Fear the Wicked (Illusions Series Book 2)(7)

Like every other bitch I'd had beneath me, she shivered when my lips touched her ear. "Do you like being bound and helpless, Kristen? Do you like it when a strange man takes control of your body to do whatever wicked thing he dreams up?"

Breath rushed from her lungs, hot and heavy. Our hips were pressed together, her breasts tight to my chest. I ran my free hand up the inside of her thigh, stopping just before reaching the apex. "Do you want me to just strip you down right here, or were you looking for something a little more private?"

It was no longer a question of whether I'd given in to the beast inside me. Darkness was always a ring around my vision, death a possibility that hung in the air each time I let go to my desires.

They'd complained about the marks being in visible places, but once I was seated within the heat of their bodies, those complaints fell away on sated voices, quieted down as sensual moans crawled up to flow from their mouths.

If I wasn't careful, I would break another before too long.

And this one reminded me of precious Annabelle.

"I was hoping you would buy me a drink first," she answered, breathless.

My laughter was a beat against her ear. "I don't buy drinks for sluts. Don't buy them dinner and I don't buy them jewelry. All I do is show them the good time they're after."

She tried to move away, tried to shuffle out from beneath my weight, but I caged her against the wall when my hand slammed against the plaster at the side of her head. My other hand gripped over her hip. "Where are you going? I thought you wanted to play?"

Our chests collided together with the force of her breathing. No longer turned on, the little thing was now frightened. But wasn't that what happens when you approach strange men? Wasn't that the consequence of following them into shadows where no other person can see if he's stolen you away?

"I want to leave," she said, her voice choked off by the very thing that fed my monster. I ran the tip of my nose along her jawline, my body hard against hers, demanding and strong.

"That's too bad," I crooned. "Guess you should have listened when you were told not to talk to strangers."

"Jacob! Man, come on! Go take that fucking piss you're after and let's go! This place is bullshit."

Alan's voice rolled through the narrow hall, his steps down the interior growing louder as he rounded the corner. The little bitch beneath me screamed.

"Let me go!"

She fought, her hands pressed to my chest, but she wasn't anywhere near strong enough to push me away. "Get the hell off of me."

"Jacob?"

My head spun to my right, a smile tugging at the corners of my lips to see Alan approaching.

He paused mid-step. "Let her go, man. She asked nicely."

"Did she?" I turned my head back to where she was pressed against the wall. "I don't remember hearing you say please."

A tear slipped down her cheek, her fingernails embedding themselves into my t-shirt where she was still trying to claw at me and force me away. "Let me go," she begged.

"I only asked for one word."

"Jacob," Alan warned, "seriously. Let the nice lady walk away. We need to leave."

Ignoring him, I pressed my chest tighter against her hands, my breath ragged at the drag of her claws over my shirt. Those nails would feel like heaven down my back.

Keeping my voice low enough that only she could hear, I spoke to her with humor and disgust weaved within my tone. "There were two women in this world that wouldn't cower and cry when my attention was on them. They understood a man like me. Craved me until it ended them. They were everything and nothing at all, and with them I could have fun. I could play and bask in the beauty of their bodies. But you? You are so fucking boring to a man like me. Quite frankly, taking a piss will be more fulfilling and memorable. Now take the fuck off, sweetheart, and be careful about the next man you approach for a good time."

Pushing away from the wall, I didn't bother tracking her path as she ran. My hand was pushing open the bathroom door when Alan's voice sounded at my back. "Was that really necessary? What the hell did you do to her?"

"She asked me to buy her a drink," I answered, pulling myself out to relieve my bladder into the urinal. The stream had just hit the porcelain when I added, "and I was teaching her not to talk to strangers."

"Seriously, Jacob. You're scaring the shit out of me. I understand a little slap and tickle in the bedroom like we used to do to the chicks in college, but you've gone over the edge. What if she runs to the cops?"

Shrugging a shoulder, I drip dried and shoved myself back into my pants. The zipper pulled up easily as I turned. "I didn't do anything illegal."

He rolled his eyes and threw an arm around my shoulder. Opening the door, he led me into the hall, his hold tight like he was concerned I'd run away. Laughter was a soft edge to his voice. "I don't know what happened in that church of yours, but you've lost your damn mind. We're going to a new place. Hopefully we can get out without the authorities chasing after us."





EVE


Dreams plagued me the night after the ceremony. Elijah's face rippling above the surface of turbulent water. The soft touch of his hand as he bathed me after finding me collapsed over a sprawling lawn. His voice a seductive song whispering to me of beauty and goodness, until it slipped back again into the shadows that crawled across my skin.