Hatred rears up inside me, a fist punch to my gut, searing open my intestines.I want to slit the throats of every man who’s ever had her before me.
“What areyoudoing here? A dark, lonesome alleyway is no place for a girl like you.”
She snorts, the gesture softening the glare crinkling her eyes. “A girl like me. Tell me, stranger, where does a girl like me belong?”
“On her knees, preferably. But I could deal with tied to my bedposts, naked and afraid.” There’s a sharp intake of breath as I loom even closer, towering above her tiny body with a maliciousness she’s likely only seen from one other man in her life.
The man I murdered for her sister.
For her.
“Very funny.”
Thick black blood runs rampant under my skin, taunting me. Pushing me, drawing me under its darkness. A beast within, quickly unraveling at the sight of her, pure and innocent and so fuckingspoiled.
“Am I laughing, sweetheart?” Gulping, she turns her gaze down toward the ground, and I edge in farther, wishing I could bottle her fear. “Do I scare you?”
“No.”Defiant to the end.
I smirk, raising my hand and scraping the tips of my fingernails down over her bare shoulder. Collecting DNA, an implication I usually avoid. But there’s… something about her. Something begging to be hurt.
And I want to be the one who brings her harm.
“You should be terrified.”
“Am I some kind of game to you?” Her head pulls back as she glances up with steely eyes, the strength within her bleeding through. A broken, confused spirit trying to find its footing. “I’m a human being, you know. As unfamiliar as you might be with the concept, I have feelings.”
“Does it hurt them to know I find you attractive?”
“Well, no—”
“Then what’s the problem, kitten?” We’re so close now, the fabric of our clothing can almost touch; if I reached out and slid an arm around her rounded hips, it would take the smallest yank to bring her flush against me, for our body heat to coagulate in the air, our skin to burn at our contact.
But I don’t. Not yet.
“Youknowwhat the problem is.” Her chest heaves, breath mingling with mine.
Dipping my index finger beneath her chin, I tip it up farther, exposing the smooth column of her neck. Unable to resist temptation at its finest, I bend against my will; gliding my nose along the sensitive flesh beneath her ear, I inhale her alluring perfume, wishing I could tattoo it into my nostrils.
“I can assure you, I have no idea.”
Her throat bobs, working over a swallow, and my eyes glue to the movement. I move forward, pressing myself into her, for a brief moment wishing it was enough to absorb the pain seeping from her pores. Wishing I could offer her more than a broken soul and a disturbing fuck.
My teeth itch, dying to sink into her. To draw blood, mark her as mine.
Still, I withhold, noting the goose bumps popping up along her skin and the hitch in her breathing. She’s afraid now, terror mixing with arousal, and I don’t want to push her over the edge too soon.
She needs to be eased into it, this world of depravity, not thrown in without a life preserver.
As she glares up at me, the stars dance in her irises, knocking the wind from my lungs, like being hit with a two-by-four. She’s so fucking beautiful, I can feel myself getting lost, straying from my path of resistance and darkness. Wishing I was light, something worthy of tainting her.
“You said you’d give me my locket back if I did whatever you asked.”
“That sounds like me.”
“But then you didn’t contact me all week.”
“To be honest, kitten, I was waiting for you to call me.Igaveyoumy card, remember?”