Children of Vice (Children of Vice #1)(40)

Flipping the blade in my hand, I then slid it deep into his stomach, making a gash deep enough to bleed him but not quickly.

Opening the jar of honey, I spread it over his face. “Your uncle once told me you were terrified of insects…how badass. Enjoy.” I patted his cheek, dropping the jar beside his feet and turning back round. I was not sure why or how. But I’d forgotten about her. Her big blue eyes only on me, covered in blood, surrounded by dead or dying men. And what was worse was the fact that I couldn’t figure out what she was thinking.

“Make sure they all die,” I said to the rest of them and turned, walking past Sammy toward the mansion farther up in the forest. I could hear her following me in silence.

We walked until I couldn’t stand it.

“THIS IS WHAT I AM!” I hollered, turning to face her, and she stumbled back. “Whatever juvenile thoughts you had about revenge, end them. Because this is the only way I settle things. Your cousins…pray they die quickly because if they don’t I’m going to chain them to my basement like the goddamn dogs they are until I decide I’m done torturing them and set them on fire.”

“Okay.” She nodded.

“Okay?” I took a step toward her, and she backed away. “Yet you’re scared.”

“No.” She frowned, pointing to my hands. “Forget the fact that you just touched some guy’s balls…I’m allergic to honey.”

She, still holding onto my clothes, walked around me and toward the mansion, leaving me so confused the only explanation for her half assed reaction was…Ivy was insane.

Why did that make me smile?





IVY


His room was massive.

And as I sat on his bed, I tried not to stare at him as he showered, because he didn’t have a f*cking door, just a glass standing shower he stood under.

Just one look wouldn’t hurt, I lied to myself, glancing over to see his perfectly sculpted ass. It looked so hard from here. Tilting my head to the side, I leaned forward, now just openly gaping, until he turned and his eyes were on me as water traveled down an even sexier chest than I could have imagined.

Shit. Quickly, I faced forward again.

I’d cleaned up at the hospital and yet still felt dirty. I wasn’t sure if it was really my body or my mind at this point. Hearing the shower stop, I pretended to be interested in my nails.

“Are you so horny you can’t think of anything else?”

“Hey!” My eyes shifted to him and focused. He stood naked at the side of the bed, using the towel to dry his hair and not cover…his cock…his very big…thick…

“Hey?” He smirked, repeating me.

“Shut up!” I muttered, throwing his jacket at him. Why the f*ck was I still holding it? It was annoying.

“I killed two men in front of—”

“I don’t know. It’s like Schr?dinger’s cat. They’re both dead and alive until someone can confirm either.”

He looked at me like everyone else did at the prison when I’d keep eating even as someone got stabbed at my table.

“They deserved it. You don’t have to question if I’m okay or not. Because they deserved it.”

“And if I killed someone undeserving?” he asked, moving to sit on his couch naked…still. Thankfully he’d dropped his towel in his lap.

I didn’t answer.

He didn’t respond.

So we watched each other until he spoke again.

“How long are we going to do this, Ivy?”

“What?”

“Fuck each other with our eyes,” he said, doing exactly that.

“We’ve only known each other for two days,” I said much softer...meeker than I wanted to, shifting on his bed.

“So?” His eyebrow went up.

He had a point. I didn’t even know him and I said yes to marrying him. Well, he’d never asked but still…

“Ivy.”

“Yes.”

“Come here,” he demanded, and I couldn’t. I wouldn’t…but he just had to look at me at that moment and say, “Please…”

Crawling forward on the bed until I got to the edge and stepped onto the wood, I stood between his legs. Sitting up, he placed his hand on the back of my thigh and rested his head on my stomach. Unable to stop myself, I ran my hands through his dark, wet hair.

“Today…was a mess,” he muttered. “I wanted to show you some of the better parts of this family before it got dark.”

“Why?” It’s not like my opinion mattered.

He lifted his head. “This is forever. You’re mine forever. Once your anger is gone, what will make you stay?”

I frowned at that and slowly leaned over him, allowing him to relax and me to sit on his lap. When I reached up to touch his face he pulled back slightly. “You don’t like being touched.” I wasn’t asking. I’d noticed no one touched him other than taking his arm.

He nodded but didn’t speak, reminding me he only answered direct questions.

“Why?”

“I don’t like how it makes me feel,” he replied honestly, but I still didn’t get it. He must’ve seen that because he went on. “When my grandmother reaches out to touch me, she’s doing it because she sees my father. I’m not my father. My sister, she reaches out when she’s breaking down. I can’t always be there to save her. I don’t want her to feel like she can count on me for that too. The rest of my family, it’s like they are expecting something. If they aren’t family they don’t need to touch me.”