Tragic Beauty (Beauty & The Darkness #1)(18)

“Do you know what a safe word is?” he asks quietly.

I swallow and nod. I’ve read the books.

“I need you to think of one,” he says. “Something you’ll remember. ‘No’ and ‘stop’ won’t save you, but your safe word will. That will be my promise to you, Ava. But I need a promise from you, too. I need you to promise me you’ll use it, when you get to that point. Can you do that for me?”

I nod, and adrenaline begins to float through my blood. I should be scared, but I’m not. In fact, I’m determined to show him I’m not as delicate as he thinks. An idea comes to mind, along with a word.

“Oscar,” I whisper.

“Oscar?”

I turn to face him and nod. “If you want an Oscar, you’re going to have to earn it.”

“Ava,” he says, in a tone so reverent my heart wants to burst through my chest.

I smile. “But you’ll have to catch me first.”





CHAPTER EIGHT





I giggle as I sweep past him and out the door into the hallway. By the time I’m at the bottom of the stairs, I hear him coming for me. I flee across the living room and with trembling fingers open the door and lunge into the backyard, where we played and frolicked only a short while ago. Now we’re playing another game. A dangerous game.

I risk a look back and see the surprise on his face that I ventured outside. Then I see him smile, and it’s chilling.

I turn and sprint to the left, the light of the full moon embracing me once again. With quick steps, I run past the pool and down the path to the dark forest that beckoned to me earlier.

I enter the black wall of trees, my bare feet moving from lush grass to a painful terrain of leaves and rocks and whatever else rests along the woodland floor. My heart races as tree limbs and bushes tear at my naked skin, but it doesn’t stop me, because I’m in my element now, with the sky above me, and the earth beneath me.

This is my home.

He’s close now. So close, I can hear his quick breaths, hear the twigs breaking beneath his feet as he hunts me down. The moonlight pulses overhead, peeking here and there though the canopy of trees. Quick, quick, quick, my legs carry me but I know my freedom’s coming to an end. Up ahead, I see a tall chain link fence where the earth levels out, so I cut to my right, only to find myself being hurled to the ground.

He’s on me in an instant. His weight, his hands, his entire body. I pant and claw at his face, nothing more than a shadow amid the darkness.

Strong hands grab my wrists and pin them above my head. I writhe and squirm, my back protesting against the earth, while he growls and lunges for my neck, biting and mauling. A past trauma tries to overtake me, tries to turn my fear into terror, but I force it back.

He’s between my legs now, wedging me open. I close my eyes and search for a moment of peace amid the chaos. This is it. This is what I’ve been waiting for. The moment’s finally here. And somehow, some way, I always knew it would happen like this.

Teeth tug at my nipples and I arch beneath him, trying to let the hunger consume me as it consumes him. I open my eyes when he lodges my wrists into one hand, and with the other, pulls something from the waistband of his underwear. He tears it with his teeth. A condom. I didn’t think of that, maybe because I have an implant. Still, it was reckless of me. Warmth curls up within, grateful he’s looking out for us both, even while playing this savage game.

Or is it a game?

I breathe heavily beneath him, seeking him out. Through the darkness, I find him in a sliver of moonbeam, panting above me. His hair is mussed and falling over his forehead. A line of blood trickles down the side of his face from a scratch along his cheek. Did I give him that? I look at another scratch along his chest, then further down the muscled body that crouches over me. Then I gasp, because he’s exposed to me now, and ready, and there’s no way that can fit inside me. A whimper leaves my mouth and I begin to struggle in earnest.

“Wait!” I plead.

His eyes turn feral, and he takes my wrists back in both hands and lunges inside me. That’s when I realize—I said the wrong word.

A scream erupts from my lungs but lodges in my throat as he groans, withdraws, and thrusts into me again, deeper. The pain explodes, followed by the tears. I feel so full, like I’ll tear at the seams. Again he pulls out, only to force his way back in. I’m struggling. Struggling to take him, struggling to survive. I fight against him, but it only seems to feed the beast on top of me. The rough stubble of his jaw grates across my cheek as his head falls to my neck. He takes me then, pumping over me like some wild animal, his muscles straining, his hips jerking, the sound of his body mating with mine echoing throughout the silent forest.

It’s too much. I thought I could handle him, thought I could play his game, thought the memories of the past were just that—the past. But they’re not. They’re here, hovering, haunting. It feels like I’ll crush under the weight of it all. He shifts above me and lets my wrists go, then wraps his arms around my upper body, hugging me while he separates my back from the forest floor. That’s when our eyes meet, and he blinks.

“Ava,” he whispers, stilling for a precious moment. His lips graze along my cheeks, soaking up my tears. I whimper and weep, the sudden tenderness a balm I so desperately needed. His lips find mine and we kiss, his tongue seeking me out as he holds me in his arms. He’s inside me now, in so many ways.