But right now, she needs to help me relax. She still has a penance as far as I’m concerned, and tonight, I need to take advantage of that.
twenty-four
-Brynn-
Ares drives us back home in silence, while my mind still races with plans for McAllister.
I can’t help but notice that his expression has changed from hunting mode to something else. Something even darker, primal. His gaze remains too focused on the roads he usually drives along without a care, and as we pull through the gates, he turns to look at me.
It’s then that I see it.
That animalistic expression of uncontrolled lust I’ve come to know so well. My body instantly reacts. There aren’t many things in this world that could make me feel small and helpless. But this is certainly one of them.
“Tonight,” he says, his voice way too soft to be anything good, “We finish your punishment for trying to kill me.”
My throat tightens, and my stomach drops before I get to formulate any coherent words.
“I thought we were past that,” I mutter, staring straight ahead as we park. The memory of my failed attempt to kill him feels like it belongs in another lifetime. Before I really knew the mansitting beside me today, and before I understood that Elias’s death wasn’t his doing.
He lets out a laugh that holds no amusement. It’s low and dangerous, reflecting the intentions he’s not trying to hide. “Past it? No, little curse. I’ve simply been… patient.” The way he says the word makes it sound like a threat.
But if he thinks we can get past it once and for all, I’ll do whatever he wants. Because there’s something he’s been denying me for weeks, and I don’t want to wait any longer. I’ve asked him to keep removing my scars, replacing them with his own marks, but he refused. Somehow, that makes me feel like I don’t fully belong to him yet. I still belong to my past, my nightmares owned by the ghost of the man who tortured me for two years.
I follow him into the house, my nerves humming with each step. For the past few weeks, we’ve been working together, training and planning how to get whoever it is that’s behind this, but the look in Ares’ eyes now reminds me of our beginning.
He takes me past the living area toward the door that leads to the basement. He opens it, then gestures toward the darkness below. “After you.”
I hesitate for a second, and his smile widens, showing too many teeth. “Afraid?”
“Fuck you,” I respond automatically, but my voice lacks conviction. Because somehow I feel that’s what I’m supposed to do.
I take the first step down, feeling the temperature drop with each descent. He follows close behind me, his attitude so imposing that it makes the passage feel even tighter.
I know this path all too well. There was a time when all I wanted was to get out of here. Not so much now. Now, I just want be anywhere he is.
Part of me even hates myself for fitting into that pattern. Thatway in over her headtype of girl I swore to myself I’d never be.
We walk until we reach a door I am familiar with. Last time I was here, I stole a dust cover to carry the wine bottles to the stairs. Now that I think about it, smashing a couple of million wasn’t my best plan... but at least it worked.
Ares opens the door, and the first thing that draws my attention is the gold throne. That and the life-size marble statue of him reclining on one elbow, atop stone carved pillows. His expression as intense as the man who really owns it. For some reason, Ares is staring at it like I’m supposed to get a point that I’mnotgetting.
He stops directly behind me, his breath hot against my naked shoulders as his lips suck and bite.
A shiver runs through my body, from my shoulders down to the tip of my toes as one of his hands wraps around my throat, pressing my back against his body, a reminder of his power and how he could end me if he chose. I know this isn’t about him ending me. It’s about him owning me, establishing full dominance, andmeallowing him to. Not because I need him to help me with my revenge. Just because I need him like a woman wants a man.
I can feel his chest rise and fall; his every breath synchronized with the rhythm of my own, although there are a few moments in which I think I’ve forgotten how to breathe.
My nipples harden beneath my dress, and my thighs squeeze together in a useless attempt to fight the ache that’s settled there. Damn, and he’s not even doing anything to me yet.
“Your punishment awaits,” he hisses like a snake in my ear. “I’ve been waiting a very long time for this.”
The anticipation in his voice makes everything that much more intense.I’m even suspecting it’s not even that much of a punishment as it is a sick kind of power-play.
I try to turn to face him, but his grip is tight enough that I can barely breathe. My face is pointed toward the marble statue.It’s cold perfection, and the very impressive cock, one-on-one to Ares’, along with the seven piercings.
Heat coils low in my belly, but it’s not fear. It’s a sort of forbidden curiosity that makes me hate myself even as it floods my veins.
Ares’ free hand slides down on my spine, coming to rest on my ass. “Tonight,” he promises more than just states. “You learn exactly what it means to be mine.”
