by J. L. Beck
Her face is pale, her big green eyes are glassy and brimming with fear. Immediately, I know something is wrong. Her tiny nails are digging into my skin even through my suit jacket. It’s like she is clawing her way to me, scared that she is going to lose me or something. I look past her, scanning the area for any danger, but there is nothing, there are just people at the bar, drinking and conversing. Lev, one of the heroin suppliers, also the son of one, Vladimir Volcove, is looking in our direction, but he could be looking at anything. He knows that she is mine, and he wouldn’t be dumb enough to touch her.
“What’s wrong?” I ask quietly.
“I don’t feel well, can we please go home.”
She might be able to fool someone else, but she can’t fool me. This has nothing to do with her feeling unwell. The way she looks right now is how she looked the night I almost gave into my selfish needs and took from her. Did someone try and hurt her? Talk to her? Touch her? Blind rage festers inside me at the unknown.
“What really happened?!” I growl, refusing to accept her lie.
She shakes her head, her eyes bouncing to Markus and then back to me.
I turn my attention back to Markus, knowing full well that I need to get Elena out of here if I want to figure out what the hell happened.
“We will discuss this further,” I grit out, and Markus’s lips barely twitch.
“There’s nothing to talk about. I’m taking some time off. Lucca is more than capable of stepping up.”
I want to strangle Markus right now, but that’s not going to happen, not with Elena latching onto my arm like this.
“Call the car for me,” I order, wondering if it’s going to be my last one for a while.
Markus pulls his phone out and calls for the car. Grinding my teeth together, I give Markus a nod before turning all my attention to Elena.
“Let’s go.”
With Elena clinging onto me, I walk through the crowd as fast as I can manage without making her trip in her high heels. When we get to the exit, and no one is paying us any attention, I lean down to pick her up, so I can walk faster.
Her thin arms come around my neck and shoulder to pull me closer. Burying her face into my neck, she starts to cry, small sobs shaking her body in my hold. What the fuck happened in there? Fucking Markus dropping this vacation bomb on me had me distracted for a few minutes. I should kill him, but then I would have to find a permanent replacement for him, which would be even more annoying than finding a temporary one.
Just as I walk outside, Lucca pulls up the car. He jumps out and opens the back door for me. It’s not his normal job to be my driver, but I needed my best men with me tonight. Lucca is smart enough not to ask me any stupid questions. He simply watches me get into the backseat while holding Elena to my chest, before closing the door after us.
He gets back into the driver’s seat and pulls away from the venue.
That’s what I like most about Lucca, always so quiet, never second-guessing me, maybe he will be a great second, after all.
Another sob wracks through the small body in my lap, and my attention is drawn back to her. “Tell me what happened.” I try to keep my voice even and calm, but it’s hard to do when all I want to do is demand an answer. I’m not used to having to ask or decipher someone’s emotions.
“I just wanted to leave.”
“Don’t lie to me. Something happened. Tell me.”
“I stayed quiet like you told me to. I didn’t talk until he touched me. I only told him to leave, but he just laughed.”
My whole body tightens, every muscle in my limbs flexing, ready to kill someone. “Who touched you?” I grit out.
Instead of answering me, she continues rambling, “I don’t care if you punish me, you can do whatever you want to me, but don’t hurt Marie, please. I tried to listen to you, but he kept coming closer… and when his nails sunk into my skin...”
“Don’t worry about Marie, she’ll be fine.” It’s the guy who dared to touch Elena that’s already dead. “Tell me what this guy looked like.”
“I kept my eyes lowered on the ground. I didn’t see his face.” Fuck. “But I saw his hand. One of his fingers was tattooed with a crown on it. He also wore gold rings, and on his wrist was a red spider web…”
Lev. I know it’s him simply from the tattoo. He is fucking dead.
“I’m sorry…”
“There is nothing to be sorry about. You did great tonight.”
As I adjust her on my lap, her legs part a bit and try as I may to avert my gaze, not to be a complete bastard, my eyes glue onto her soft skin where three long red scratches run parallel along the apex of her thigh.
I will kill him. I will draw it out. I will make him pay for touching her. Soothing a hand over her hair and down her spine, I hold her a little tighter, wanting her to know that she is safe with me. Forever safe with me.
Pulling away, I watch as a single tear rolls down her cheek. “Did you… did you mean it? Are you really going to sell me?”
I want to laugh, but that wouldn’t ease the tension or worry inside of her, so I choose against doing that. With Elena, I have to dig deep, be gentle and kind.
Cupping her cheek, I turn her face to me. A ragged breath leaves her lips, and it is painfully obvious how much tonight’s events have broken her. Her father had been right in a sense. She was not made for this world. She is fragile, and if I’m not careful, I’ll break her, and stupidly, I don’t want to do that.
“If I didn’t want you... if I was going to sell you, do you think you would be in this car with me right now?”
Hiccupping, she shakes her head. “No, but… it sounded like you… like you were going to.”
I can’t stop my lips from twitching up at the sides. “I told you, you might not like some of the things that I said or how I behaved, but I promised you that no harm would come to you. Did you believe me?”
The answer to my question is obvious, but I still want to hear her say it. Like others, she expected the worst from me, even when I’ve proven again and again that I didn’t have it in me to hurt her. Technically, she didn’t fully know that because I needed her fear, for her to be scared of me, to comply, but deep down, I felt like she might feel safe in my arms.
“I didn’t know what to believe. I don’t know if I’m cut out for this–to be your wife.” She sniffled, and her words make the possessive beast that lurks just beneath the surface extend its claws out.
“Whether you are cut out for this world or not doesn’t matter. You will be my wife, and there is nothing that will change that.” My response is final. I’m not going to let her go, no way, no how. Elena Romero is mine. Mine to corrupt. Mine to claim.
The car comes to a halt in front of the house… our house. Lucca opens the door, and I climb out while keeping Elena in my arms. I hold her to my chest, making sure she isn’t giving Lucca a show while I bring her inside. She holds on to my neck like I’m her life preserver, and maybe in a way, I am, keeping her afloat and alive in this world of darkness.
“Are you hungry?” I ask her as we pass the kitchen.
“No, I just want to take a bath and go to bed.”
Nodding, I carry her all the way into our bathroom, where I put her down on her feet before turning on the water. She sits down on the edge of the tub and slips out of her heels. She looks exhausted, and I want to ease that tension, ease her fears and pain.
What the fuck is wrong with me? Am I growing a pussy myself?
“Can I have a moment? I-I need to use the bathroom.”
I almost interject, pointing out that she used the bathroom not too long ago, but I decide to give her a minute to herself. I’m sure she needs a second to gather her thoughts and pull everything together. Stepping into the bedroom, I close the door behind me and pull out my phone to text Lucca.
Me: I need everything you can find on Lev Volcove.
Lucca: Done.
Sighing, I run a hand through my hair before making a fist. Lev Volcove
is a dead man walking, and he doesn’t even know it yet. I don’t care who his father is. What was the fucker thinking when he touched what was mine? Obviously, he wasn’t thinking.
A tinge of something foreign and unusual fills my chest. It’s an emotion I haven’t felt since I was a child. I recognize the feeling like a thorn in my side. Guilt. For taking my eyes off her alone at that bar, for letting this happen. I’m not sure how to digest what I’m feeling, so I decide not to touch it at all.
Giving Elena a little longer in the bathroom, I take off my suit jacket and toss it on the chaise lounge. My shoes go next, and I start to unbutton my shirt, feeling better with each piece of constricting clothing I lose. Down to my dress slacks, and my button up shirt, I feel like I can breathe again.
I wait a few more moments before I enter the bathroom and find Elena completely naked, climbing into the tub. The dress she was wearing is on the floor next to the toilet. Picking up the scrap of fabric, I throw it into the trash can next to the sink.
When I turn back to face her, she is just sinking down into the water. I’ve seen her naked a few times now, but it never gets easier. All I want to do is rip my own clothes off and mount her like a wild animal. Bite her skin and watch her writhe beneath me. The ache in my balls is permanent, and a constant reminder of what I refuse myself daily.
I haven’t been able to have sex with anyone else, mainly because every time I tried, Elena’s picture popped into my fucking head. She’s messing with my mind and my cock. It only wants her, and no one else.
“You did good at the event, and I’m proud of you. I want to reward you. Playing your part wasn’t easy, and seeing your father wasn’t easy either, I’m sure.”
She nods, but there is a hesitant look in her green eyes.
“What is my reward?”
“You’ll see when you get out.”
I help her wash and rinse her hair, and she uses a washcloth to get her makeup off. Once she is clean from head to toe, I lift her out of the tub and get her dried off. I leave the wet towels in a pile on the floor and lead Elena back into the bedroom.
“Don’t put a nightgown on yet. Lie down on the bed, face down.”
Elena stops and looks up at me, shock written all over her face, but thankfully, no fear.
“Why?”
“Don’t worry. I told you this was a reward. You will like this. Trust me.” I motion for her to get on the bed, and she does, even though her movements are hesitant.
I grab the massage oil from the drawer in my nightstand and pour a generous amount into my palm. Her head turns toward me, and she watches what I’m doing with peaked interest. When I come back around to her side of the bed, her head turns again.
Her watchful eyes never leave me, and now curiosity has turned to excitement.
Sitting down on the bed next to her, I rub my hands together to warm up the oil before planting my palms on her back. As soon as I start massaging her shoulders, she lets out a quiet, breathy moan. A sound that somehow has a direct line to my dick. Fuck. I must enjoy torturing myself.
Her muscles are stiff, her body tense, but the more I work my fingers into her flesh, the more she relaxes, sinking deeper into the mattress.
“I told you, you were gonna like this.”
“It feels really good,” she murmurs, turning to putty in my hands.
When her upper body is thoroughly massaged, I move lower to her legs, running my hands over her naked ass as I go. I expect her to tense back up, maybe even squeeze her ass cheeks together, but instead, she moans into the pillow. So trusting, if only she knew the things my hands had done. The death that coated them. Would she still want them on her?
Arching her back, she pushes her perfect globes into my palms. She probably doesn’t even realize the invitation she is sending my way, which makes me want her all the more.
“I guess you want a full body massage?”
“Mmhh…”
“Is that a yes?” I ask, massaging the insides of her thighs. Her sweet little pussy grinds against the mattress, seeking relief that it doesn’t understand, that only I can give it.
“Yes, don’t stop,” she pleads, jerking her hips as I move closer to her center. The bedsheet is damp beneath her, and her sweet arousal coats the insides of her thighs, dripping like honey from her pussy.
I lick my lips. I want a taste, a bite. I want to devour, to feel her pulse around my tongue. Going down on women has never appealed to me, but I want Elena so bad I can feel it in my fucking bones, feel it in every thud of my heartbeat.
I can’t claim her with my cock yet, but I can claim her with my mouth. Using finesse, I grab her by the leg and roll her onto her back.
A shocked gasp slips past her lips, and her green eyes meet mine, a bashful look overtaking her features. I drink her in, her perky breasts, which rise and fall, the hardened dusky pink nipples begging to be sucked and pinched.
“Do you want me to keep going?” I ask gruffly.
The air between us grows heated, and I can feel the electrical current zinging through me. We’re two magnets of opposite attraction. We shouldn’t want each other, but there isn’t any other way. In every way, she is mine.
“Yes,” she replies with far more trust in her eyes than she should have. I’d warned her before, told her if she gave me each an inch, I would take everything. Doesn’t she know the devil is standing before her or is she no longer afraid?
Moving between her legs, I brush a gentle hand against her knee, pushing her legs up and apart. I can’t help myself, the beast inside me has been chained for far too long. My gaze drops to her mound, and my mouth starts to water.
Her pussy lips are mainly bare, except for a small strip of hair in the center. I don’t think as I move a hand between her legs and spread her folds, finding the diamond in the center. Her tiny clit begs to be sucked, flicked, and tortured just as it’s torturing me.
“What are you doing?” Elena questions breathlessly. Looking up at her from between her legs, I find that she’s pushed herself up onto her elbows and is watching me, her eyes big, curious, and dilated. She wants this, and she wants it just as badly as me.
“Eating you. I’m going to fuck you with my tongue like I want to fuck you with my dick,” I say, and then bury my face in her pussy.
I lick that tiny bead, flicking my tongue over it, again and again, sucking up every drop of arousal until Elena starts to lift her hips, and her hands sink into my hair, holding me in place, her nails cutting into my scalp, egging me on.
Her muscles clench, and her legs shake, but if she thinks I’m done with her yet, she is very mistaken. I haven’t even started.
“Julian,” she moans my name, and I swear cum leaks from the tip of my cock and into my boxers. Fuck, it would be so fucking easy to shove my pants down and fuck her right now.
To take her and bring her to the brink of both pleasure and pain. I want it so bad, to lose myself in her soft flesh, to fuck and own her.
Digging my finger into her ass cheeks, I lift her, dragging her closer and plunge my tongue into her dripping entrance. She bucks beneath me like an untamed horse, and I can’t wait to learn her body, learn what makes her go crazy.
Groaning into her flesh, the sound vibrates through the room. I dip in and out of her, feasting on her, marveling in her sweet, honeyed taste. There was simply nothing like her, and that was a startling reality that hit me right in the gut.
“Oh god… oh god…” Smirking against her wet flesh, I reveled in how vocal she is, and I want to make her scream from the rooftops with pleasure.
Growling once more, I move faster, my touch becoming bruising, but Elena doesn’t seem to care, she is teetering on the edge of complete bliss, and I’m going to deliver the final blow.
Throwing her head back into the pillows, her nails rake through my hair once more, “Please, don’t stop…”
Little did she know, I could never do such a thing. Nothing was going to take her away from me. I would burn the worl
d down, kill, and destroy anyone who dared to touch her. Releasing one of her ass cheeks, I use two fingers to pinch her tiny clit, and a second later, she falls apart.
Like cloth being ripped at the seams, she tears right down the middle while coming all over my face, her pussy fluttering around my tongue, my cock beyond envious of the fucker.
I stay between her legs, licking every drop of her release up before pulling away. My balls ache, and my cock is so stiff, I’m not sure I’m going to be able to walk, but I’ll take care of myself in the shower.
Sitting up, I stare down at Elena, who’s biting her lip, her cheeks crimson. How could she be so shy now when I was just between her legs, devouring her?
Moving to sit up, she asks, “Do I…” her delicate finger points at the prominent tent that I’m sporting between my legs.
“No. Tonight was about you. About showing you that you can trust me, about how much I appreciate what you did.”
She nods as if she understands and drops her hand but keeps staring at my cock with big curious eyes.
“On top of this, I’ll allow you to choose whatever books you want, and give you some time outside by the pool.”
Her eyes widened, and she seemed shocked, which I don’t understand. Had she not truly expected me to keep my word? “Really? I get to go outside?”
I nod, and she shivers, reminding me that she is completely naked. Grabbing the blanket, I gently tug it up and over her body, watching her silky-smooth flesh disappears beneath it. I want her so badly, I wanted to take, and take, but her trust was important to me, her wanting me, needing me. I need her to rely on me, and she is almost there. Soon she would be my wife and have no true way of escape unless in death, and I would never allow that to happen.
“I’m going to take a shower,” I say and push off the bed.
Space will make this better for me as with my hand wrapped around the heavy organ between my legs. Just a little while longer, and my plan will be complete. The only problem now is will everything I worked toward, built up to, come crashing down once Elena finds out that this was nothing more than revenge?