Twisted Together (Monsters in the Dark #3)(35)

She swallowed a sob, dropping her head. Her entire body went boneless over my thighs. Yanking her hair free from the tie, I fanned out her blonde curls, stroking her back with trembling fingers.

My cock throbbed in time with my heart. I could’ve come just by rubbing against her prone body.

I flinched as Tess wrapped her arms around my calves, anchoring herself to me. Her body wracked with shudders, but she didn’t make a sound.

Pressing her shoulder blades with one hand, keeping her in place, I folded the belt in half with the aid of the chaise. Grabbing the buckle, I ran my fingers from her shoulder blades, down her spine, to stroke her ass.

So white. So pristine.

My vision was all greys and blacks. Colour no longer existed in my world. I’d embraced everything I deplored—there was no leaving until I’d sated what needed to be sated.

Not only did I want to physically abuse her, I wanted to mentally ruin her, too.

If I were sane, I would’ve told myself I was a sick f*ck and to end this madness before it was too late.

But how could a monster be sane? A monster did what he wanted. A monster took what was given.

“Do you love me, Tess?” My voice was black, heavily accented with a language that was meant for romance not bloodshed.

She nodded without hesitation.

I ran my finger down the centre of her ass, deliberately taunting her with softness. “Do you want this as much as me?”

Again another nod instantly.

“Do you want me to stop?”

She shook her head.

Such a perfect slave. Such a perfectly well-trained slave.

With a palm, I stroked her gently, loving the twitch of her hips. Her hair hung around her face, obscuring her features. Her mind might not be mine, but her body was.

Mine to paint with violence.

I slid two fingers between her legs. She stiffened as I found her folds. I angled my hand to penetrate her but her thighs snapped tight, blocking my right as her master to touch her.

A headache thundered into being—gathering tight and painful behind my eyes. How dare she deny me!

“Tu payeras pour ?a.” You’ll f*cking pay for that.

Raising my hand, the sun glinted off the buckle as the belt came down fast. The first slap of leather made my vision sputter and fade. The headache morphed into a mind-splitting migraine—my last defence against the beast inside.

Headaches were the bane of my life—but also my salvation.

Stop!

My eyes focused on the red lash across Tess’s ass—there was no chance of stopping.

I was too far gone.

Another strike and my cock jerked with delirium. This was what was missing in my life. This deliciousness. This supremacy. I’d never hit so hard. Only two strikes and already blood blisters formed.

Tess’s fingernails dug into my calf, but she didn’t make a sound. Her entire body locked into place, feeling like she’d transformed into a diamond rather than blood and bone.

I hit her again.

This time across the top of her ass. My mouth filled with eagerness to lick at the tiny crimson droplet welling from the strike. Her white skin turned into a criss-cross of pink and red.

With a fingertip, I rubbed the blood across her flesh in a smear of rust.

Tess whimpered.

Her whimper did two things to me—shattered my black-riddled heart and hurtled me faster into hell.

My headache latched onto my nervous system making me hot and jittery and sick. I wanted to throw up.

Stop!

The monster had grown from whisperer to commander. I had no way of halting. Hitting her wasn’t enough. I needed to mark her everywhere. Her ass had been claimed. It was time for other places.

Tossing the belt away, I pushed her off my legs onto the carpet. She landed on all fours, her breathing ragged, face mottled with emotion. She refused to meet my eyes. Her lips were parted, panting hard, matching my out of breath breathing.

Stalking to the side table where a red candle rested, I scooped up the lighter beside it and lit the wick. The flame burned bright, hurting the backs of my eyes.

Carrying my prize back to the chaise, Tess’s gaze locked onto the flickering fire. Tears gushed down her cheeks, tracking over her white skin in a river of grief.

I wanted sympathy, horror—some emotion that reminded me of my humanness. But I’d lost it the moment Tess gave me permission to cave. Nothing else mattered than doing what I wanted. And I wanted to burn her.

Grabbing her wrist, I plucked her upright, dragging her to the small table at the back of the couch.

“Q—please…don’t.”

I laughed, placing the candle on the edge of the wood. Picking her up, I laid her onto the piece of furniture. She winced as her flayed ass stuck to the varnish.

Pressing her sternum until she lay flat, I said, “You had the choice to say no.” Taking the candle, I smiled at the small puddle of melted wax. “You no longer have that choice.”

Holding her down with one hand, I poured a little of the wax directly onto the swell of her right breast.

She screamed, her fists clenching at the onslaught of heat. The liquid quickly hardened to solid. The slash of red looked like blood.

My cock f*cking begged to climb inside her. I needed to come. Hard. I needed to sink down as far as I could until she knew just who owned her.

Stop!

My cock f*cking wept. It was the monster. That piece of meat was the driving force of this whole nightmare.