I’ve underestimated her again. Her cruelty, her darkness, her depravity, doesn’t just mirror mine. It threatens to drown it.
And Gods help me, I’m not sure I mind.
She’s everything I hate. Everything I’ve been raised to hunt down and exterminate. She’s the epitome of everything I’ve fought against, the embodiment of chaos wrapped in a deceptively beautiful package. She’s a monster who needs to be eradicated, and I loathe her. I despise her. I want her, and I can’t rip myself away.
Her fury doesn’t simmer, it blazes. It’s a wildfire, relentless and all-consuming, and it burns through my carefully constructed walls with ease. She’s not just my opposite; she’s my equal. My rival. My ruin.
I hate her for it.
And I’m falling for her.
I dream of wrapping my hand around her throat and throttling her, drawing out her last moments into a painfully agonizing experience. I want her tears and her anguish, those bleak last moments when she realizes that no one’s coming to save her and there is no escape. I want to steal her life as she’s stolen mine, and I want Zara to suffer as I’m suffering now that she has her fucking claws in me.
“I should end you,” I lie, my tone harsh and biting.
“What’s stopping you, Kade?”
Her lips twitch, and I’m dangerously close to kissing them. She dares to arch her eyebrow and I step into her space, smirking as she draws breath.
“You think you’re untouchable? You think the blood weave will save you?” I scoff, and she doesn’t flinch. “You bleed, same as every other mortal. The same as all the witches you’ve murdered.”
Zara digs her fingernail into the center of my chest, and I want to bleed for her. This woman has me in her thrall and I know there’s nothing I wouldn’t do for her. I’d murder thousands, destroy vast armies, and level even the most holy temple in her name, and my heart wrenches as my head realizes it isn’t the blood weave making me feel this way.
“This thing between us,” she sighs, her nail sinking into me. “It’s more than just the ebon chain. It doesn’t even feel like it’s about survival anymore. It’s even worse.”
My dick turns rock hard as the witch I despise stands on the verge of admitting she cares about me. Gods, the thought of her wanting me has my pulse hammering in a way I can’t control. I hate myself almost as much as I hate her as my thoughts run wild and I fantasize about how I want to fuck her. How I’m going to fuck her and ruin her for every other man who even thinks about trying it on with her, because there sure as fuck won’t be any others after me.
“Careful, kitten,” I hiss in a voice as dangerous as it is low. “Your pussy’s already taken my cock once today. I doubt it’ll survive a second pounding.”
“Your cock’s hardly terrifying.”
“You quivered like a fucking schoolgirl. On it. Around it. At the fucking sight of it alone. On your knees and when I spread your legs and stretched that tight little cunt of yours.”
Zara dares to smirk as she shakes her head and all the darkness inside me hopes her mouth runs off with itself and seals her fate. She is pushing her fucking luck and I’ll be teaching her a lesson that she’ll never forget if she carries on like this. Those perfect lips twitch and my dick throbs with every movement, already straining against my zip.
“I’ve had better.”
The flush over her chest is sublime and in a moment or two, it’s going to burn a damn sight hotter. Her eyes look even greener as her cheeks glow red and those lips I’m going to claim and make bleed for me.
I move so fucking fast it even shocks me and Zara’s neck is trapped inside a headlock as I pull her hair back. Its silver shimmers and my fingers adore its silky softness, not that it’ll make me any kinder now she’s riled my temper.
“Darling,” I hiss and it sounds like a threat. “That pretty little mouth of yours has gotten you into a world of trouble. You’ve got two choices, kitten, and neither’s pleasant.” My dick jerks and it’ll be waiting until I’m done with her before it gets to sink into her. “You can take your punishment like a good little girl, or you can keep pushing it and I’ll fucking break you.”
Her legs clamp together and her weight shifts. I can smell her arousal and Zara’s getting off on threat alone. Zara is a slut for pain and her predilection for degradation is a bonus that makes her a much more interesting fucktoy.
“Choose, Zara.”
I tighten my elbow around her neck and pull her with me, finding the nearest place to sit. Zara writhes and kicks, but she’s not nearly big enough to overpower me and I’m intrigued that she isn’t reaching for her magic. Yet. I bet she thinks she can turn this into a pleasurable experience, and she’s about to discover how fucking wrong she is.
She sinks effortlessly into my lap as I sit, and she doesn’t fight me as I bend her over my knee. Gods, she’s so damn perfect and her ass is irresistible like this, and I’m going to show her the monster she’s playing with.
“Choose, kitten,” I purr, my hand circling her ass.
Zara kicks and tosses her head, and I grab her roughly, shoving her head down.
“Fighting it is,” I sigh, almost impassively. Almost resigned.
My hand connects with her ass, and she doesn’t murmur. She’ll hold out as long as she can, and that’s fine with me. It’ll be more pleasurable when she breaks, and this battle of wills only ends one way. My palm lands again and again, and although she writhes, Zara doesn’t scream. The pain in my palm is nothing compared to what she knows, and I’m only just beginning to show her what I am.
