by Fawn Bailey
Yet I couldn't get it out of my mind. Had I been dreaming or had he actually been there? Was Kain really waiting for me in the gardens?
My heart beat impossibly fast as I walked to the door of my bedroom. If I got caught, I was going to be in a world of trouble. How was I going to explain sneaking off in the middle of the night?
I decided to worry about it later, my heart beating too fast for my head to form any kind of coherent thought. I needed to see if it was really him. If he was truly waiting for me downstairs.
The hallway was dark and empty. I closed the door to my bedroom firmly behind myself and started walking down the stairs, hoping none of them creaked.
There was a light on in the dining room, and the sound of conversation floating through into the hallway on the ground floor. I ignored it and ignored the fear I felt, too. Instead, I walked to the library and snuck out through the French doors. Above them, the white silk curtains were billowing in the breeze. I was lucky someone had left the door open.
The second I felt the cold grass blades under my feet, a palm wrapped around my mouth and my body sagged against a tall, familiar shape. My eyes danced wildly to try and find him, and his voice shushing me sent fear and longing through my bones.
"Quiet, dolly," he whispered. "Be quiet and still. Just let me do this."
He half-carried me off to the side where the expanse of trees began while my heart threatened to thump its way out of my chest. I ripped myself from his embrace once we'd gotten far enough from the house, pressing my palms against a thick tree trunk and breathing panicked short breaths.
"Calm breaths, dolly," Kain told me softly. "Calm, deep breaths. Slow. Come on, do it with me."
Once again, he was saving me against all odds. I breathed with him. In, out. In, out.
And once my breathing became more normal, I finally looked at him.
It really was him... Kain, after all this time. Had I actually seen him at the opera? Was that message really from him? Perhaps he would explain everything now.
His eyes were dark and filled with anger as he stared at me.
"Did he hurt you?" he barked at me, and I thought back to every moment Max had treated me roughly. "I swear to God, I'll fucking kill him, dolly."
Then, I remembered the little boy who used to be my best friend. Shy, sweet little Max that was so much different from his brother.
"No," I whispered, my eyes wild as they met his. "I'm okay."
He stared at me thunderously. I still don't know who reached out first, but we somehow met in the middle, hot, feverish bodies clashing against one another, our mouths finding each other in the night and our hearts beating together in one rhythm.
"Dolly," he whispered against my mouth.
"Master," I begged against his.
And then he kissed me, and the world came to a stop. A kiss filled with longing, with love, with so much fucking need it rocked me to my core.
I didn't need any further proof.
It was right there in the flutter of butterflies in my tummy, in the gentle moans coming from my lips. The love I felt from him reverberated through my body, and finally, I stopped lying to myself and admitted it.
"Kain," I whispered. "I love you, Kain..."
Chapter 21
Ophelia
He held my naked body in his shaking hands and I wanted more so desperately I could barely hold my moans.
"Do you?" he repeated after me, and the color drained from my face when I realized what I'd said. "Do you really fucking love me, dolly?"
"Yes," I whispered, ashamed of admitting it after years of hiding the truth from him. But I wanted him to know. Needed him to know. I'd been hiding it for long enough, anyway. "Don't you love me, Master?"
"I do," he admitted, his voice breaking over the two simple words. "I do love you, dolly. Come here."
He dropped a knife to the ground and waited for me to approach. I stepped into his arms willingly, my bottom lip trembling as he made me look up at him, our eyes connecting in a wild dance of dares.
"I missed you, little dolly," he went on quietly. "I missed this pretty little face. You know you've got the prettiest little face, don't you dolly?"
I nodded.
"Tell me you're mine," he demanded. "I haven't heard it in so fucking long. I need to."
"I'm yours," I promised. "I've always been yours."
Guilty memories filled my thoughts, memories of the five years we'd spent together when Kain had convinced me to tell him that over and over again. Back then I thought I hated him, that he was forcing these confessions out of me despite my will. But I'd been lying to myself all along, and it had taken another jailor for me to realize how much I cared.
"I've wanted to tell you something for a long time," Kain said shakily, and for the first time since my eighteenth birthday party when he'd worn a suit too big for him, I could tell just how young he was. "I... I've never been allowed to tell you. I... Dolly, I wasn't the one to kill them."
"Kill?" I asked shakily. "Kill who?"
"Your..." he swallowed thickly. "Your family - your mamochka and your siblings."
"You stood next to them," I said weakly. "You told me you were the one who made sure they were dead."
"I couldn't," he said. "I was supposed. I held a gun to your sister's face..."
"Vlada," I whispered brokenly.
"Vlada," he nodded, the pain in his eyes unbearable to look at. "I couldn't fire. I told her to hide. Your mother, too. But they found them before I could help them. Killed them all before I could take them away."
I looked away, trying to hide the tears now flowing freely down my cheeks.
"I would've never hurt them," he went on. "I... I was on orders."
"From who?" I asked brokenly.
"You'll find out soon enough," he promised. "I just needed you to know that, dolly."
I stood there uselessly while he fidgeted with my hair.
"I'll prove it to you," he promised. "I know it's hard to believe me but I'll prove everything to you, dolly."
"Okay," I whispered.
"Come here," he begged, and I moved closer until my body was pressed up against his. "I want to take you away soon."
"Not now?" I asked, and he laughed.
"I can't yet," he said, motioning toward the house. "Too suspicious. Need to handle some other stuff first, and then I'll come for you."
"I don't want to marry him, Kain," I whispered. "I don't want to marry Max."
"I know," he said roughly. "I won't let it happen, don't you worry your pretty little head, dolly."
"Promise?" I asked, and he nodded, intertwining his fingers with mine.
"Promise," he said. "And don't worry. I'm going to take care of you. I'll make sure no one hurts you again."
"Okay," I whispered again.
"Now..." he went on, his hand slipped between my thighs. "Were you a good girl like I taught you to be?"
"Y-yes," I managed to get out, completely overwhelmed by the feeling of his fingers touching me in my most tender spot. "I was good..."
"Has anybody else touched this cunt?" he asked, and I looked away. "Fucked it, dolly? Has anyone else been in here?"
"No," I told him, looking back into his eyes. "Only you."
"Only me, what?" His eyes were taunting me. He always pushed for more. Always.
"Only you have been in my pussy, Master," I promised him.
"And it'll always be just me, won't it?" he demanded. "Say it. Say your body is just mine and nobody else is allowed to touch it."
"It's only yours," I breathed. "I won't let anyone else touch it."
"Good girl."
He left a fleeting kiss on my cheek and it burned because I wanted so much more than he wasn't willing to give me just yet.
"Go back to the house," he commanded. "I don't want you to get caught."
He turned around to leave but I ran after him, tugging on his sleeve.
"Don't make me go," I begged him. "I need you for a little bit
longer. I need you or I'll lose my mind, Kain. Please, let me have you."
He cocked his head to the side and grinned at me.
"Well I must say," he went on. "It's nice to hear you speak after all this time. I have always been addicted to your voice. Although I much prefer your moans. Are you going to moan for me if I stay, little orphan?"
My skin prickled. He hadn't called me that in so long I'd almost forgotten all about it.
"Yes," I promised him. "I'm going to moan for you."
He grabbed me by my hair and pulled me towards the lawn behind the house. He made me move up until we were standing in front of the kitchen, hidden in the darkness outside but with the perfect view of the kitchen. Max and his father were sitting at the table, looking deep in discussion.
I knew the windows of the house were soundproof, and there was no chance they could see us amidst the shrubbery. But still, it sent a pleasant chill down my spine.
"Going to come in front of them?" Kain asked me with a bright grin. "You don't mind, do you, dolly? You like being a filthy little thing."
"Yes," I whispered, desperate for his dirty touch. I'd been craving it for so long. "God, Kain. Please, just touch me."
He made me lie down on my belly and positioned himself on top of him. I caught my breath when I heard him unzipping, and did it again when he positioned his cock on my pussy.
"Please," I begged softly.
"Look at them," he commanded. "Look at those two trying to ruin your life. This is the ultimate revenge, you know that, dolly? They have no clue what I'm doing to their little trophy. I'm going to send you back broken."
"Yes," I whispered. "Fuck yes, please Master."
He pushed himself inside me and I moaned as my pussy opened up for him, accepting his generous length fully and stretching for him.
"You feel so good, dolly," he groaned into my ear. "I will never get tired of fucking this pussy, you know that? I'll never touch a different woman. There's no one who can compete with you..."
His fingers trailed down my tender skin and I watched Max and his father furrowing their brows over some papers. I was going to come. I was already so close I had to bite my tongue so I wouldn't scream.
"Fuck me," I begged him. "Just fuck me harder, we don't have a lot of time."
He did, driving his cock into me again and again until I was close to passing out from the sheer intensity of his thrusts. It was as if he were punishing me, trying to show how bad of a girl I was for leaving him.
"Why didn't you take me with you?" I asked him desperately. "We could've run off together."
"All part of the plan," he grunted, his right palm wrapping around my throat. "Part of the plan, you'll see, dolly. You'll see soon enough."
I believed his promises like always and succumbed to the way he was fucking me. To the feeling of utter need for this human that had made my life a living hell.
"Dolly," he rasped. "I need to be honest."
"Tell me," I begged.
"I didn't kill Vlada," he said gently, his pace quickening, his voice growing more strained. "I didn't kill your other siblings or your mother."
I knew what he was going to say before he went on.
"But I did murder your father," he admitted brokenly.
I started to scream, but he placed his palm over my mouth and turned me over in the grass so I was on my back. My eyes were angry and shooting daggers at him and he stared at me with so much longing it damn near killed me.
"Don't scream," he begged. "Go back to your room. One day, you will understand. One day, I will explain it all, dolly."
He moved away from me and I let out a deep sigh as he did. It was almost a relief when he stopped touching me as if every second my skin was on his made breathing a little more difficult.
"Go," he commanded. "Fucking go right now, dolly."
He moved into the shadows, and I only blinked once, but he was gone already. Whimpering, I picked myself up and somehow managed to get to the front door. I let myself into the house, and just as I was about to climb the stairs, I heard voices approaching. Michael and Max... shit, this could get bad very fast.
I rushed to the coat room and closed the door, praying the night had been warm enough that Michael hadn't brought a jacket. Their voices drew nearer and nearer and I listened to them talking with my heart in my stomach.
"...I obviously don't want him there, he's only going to cook up more trouble."
"Dad, he's my brother."
"I said no."
An uncomfortable silence lay in the room and my heart nearly popped out my chest it was beating so fast.
"Goodbye, Max."
I peeked through the gap in the doors, and watched Max walk his father to the front door. Once he'd closed it behind him, he leaned on the doorframe and let out a long sigh. I almost felt compassion for him in that moment, but I didn't want to. He'd treated me like trash.
I waited until the coast was clear before sneaking back into my room.
Once again, Kain visited me in my dreams... and once again, I woke up whispering his name.
Chapter 22
Max
The day of the wedding, I felt like a nervous wreck, but I did my best to hide it from the people around me. My father was grinning from ear to ear and even my mother was a little more open than usual, her smile just a shade brighter.
I hadn't seen Ophelia yet. I'd slept in a hotel the previous night and was ready to see her at church. I wasn't a complete piece of shit. I wanted her to have a beautiful wedding, because I was a stupid fuck and I still loved her, despite it all. I always had and probably always would. I was a sucker for her, and I would've let her do fucking anything, as long as I got to keep her by my side. Perhaps that had been my mistake these past few weeks. I wanted her more than she'd ever wanted me.
I was getting ready in my suite. The hotel had been booked off for the wedding and the reception afterward. My father had worked his Midas touch and prepared a wedding for the ages. Ophelia would have never gotten one like it with Kain.
I smirked at my own reflection in the wardrobe mirror and buttoned up my suit jacket when there was a knock on the door. I walked over and opened it wide, expecting to find one of the groomsmen, but surprised to find my brother on the doorstep.
"How did you get past them?" I asked him, and he shrugged with his jackass grin.
"I have my ways," he said, looking around before walking into the room. "All clear?"
"Yeah, no one's here," I replied, locking the door behind us. "Come on in. Do you want a drink?"
"I'm good, thanks," Ryker replied.
"I'm glad you could make it," I said with genuine sentiment. "It wouldn't have been as great without you here."
He looked troubled, and I sat down on the couch across from him.
"What's the matter?" I asked. Fucking hell, if he'd gotten into another one of his expensive messes, Dad was going to blow his casket. "Come on, you're freaking me out."
"I... I shouldn't be here," he muttered, looking at the floor. "I never should have come."
"What's going on?" I asked again.
Suddenly he seemed to change his mind and walked up to me, slapping my shoulder.
"Max," he said, his voice more vulnerable than I'd ever heard it. "I love her."
"Love her?" I repeated, and as the words left my mouth, I realized what he was saying. "Oh, fuck you. You love my princess?"
"She's not yours!" Ryker snarled. "She was always fucking mine."
"Never," I spat in his face. "Never yours, she was always meant for me."
"She doesn't even want you," he laughed at me. "She never did."
"She doesn't want you either," I growled. "All she wants is that abusive piece of shit who kidnapped her."
"Kain?" My brother looked mortified. "You're fucking lying."
I laughed bitterly, saying, "You wish I were. Now get the fuck out of here. You've ruined your last chance with me, fratello. We're never going to speak again. Leave."
> He didn't move, but I wasn't going to let him intimidate me any longer. I slammed my chest into his, roaring in his face.
"LEAVE!"
He pushed me off and covered his eyes with his hand, rubbing them warily as he walked to the door.
"I tried," he said, and I realized he'd gotten emotional. "I've tried so many fucking times, Max. Why do you pretend to stay blind?"
I stared at him, knowing instantly what he was talking about.
"You walked out on us," I told him.
"How could I not?" he yelled. "How could I not, Max? After what I found out?"
"Leave," I said, rummaging in a drawer and pulling out a gun. "Leave now."
Everything stood still. My twin stared at me before smiling one last time, but it was tinged with bitterness. Then, he walked out of the room.
Once I was alone, I leaned back against the wall and took several deep, shaky breaths. I put the gun back in the drawer and stood in front of the mirror, smoothing down my shirt and blazer.
After a long moment of watching myself, I smiled. Finally, I was going to get what I'd always wanted. And nobody would be stupid enough to stand in my way.
I stood up with the rest of the groomsmen as the music started. I saw my father first, his arm holding Ophelia's. I saved myself the first look at her because I wanted to savor every second of that moment.
She looked fucking incredible. In her white tiered gown, she truly looked like a princess. She wore a tiara, her hair let down her back in a silky cascade. Her lashes were thick and black and her mouth was painted red.
I smiled at her, but she didn't return it. She just stared me dead in the eyes with hatred I didn't want to admit was there. But she did hate me. She didn't want this. Not even after all this time, not after every attempt, I'd made to please her. She still didn't fucking want me.
My mouth set in a thin line, and as she approached, I decided she was no fucking Snow White. She was the Snow Queen.
My father walked her up to me and I took her hand while her eyes shot daggers at me. She was fucking embarrassing me and the whole church was watching. I was going to punish her bloody for that, and from the defiant tilt of her chin, I could tell she knew it and did it anyway.