Deadly Retaliation: A Dark Bully Harem Romance (A Twisted, Dark and Deadly Romance Book 1)

by C. P. Mandara

  I, of all people, have a close relationship with pain. My brother has strung me up and whipped me to within an inch of my life more times than I care to count. He’s nearly killed me on more than one occasion, too. I know what pain feels like. It turns me on, it spins me, it flips a lightbulb on somewhere inside my head, and no matter how hard I try, I can’t turn that lightbulb off. I’m stuck with my kinks. I don’t want to be that guy that hurts women for kicks, but I can’t get off unless I am. Ordinary sex holds no appeal for me. None. I am one mother-fucking twisted son of a bitch. No one can handle me for long. Eventually, no matter how hard I try to reign myself in, I will slip up. I will do something so utterly appalling that the woman of my dreams will run off, change her name, and never be heard of ever again. You think I’m joking? It’s happened before. Lois was the rare exception to that rule. She liked what I dished out. She could handle it. What turned me on, turned her on. Unfortunately, my needle in a haystack chance at love disappeared in a heartbeat as soon as she thought I was gone. I shouldn’t really blame her. I mean, I was supposedly dead. I can see why she might have wanted to move on after that little nugget, but Jesus. The woman needed to give me a little more credit. I’m not that easy to kill. When I track her down, we are going to have words. And sex. Lots of sex. We are not done. Not by a long shot.

  “Is there any reason I’m lying face down on the floor with your hand on my butt?” Elizabeth’s voice snaps me back to the here and now, and I realise I have totally failed at following my first rule of discipline. Shit. Pay attention, Adie.

  “Actually, there is,” I say nonchalantly, pretending that this is all part of the grand plan. “I’m waiting for you to beg me to spank you.”

  Elizabeth tries to get up from under my hand, but it’s in the center of her back at the moment and I press down firmly to make sure she stays where she’s supposed to.

  “You want me to what?” She sounds outraged, but honestly, this is the twenty-first century. Everyone’s seen Fifty Shades. I’m not buying it. I think she’s playing me.

  “Beg. It’s quite easy. It generally involves the word ‘Please,’ and if you could add a whining note at the end of the sentence, that would be appreciated.” Let’s see how boss lady likes being told what to do for a change. This might be more fun than I’d anticipated.

  “You must be joking,” she splutters.

  “I never joke about sex,” I state firmly.

  “And what if I don’t?” Her head pops up from the ground, but I push it back down again with my free hand.

  “Then you’ll just have to wait and see what happens. You’ve got three seconds, Elizabeth. Three, two… one.”

  As expected, she remains silent. She’s testing me. I hate this stage. This is the part where she still thinks I’m slightly normal, and not the unhinged bastard that I’m generally reported to be. She should know better. She’s read my reports. I’m guessing she thinks they’ve been exaggerated. Sure, I might not spell out my sexual encounters in blow-by-blow detail, but she must have a rough idea. Besides, the girls in the office must have gossiped about me. They’d bloody better have.

  “Fine, have it your way,” I say, smiling to myself. She’s played right into my hands. Now I get to show her what a little ‘discipline’ feels like.

  Straddling her once again, I lay into her trim little backside with the flat of my hand, alternating from left to right. I love spanking. It’s a good way to take out some of my aggression, and those pretty red marks that get left behind after I’ve finished look amazing. It doesn’t stop there, either. When I fuck her from behind later, she will feel every single stroke as I hammer into her twice as keenly. Bang, bang, bang. My handprints thump down, sending the peach-like globes of her backside quivering. At the moment, I’m taking it easy on her, but I’m about to unleash chaos in a few seconds’ time.

  “Adrien, I really don’t think…” I interrupt her because, quite frankly, this has gone on long enough.

  “Then don’t think. Feel.” My hand suddenly has a lot more force behind it, mainly because that is one sure-fire way to make sure she shuts up. I have no idea what is wrong with Elizabeth. Normally women do exactly as I say. Clearly, there is a problem here, but I figure her attitude can be suitably adjusted inside of ten minutes or so.

  Sure enough, she goes quiet as soon as my hand slams forcefully into her behind. Her ass is already a little raw, so it shouldn’t take long before she realizes I am deadly serious. She’s stubborn, though. This one is not used to being told what to do. At first, she clamps her lips down tightly and fights the urge to whimper under my punishing smacks. She won’t be able to do that for long. Most women cave inside of three minutes, and I have no reason to believe she will be any different. As if to confirm my thoughts, she suddenly lets out a choked bleat.

  “Adie, stop,” she wails. At least she’s got my name right. She’s forgotten that stop isn’t a word I pay any attention to, though.

  “Adie, please stop,” I correct her. She needs to get used to saying the word ‘please.’ It’s one of my favorite words, and I like to hear it – a lot.

  “Adie, please stop,” she cries, as I continue to lay into her. I sigh. I’d hoped she could have lasted a little longer than this, but to be fair, she’s new, so I should give her the benefit of the doubt. I’m supposed to be breaking her in gently.

  Reluctantly, I pull my hand away, and then dribble at the delicious sight of her bright pink ass.

  “Can I tie you up now?” I ask silkily. My fingers gently caress her heated backside as I wait for her answer, dipping down occasionally to her soaking wet folds. She’d better not give me the wrong answer. Her backside can’t take much more of this.

  “Will you spank me if I say no?” she whispers raggedly. The woman is learning.

  “Yes,” I reply. I don’t tell her that I’ll also be spanking her if she says ‘yes,’ too. Basically, her ass is mine for the foreseeable future.

  “Fine. You can tie me up, but you have to promise me you’ll stop if I utter my safe word.”

  I frown at that. I’m not a fan of safe words. I prefer to just do as I please, consequences be damned, but I’m supposed to be turning over a new leaf. Besides, this could be good for me. Being the boss’ pet must come with some kind of perks.

  “I promise.” She might have to say it a couple of times, though, because I have selective hearing when I’m in the heat of the moment. If you add to that the fact that I’ve already forgotten what the safe word is, we’re pretty much doomed from the start. I figure it’s probably best to keep quiet about that, though.

  “What are you going to do to me?” Elizabeth looks a little nervous, as well she might. I’m going to do lots of things to her. Some of which she’ll like, some not so much. I, on the other hand, will have a pretty amazing evening.

  “Poppet, I couldn’t possibly tell you that. It would spoil the surprise,” I say. I also haven’t thought that far ahead. I generally figure this shit out as I go along.

  Elizabeth tries to roll over, and this time I let her. She gives me a pained glance. “I’d feel better if I knew what to expect. For some reason, you scare the living daylights out of me. Do you do this with all your dates?”

  If I’m doing my job properly, yes. My face and the words that come out of my mouth, tell a different story, though.

  “Honestly, Elizabeth. You are worrying your little head over nothing. I’m a pussycat. Now get on all fours and crawl up those stairs, sweetheart. I have big plans for this evening.” Firstly, I need to get you tied up, and then I am going to find out what this new assignment with Leader is all about. I have a bad feeling I am not going to like it very much, which is why I need to find out about it before we have sex. If Sharkey is about to piss me off, I see no reason why I can’t take out some of my ill humor on her before the big day dawns.

  “You want me to crawl?” I look perplexed for an instant. Have I just spoken in French or Spanish? No, I’m pretty sure I spoke in English. For
fuck’s sake, what is it with this woman? Quite frankly, I’m amazed she’s managed to make it to a position of authority if she can’t manage to understand simple instructions.

  “Do you need me to repeat the sentence, sweetheart?” My smile is acerbic. She’ll get the idea.

  “If you have to repeat the sentence, will that entail a punishment?” she says quietly, looking up at me from behind lowered lashes, while chewing on her lower lip. God, I love that expression. She looks like she’s had the shit knocked out of her, and I’ve barely even started.

  “You learn fast,” I say, smiling. Maybe her rise to the top wasn’t unprecedented after all. I was beginning to wonder whether she’d slept her way up there, and to be honest, I’m still on the fence about that one. I’ll have more of an idea in an hour or so’s time.

  Clapping my hands to spur her into motion, I then swat her ass and she moves quickly enough after that.

  “Adrien, you are an utter bastard,” she bites, as she stumbles forwards awkwardly on all fours.

  Me? An utter bastard after a few measly spanks? I nearly recoil in shock. This woman hasn’t seen anything yet. Her previous boyfriends must have been really dull. She has absolutely no clue what I’m capable of. How can that be possible? Is this woman playing me? Mind you, I am short of a play partner at the minute and this collaboration could work in my favor, so I have an incentive to play nicely. Maybe I’ll rephrase that: I’ll have an incentive not to scare the pants off her. If she were wearing any, which she isn’t.

  “Call me Adie.” I frown. I hate repeating myself. “Any other form of address will result in orgasm denial and we’ve already found out that you don’t take that very well, poppet.”

  Elizabeth shakes her head frustratedly. I bet she’s still beating herself up over the fact that she’s crawling. Maybe this is why I’m having such fun this evening. I love taking down a strong woman. There’s a certain degree of satisfaction that comes with a job well done. They take a long while to crack, but once you’ve finally managed to break their shell, there’s an exquisite feeling of accomplishment.

  When we reach the top of the stairs, I grab a fistful of her hair to hold her in place while I walk in front of her.

  “Tomorrow morning, I will fry your ass if you do anything I don’t like up there.” She gives a nod towards the top of the stairs.

  “I’m about to fry your ass right now, so by tomorrow, maybe we’ll both be even.” I suspect not, but maybe.

  Alain has acquired a lot of property over the years. The pad I’m in now is worth somewhere around ten million pounds and it’s a grade one listed manor house, whatever that is. Quite honestly, I’m surprised he left me so much because we never really got on, but then, he didn’t really have anyone else to leave it to, did he? When you consider that his favorite pastimes were cutting people up into little pieces and torturing them to death, it’s probably unsurprising he had no long-lasting attachments. He especially liked mutilating women. Now don’t get me wrong, I know I’m not perfect, but I’m not that kind of crazy. I don’t kill people for fun. Well, not usually. There is still something inside me that’s almost human, even after all those years spent under his roof. My father says Alain took after him, and that I take after my mother. I wouldn’t know. She ran off when I was small, but in our world that probably means she was murdered. I prefer not to dwell on that thought. Maybe she was lucky. Maybe she got away. I don’t dare look for her. If Geraud, my father, catches me sniffing around, I’ll be back in his clutches before I can blink. Rumor has it that he’s started a new operation up, somewhere abroad. It doesn’t surprise me. The authorities never got their hands on him because he went AWOL when all of his properties were raided, and now he knows they’re after him, he’ll be very careful to cover his footprints. I’m probably taking a risk coming here today, but I figure he’ll be too busy setting up shop to worry about me at the moment. That will come later, when the media furor has died down. At the moment he is on the UK’s most wanted list and I hope they catch the bastard. I never want to see him again. I’m thoroughly enjoying my newfound freedom, and I’ve been very careful to keep my presence in these parts under wraps. The apartment I own in London is registered under another name, as is anything else about me that can be traced, including my car. I’ve upped the security on all of my properties, and this one is technically sold to someone else, although I still actually own it. I’m not sure how that works, but my lawyer seemed happy enough and I have bigger things to worry about. Anyway, I’m pretty sure we’ll be safe enough for a night. I wouldn’t want to leave it much longer than that, though.

  Why did I bring Elizabeth here? Ego. My car screams ‘insurance salesman’ and after my last run in with Leader, I’m still feeling a little low. This house will drop anyone’s jaw so low, they’ll need to have surgery to rewire it. It’s an equestrian property with twenty stables and a fucking polo field. It also has its own pool, tennis court, walled garden, ornamental pond and outdoor chess board. The property features stained glass windows and herringbone patterned brickwork. The doors are made of solid oak and it even has its own internal courtyard. I think it has eight bedrooms, most of which are en-suite, and one which has been carefully remodeled to my specific requirements. This is the one where Elizabeth is now.

  I’ve tied her to a fifteenth century four-poster bed, and she is currently lounging on top of the red velvet bedspread. I love red. It is such a decadent color. When I see a naked body splayed on top of it, it does funny things to me. Funny, amazing things.

  “Adie, you get back here this instant. You can’t leave me here like this, you asshole.”

  Elizabeth has been screaming similar words for the past ten minutes. I’m standing just outside the bedroom door where she can’t see me, and the woman has been keeping me thoroughly entertained while I’ve been drinking my coffee. At first, she kept her requests mostly PG and there wasn’t a swear word in sight. Now, she’s getting a little frustrated, as well she should be. I’ve tongued her to the point of orgasm three times and left her when she wouldn’t tell me what my next assignment is about. We are both exceptionally stubborn people, it seems.

  “Adie, if you don’t get your fucking ass back here, I am going to fire you in the morning,” she spits with a whole lot of venom. Ahh. Now that’s the sound I’ve been waiting for. If I can’t have tears this evening, at least I can get her roaring mad. It’s going to be especially good fun now that she’s tied up. This means I don’t have to worry about getting slapped or having my eyeballs scratched out. It’s yet another reason why I prefer my women restrained.

  Waltzing in slowly, belying the fact I haven’t been loitering outside the door for the last ten minutes, I shrug my jacket off and unfasten my tie. Placing them on a wooden hanger, I then carefully slot them into the wardrobe. It’s getting hot in here. Undoing the top two buttons of my shirt and rolling up my sleeves to mid-forearm, I then turn to my gorgeously naked prisoner.

  “Are we talking or are we going for round four? I can do this all night, you know. I believe you remarked on determination being one of my particular strengths when we were discussing my CV a few months ago.”

  Elizabeth glares at me, but I don’t really notice because my gaze is wholly focused between her delightfully splayed legs.

  “I’m beginning to regret that now,” she growls.

  Walking up to those legs slowly, I take my time admiring the smooth, creamy flesh that is currently straining for my touch. I’d hate to guess how desperate Elizabeth is right now, but if I had to make an estimation on a scale of one to ten, I’d go for a cool nine and a half.

  Stopping at the base of the bed, I reach down and run the tips of my fingers lightly up her left leg. It’s just a fluttering touch, but she jumps, nevertheless. Her flesh is hypersensitized by now and her clit has been revved up to Ducati style greatness. The woman is ready to explode at the slightest touch, but she’s not Dancing With The Stars until I have my answers.

  “What do you ne
ed me to take from Leader?” I let my fingers walk up her leg in slow, leisurely movements as I await her answer.

  “You know I can’t tell you that, Adie,” she grits out. “Your job is to obey orders. Mine is to give them. Half the time, they don’t even tell me the details. It makes it simpler that way. No one knows anything, so no one can let anything slip.”

  I frown. I know what she is saying makes some kind of sense, but it’s not what I want to hear. Actually, it probably is. This means I can torture her for hours on end and find out what she’s really made of. A lot of guys in the office swear she was an operative before she started running, “RL Logistical Solutions,” which is our cover name. It was Cellular Operations, but we had to up and move because our cover got blown. Anyway, the point is, if she was, she should be able to take a lot.

  “If that’s the case, you’re not going to have a fun evening, are you, sweetheart?” I say, with a mock frown. That earns me another glare. She’s really cute when she’s furious.

  When I kneel between her legs again and blow a steady stream of air from my lips at her clit, her hips buck upwards and her poor little nub pulses madly in need. It is so red and swollen by now that the lightest touch sends her into raptures.

  “How many times are you going to do this to me?” she pants, as my tongue flicks against her, delivering a long upward stroke.

  Pulling away from the tantalizing meal in front of me, I lick my lips lasciviously. “I can do this all night, darling. These days, I don’t need much sleep. I reckon I could get you to the point of orgasm maybe twenty times before I have to drive you into work tomorrow morning. Twenty-five if you don’t pass out on me.”