The Dark Forest: A Collection Of Erotic Fairytales(142)
“If you don’t want them, don’t take them.”
“I’ll take the whole bottle if you’re offering.” The dark comment seemed to come from nowhere, but it made his eyes snap up to hers.
“You don’t mean that.”
She shrugged. “I might. Are you going to kill me now?”
“No,” he growled under his breath, cradling his head with his hands like he was the one with the vicious headache.
“Then what are you going to do with me? I’ve seen your face.”
“Did you read through the files?”
“You didn’t answer my question.”
“Answer mine first.” Leaning back against the wall near the door, he stared across the room at her, knees bent so he could rest his arms on them as they let the silence stretch between them.
Her eyes went to the scattered pages, and the stories wormed their way back up from memory. Strange and disturbing accusations—and as much as she didn’t want to give in, she did have questions. “Yes, I read them.”
“And?”
“And I don’t understand.”
“What part?” He seemed to relax slightly, the tension in his shoulders dropping.
“All of the police reports are so vague, and yes I noticed the similarities in the stories. I understand that adds some credibility to them, but then why not investigate further? Why drop the cases? That makes no sense.”
“Simple. Even back then your father was a rising star in the city. Gaining wealth and power. Do you really think he would have let anyone steal it away from him? Do you think those officers would have risked themselves? Their families?” Shaking his head, he blew out a slow breath. “Come on, Rebecca. You’re smarter than this.”
“I am smart, it’s why I refuse to just believe a bunch of half-assed police reports!” She leaned forward and ripped a handful of sheets from one of the open folders. “You think a bunch of grainy photos of random women are going to turn me against him? To convince me my father is some monster?”
“I think the truth will.”
“The truth.” She laughed, tossing the papers into the air in front of her so they fluttered down across the others. “You don’t get to pretend to be all noble now. You, of all people, don’t have a fucking leg to stand on when it comes to this. You are a monster.”
He turned away from her and despite her pounding headache, and the sour taste on her tongue, she snagged the last folder and jerked the photos free of their paperclip.
“Look at these.” Pushing herself off the mattress, Rebecca walked halfway across the room and threw the photos towards him. “You want to talk about the truth? Look at her wrists, and then look at mine. Look at her ankles. Look at all of the things you have done to me!” She laughed, her sanity frayed at the edges. “And you want to sit there and say you can tell me the truth? As if you aren’t exactly like the asshole who did this to her?”
The man picked up one of the photos that had landed beside him, and there was a flicker of a flinch. The barest reaction to the image before he was stone faced again.
“Talk to me! How is that any different than what you’ve done to me?”
His voice was almost too low to hear when he finally spoke, “You don’t know what happened to her.”
“I read the ER report, I have a pretty good idea.” There was heat in her voice, her rage finally finding an outlet that seemed to work. His shoulders hunched forward, and his head dropped into his hands as he took a slow breath. When he didn’t speak, she threw her hands up with a huff and turned away from him.
Bastard. Spineless, insane—
“I wanted to destroy you.” The sudden, harsh words stopped her in place, but he continued in a growling tone. “I wanted to decimate you. Tear you down off your privileged, ivory tower and break you down until you were nothing. I didn’t just want to hurt you, I wanted to ruin you forever so that even when he got you back, you would never be the same.”
Rebecca turned around slowly, watching as his eyes traced the photo in his hands before he let it drop to the floor, shrugging like nothing he said bothered him.
“I admit that, I admit all of it. I even admit that I’ve enjoyed it. I love the way you scream, the way your body tenses and arches when I hurt you. I love the way you fight, the way you refuse to break no matter how hard I push you. I am addicted to the way you respond to me.” Tawny brown eyes lifted to hers, that powerful gaze catching her off guard. “But I have never lied to you, princess. I told you right away what I was going to do to you, before I even took you out of The Tower.”
“And?”
“And what?” His expression was blank, unfettered by guilt as he stared up at her.
“And have you destroyed me? Have you decimated me like you wanted to?”
“Not yet.” His eyes stayed on hers, and she felt a tremor rush through her muscles. A quiet reminder in the back of her mind that he was allowing her to speak to him this way, that at any moment he could stop her if he chose. “But here’s the difference, princess, I don’t pretend to be a good man. I know that I’m damned. I know I’m a monster. Even right now I want to pin you to the floor, I want to feel you fight as I take you, and then I want to feel you come under me. I want to make you scream, I want to light up your skin with my belt again, I want to do so many obscene things to your body, but… right now there’s something more important.”