His tongue flicked out, wiping away the crimson on his lips, causing every muscle inside my core to tighten.
“You’re wrong, little mouse. I’m not trying to make you fear it. I’m forcing you to embrace it.” He leaned closer, and I could smell the metallic scent of my blood on his lips.
“Why?” I whispered softly.
He smiled, and it was the kind of smile you’d expect from the devil. Confident, yet arrogant. Bewitching, yet threatening. Castello was every ounce of bad he had claimed to be…but right now, I wouldn’t want it any other way.
He placed the cold, hard steel of the knife against my lips. “Because you’re my addiction, Tatum. My obsession. I’m not letting you go, and neither is the beast inside me.”
My skin was instantly electrified, my mind reeling with his words, my body whimpering with the need to be touched by him. Was I so far gone that such dark words made me lust for the wickedness that pulsed through his veins, waking the blackness I’d always known hid deep inside the depths of my soul? The more time I spent with him, the more I embraced the side of me I kept hidden for so long. The easier it became to just give in to every sinful desire, every dirty fantasy I’d ever had. And God help me, but hearing how his possessiveness over me coated his every word made me want him even more.
He dragged the knife across my cheeks, and I pressed my flesh deeper against the blade.
“And what makes you think I want you to let me go, Castello?”
“I don’t think you know what you want.”
“Is that why you won’t give me the chance to decide for myself? Why you refuse to give me the freedom to make my own choices?”
The knife was back over my mouth. “The onlychoiceyou need to concern yourself with right now is how to please me.”
If there was one thing I’d learned during the time I’d spent with him, it was how to please him. All I had to do was accept who I truly was and embrace the part of me that yearned for the dark. That was how I pleased him…how he pleased me.
With the knife still against my lips, I gently eased my tongue along the sharp edge. I kept my gaze on him as he watched with eyes that seemed possessed with feral hunger. It was there, written on every inch of his face, the need…the want…the desire. His strong body that towered over me started to ooze with lust he tried so fucking hard to contain. But by the look in his eyes, the dark hunger that swirled within his chocolate irises, I knew that just like me, it wasn’t something he could control. The energy that constantly buzzed between us only grew stronger. Our most primal instinct was to fuck, the crackle of sexual tension between us a constant reminder of that. It was only a matter of time before we would once again give in.
I licked my lips, never taking my gaze off his. “Have I not pleased you…sir?”
His lips pulled up in an amused grin. “You still have lots to learn my little pet. But lucky for you, I’m one patient man.” Slowly he dragged the edge of the knife from my lips, over my chin, down my neck. I leaned my head back, offering him more of me, placing my life in his hands. He pressed down, and the tip of the knife pricked my skin over the hollow below my throat.
I flinched and gasped as the sting of pain instantly morphed into a desire that had me clenching my thighs to get some relief from the ache that throbbed with need between my legs.
Keeping the knife against my throat, he leaned in and traced the tip of his tongue all the way up my jaw. “You like to bleed for me, don’t you, little mouse?” His warm breath against my ear made me shiver. “I like when you bleed for me. They say a person’s soul is in their blood. And when I see the crimson slowly trickle out of your body while your face paints the perfect picture of desire, I know that your soul is mine. And do you know how that makes me feel?”
I swallowed and felt the blade inch deeper into my skin. “How?”
“Like I’m the most powerful bastard in the whole fucking world.”
His lips crashed against mine, his tongue forcing its way inside as it eagerly rushed to assault every corner of my mouth. I was lost in him. Utterly spellbound by how damn good it felt to be so completely possessed by a man who made every bone in my body burn and ache for sinful pleasures.
I whimpered as he tore his lips from mine. I haven’t tasted him nearly enough.
He pressed the knife against my chin and forced me to look up at him. “You know your body can’t lie to me.Youcan’t lie to me. I see you, Tatum. You might not know, but I do. I know what you need, and once I’m done, you will have exactly that.”
Chapter 9
TATUM
As we walked down the hall, I couldn’t help but wonder what Castello meant by saying he knew exactly what I needed. It wasn’t the first time he said it, but I’d been under the impression he meant it sexually. That he knew what I needed when it came to sex. But after he said it again this morning, I got the feeling I was wrong. He meant something else…I just couldn’t figure out what.
I glanced up at him. He had that tick in his jaw again, hard lines forming across his face. If I didn’t know any better, I’d think he was nervous.
“Where are we going?” I looked down, staring at the wooden floors.
He pulled his hand down his face, looking a little unsettled. “My father used to say it’s always better to pull the plaster right off.”
NowIwas getting nervous. “Okay?”
He stopped in front of a door, and his intense gaze pinned me on the spot. “If you’re going to become a part of my world, I need to prepare you the best I can.”