I clenched my jaw, taking my hand away from the button of my slacks to clench it in a fist at my side. “Butterfly,” I growled, a warning in my voice that sent her hurrying to grab her robe off the floor.
I closed the gap between us before I realized I’d moved, grabbing her by her pretty little neck and raising her until she stood up straight again. She stared up at me, her lips parting open and filling me with the desire to feel them on mine again. My hand tightened on her throat, her own grip shifting up to claw at the ink on the back of my hands as her breathing restricted.
I needed to be inside her. Needed to have part of me be a part of her, but considering the panic threatening my racing heart and what I’d seen on her thighs, that couldn’t happen.
Only the fact that I was very clearly in control, that my grip was on her throat and she was the one who was vulnerable, kept the demons at bay. She opened her mouth wider, my name coming out in a harsh rasp as she struggled to get enough air.
“Scar,” she begged, her body going limp until it was only my hold on her neck that kept her on her feet. If I didn’t control my impulses, the violence surging in my veins, I’d hurt her.
I’d break her.
I reached around her with my other hand, grabbing the tumbler of scotch resting on the end table next to the sofa where she’d likely sat to work herself up to her strip tease. Watching and waiting for her reaction, I drew a sip into my mouth and let it rest there.
I let the burn consume me, then I dropped the tumbler back to the table and leaned my face over hers. Tipping her neck back until her face was parallel to the ground, I tightened my grip just enough that she gasped.
Her mouth flew open in shock, another plea in her eyes as they filled with tears.
She’d find no mercy with me. No protection from the monster she’d awakened with the sight of her scars. I spit the scotch into her open mouth, watching as she struggled to swallow it at her unnatural angle.
When she finally worked the scotch down her restricted throat, something settled inside me. I was inside her. Part of her. And if I gave into the monster inside me, she would never be able to cut me out.
I loosened my grip on her throat, touching my forehead to hers while she blinked back tears. “Now,” I growled, dropping my other hand to the raised white lines covering the tops of her thighs. “What the hell are these and who do I have to fucking slaughter?”