down until the shreds pooled on the floor. He did the same with my panties, relentless in his actions. I simply stood there, my eyes closed as his hands roamed my body. His touch was intoxicating, even if it was filled with anger. His heavy cock swayed between my thighs as he grabbed me by the hair. He looked angry enough to cause me harm and I trembled in his embrace, loving and fearing this fierce side of him.
I struggled against him, desperately trying to push him away, but wordlessly he dominated me. There was no escaping this. Maxwell wanted to hurt me and all I could do was submit to it all. It was my only way of showing him that I was his in every way. That I’d do anything he wanted. That I trusted him completely.
He slammed us back up against the tile, the water cascading across his broad shoulders and trickling down his chest, attempting to wash away the pain. He was still so beautiful in all his anger.
I cried out as his hand unexpectedly covered my mound. “Is this what you were looking for?” His lips brushed mine as his fingers dug into me. “A good fuck while you betrayed me? Did you think that I’d go soft on you? That I’d be okay with this?”
"Max!"
His hands drove me crazy as they punished me, his long thick fingers fucking me hard and rough. Sliding up inside me without any warning, yet I was wet enough for him to slide in smoothly. He grunted, as my pussy throbbed along his fingers and he knew that no matter what he thought, my body didn't betray him. It wouldn't. He fucked me as if he were trying to hurt me, but instead, he only made me cry out in pleasure.
Turning me around, he smashed my breasts against the cold tile wall. I clawed at the wall as he sneered in my ear, “I hate you.”
The words felt like daggers puncturing my heart, yet I knew he had to have loved me. Because he could only hate what he once loved.
“I love you,” I whispered with tears rolling down my cheeks and he yelled, causing me to flinch.
“Shut the fuck up! You have no idea what love is!” His hand came down on my ass and I yelped at the sharp pain he caused, squeezing the flesh harshly. I bowed back not wanting to give into the pain.
I whimpered as I felt him drag his fingernails down my back. He dropped to his knees behind me and his tongue found his way across my folds. The trickle of water flowed down my body and into his mouth. He bit down on the fleshy part of my arse and then he twirled me around. He shifted me, lifting my legs up onto his shoulder as he licked at my core, roughly squeezing my flesh forcing me to cry out in a mix of pleasure and pain. His teeth suddenly clamped down on my clit, dragging across it and I screamed and sobbed from his harsh treatment.
As much as it stung, I loved it. Running my hands across his hair I pushed him against me, moving my hips against his beard. I’d take him any way he wanted to give it to me and I’d surrender to him as long as he was touching me. As long as I was his.
Standing up, he forced me around, pressing me back up against the tile. His chest pressed to my back as he tangled my hair in his fist, pulling it back so that his mouth was at my ear. “You can squirm all you want, but this isn’t going to be pleasure-filled for you. I promise you that.”
Gripping my hips, I cried out as he forced his cock into my tight rear hole. I screamed and trembled from the sharp sting of pain as he stretched my unused hole wide open. He'd somewhat prepared me, making me moan for him, but without warning, he'd taken me in the most intimate of ways and I cried out as his cock slowly made his way in.
Y fingertips clawed at the walls, struggling still as he took me any way he wanted to. Grabbing my wrists, he forced them behind my back, pulling me towards him as he slid me back onto his cock, grinding into my ass and holding still, waiting until I accommodated myself onto his thickness.
Reaching around my neck, he gripped my throat and I felt his heated breath at my neck. “I don’t know if I should hate you or love you.”
“Love me,” I whispered in desperate need of him.
“You don’t deserve my love,” he gritted out, grinding further into me and forcing whimpers out of me.
“I swear, I never wanted to hurt you.”
"Well, I want to hurt you. I want to hurt you Victoria," he gripped my throat even tighter as he slid out and rammed back inside of me.
I cried out, my legs giving out from
under me, but he held me steady as he continued to have his way with me. “I want to give you as much pain as you’ve given me.”
I pressed my forehead against the cool tile as he dipped his head against my shoulder, the water still cascading down our bodies. My arse hole throbbed slightly from the pain he’d caused it, but I felt full, I felt taken. I was a bloody masochistic mess.
“Take me. Do it. Punish me.”
He growled at my words, and his hands grabbed my tits, mashing them together as he bit down on my shoulder. I was going to see his marks on me for weeks, left from his powerful touch. I was looking forward to it. I wanted to know what it was like to have your man’s love bruising you mentally, emotionally and physically.
I deserved anything he gave me. I deserved his punishment, I relished it. I needed to suffer just as much or more than he was. It was only fair. I had hurt the man I loved and all I could do was give him what all those others couldn't have. Me. I gave him all of me and he knew it. He damn well knew that with every thrust, every bite, every moan and scream I gave out, it was his. Only his.
9
MAXWELL
M y anger had been simmering through me for hours. I found myself pacing in front of my bedroom door wanting to see her and hating myself for it. My patience snapped when I heard the water running. All I could do was imagine those water droplets sliding down the tips of her nipples and my resolve disappeared. I marched into the bathroom wanting to take her, to hurt her in the process, but as much as I wanted to, I couldn’t.
Instead, I yearned to hear her cry out my name in pleasure. I needed to force those ragged breaths out of her as I fucked her. Her ass felt so good wrapped around me and my angry thrusts were doing nothing to repair my broken heart.
How could she betray me like this, after knowing my past, after knowing what I'd been through? I gave her my fucking heart and she smashed it into tiny pieces. Irreparable at best. I fucked her hard and fast, like the beast that I am. Taking what's mine without giving a fuck about how she felt. I didn't want to care, I didn't fucking want to care. But as she moaned my name I froze. My name on her lips a sweet mantra that had me craving for her all over again.