Page 104 of Coal Hearts

The repeating thought wriggled like a pestering worm.

She’s only on my side because she thinks I’m a cop.

That tiny white lie was the only one I’d told.

It wasn’t my fault she thought I was a better man than I could ever be. My intentions were still honourable, even if my method was...questionable.

I had her permission to bruise her.

Her consent to fuck her in order to play the role of saviour.

So what I’d just manipulated her by allowing her to think I was law enforcement?

So what she thought SWAT would pour over the battlement at any moment, bringing righteous rain-fire?

Just because I hadn’t corrected her didn’t mean our truce wasn’t justified. I still intended to save her and the other slaves. I didn’t need a badge or a uniform to do that. I had something better—a half-brother with untold wealth and cutthroat connections.

I hefted the heavy book in my palm.

Ily looked over her shoulder, her face as white as her honey skin would permit, her body hunched and scared. But she didn’t move. Didn’t crawl away.

Her genuine fear was the sweetest perfume.

But her obedience? That...frustrated me.

I hated that the blackest parts of me craved her breaking. It hungered to chase as she bolted. It salivated at the thought of overpowering her—of snatching her submission with claws and teeth rather than having it given to me just because we’d reached an understanding.

Goddammit, I’m not normal.

I had a naked woman on all fours. A woman knowing full well I meant to strike her with the book and consenting to it anyway. If it was a simple matter of getting off on domination, that would be more than enough.

So what the fuck did it say about me that I wanted her bleeding?

Chasing away those horrible thoughts, I closed the distance between us. Ily sucked in a breath as I dropped to my knees on the thick, patterned carpet behind her and planted a large hand on her lower back.

She flinched.

My cock reacted, feeding off her distress.

I wished I’d asked Q how he tamed his darkness.

How he earned a wife who didn’t hate him.

I needed to know.

Needed to learn how to cage this sickness...before it kills me.

With a roll of my shoulders, I pushed away the whispered secrets Ily and I had shared and embraced the role I had to sell. After my slip-up cradling her when she cried, I had to ensure Victor believed I’d snapped.

Squeezing the curvy flesh on her hipbone, I raised my voice just in case the cameras did have audio. “Did you think you could bribe me? That I’d be interested in whatever you could offer me in exchange for your freedom?” I laughed, ensuring I sounded borderline unhinged. “Don’t you get it? I can take anything I want from you. I can take everything. And I don’t have to give you a damn thing in return.”

Her eyes narrowed, but she didn’t retaliate.

I wanted to praise her and rage at her.

Knowing she wouldn’t run stole all the enjoyment.

Goddammit, this was why I couldn’t enjoy sex. Why every single one of my encounters had been fraught with pretending I was into it, all while slipping into daydreams of what I truly needed to get off.