Page 46 of The Price Of Possession

“No. I'm not a fighter. The devil is toying with me. I couldn't even succeed at ending my own life.” I choke out a frustrated sob. My fingernails dig into his Henley. I inhale his scent greedily. He grips me tighter, yanking me against the hard plains of his chest. His eyes fall to mine. “You don't get to leave me,” he declares, as if he has a say over whether I live or die. As if he needs to control everything he touches.

I lose myself in unhinged, chaotic uncontrolled laughter that coils in my chest. “You're kidding me, right?”

He gently steers me back onto the bed. I'm too weak and too damn tired to protest. His grip is iron and unrelenting. “I would die for you; I would fucking kill for you,” he grits.

My stomach churns. His sparkling eyes drill into me with promise.

A heavy lump forms in my throat, weighing me down. The seconds drag on. He's draining me of life. I can't hold on much longer. His master manipulation has a hold on me. His eyes fall to my lips. I hear him in my thoughts. All I want is to be immune to his hypnotism. He surges forward like a wild animal. His lips slam against mine, devouring my soul, ripping apart my inner sanctum. I'm helpless to his touch. My heart skips a beat. A rush of endorphins burst through my veins. His arm snakes around my hips, clasping to the small of my back. I arch into him. He scoots my ass along the edge of the bed so I'm nestled between his thick, meaty legs. His kiss grows more insistent and urgent. His darkness seeps into my veins. His other hand dances along my skin before threading through my silken strands.

His muscles ripple under my touch. The heat radiating from his skin is a raging inferno. He breaks the kiss to whisper dark scripture in my ear. “I'm like him. A merciless beast who loves the destruction of others, but now I've had a taste . . .” His lips stamp kisses along my jawline. “Mine. You belong to me. Fuck purity. I'm selfish. I can't help it.

Be my riven queen. Let's burn the empire down together.”

He pulls back leaving me breathless. Truth shines through his beastly eyes. I search for deception knowing I'm at his mercy.

“Am I your sacrifice?” I rasp, afraid of the answer. He strokes my cheek reverently. “You're my equal.”

His irises hold a haunting darkness that draws me closer to insanity. I'm ready to fall over the edge. He is rewiring my internal being. I've never been equal to anyone in my entire existence. Growing up, I was looked upon as less than by men. As I worked my way into Grimshaw hoping to be accepted, even then, I was never equal to the rich Elites. I was always pegged as the poor outsider. I kept my past a secret, but it did nothing to mitigate the downfall.

“You're running from the unknown. You're self-destructive. Let me give you the vengeance you need to fill that void.” He peppers kisses along my tear-soaked cheeks. I meet his addicting glassy green irises. No one has ever offered me a sliver of happiness. Though, it comes with a caveat. I know I will lose myself to his darkest desires, allowing it to swallow me whole until I become someone else entirely.

“What about you?” I whisper. He lifts me in his arms and gently lays me back onto the cool sheets. “What of me, Nightshade?”

“You're just as self-destructive, Kieran. This is unhealthy. Whatever we have, it isn't normal.” He crawls onto the bed, prowling on top of me. His body dwarfs mine, falling over me like a dark shroud. He traces soft circles up my exposed stomach, overtop of his scarred name. Shallow breaths leave my lips.

“Some of the best delicacies of life are bad for you.” His words make me shiver. His eyes pierce into my fragile past. He's aware how volatile we both are. Like two chemical compounds being fused together into one destructive mix.

I shake my head. “No. This isn't right. I was supposed to be better,” I whisper to myself.

His cool fingertips dance along my hip. “Nah. Can't you see? This is better. We've both had fucked up lives. Let that pain and anger fuel your vengeance. You're better off this way. Let the darkness pull you under until the light is a spec in the distance.”

His words penetrate my thoughts, teasing me with the chance of happiness. Though temporary. His tempting timbre pulls me under his spell. I know he's using his guile to manipulate me to do his bidding. After all is said and done, I'll be the same broken disaster I've always been. His vendetta against his father has nothing to do with me. I was played by Mortensen just as I'm being played now. The only difference is his beguiling nature threads me like a needle.

“What more do you need from me?”

I never want her out of my sight again. Never again. Fuck what anyone says. I’m Kieran Grimshaw for Christ’s sake. I take whatever the hell I want, whenever I want. She will stand beside me in the murk. I'll pull her under so far we will both drown in each other’s bliss. The only way to keep her under my spell was to lie; unfair, I know. Dangling the carrot of happiness in her fragile precarious state was my final move. Though I have no intention of letting her be anyone's fuck toy. I'll keep every part of her for myself at any cost. Even with the facade of eternal happiness. Nothing about her life with me will be sunshine and roses. Her light will recede into the horizon. Even if we succeed in subverting and dismantling the Void, I'll never escape who I am and what I've done. I'll forever remain a heartless beast.

Her trembling hands caress the lacerations on my wrist. I chuff. “One more shattered line.” I shrug, but internally I know this time my skin is no longer Mortensen's ledger of cruelties, but also my own.

Her lips thin into a tight pursing line. “Is that why you like seeing me marked and chastened? Why didn't you let me die?” The sparkle of her blue pools fizzle in front of me. That feeling creeps into my stomach. The sensation invades my insides like an insidious weight pressing down on my chest.

“I need you broken, begging and untethered, but not like that,” I rasp. My voice is throaty and dry. Her words give me a feverish clarity to how sick I am. A manic vibration courses through my system. I know my tendencies go too far. I can't stop them. That need, it's too great. I need her to be strong. If I lose her, I won't make it out alive. The alcohol and bad decisions will steal my soul. Hell, I can’t say they still won't. I am who I am, and I need her to join my dark kingdom beside me.

“Death is where you draw the line? Is it because you can't control me?” Her energy changes from contemplating my offer, to now being on the defensive. Ordinarily I'd force her into submission, but that feeling of losing her pricked something under my skin I don't like. Her tiny hand drops from my frayed wrists. I fight the urge to show her just how special she is to me, but I think better of it. The harsh words tug at my core. Detachment. Never show weakness. All Mortensen's mind games. I hate how they fuse to my atoms, rewiring my system to his specifications.

Her eyes call to me like a warning cry, begging to be saved from my fucked up self. I can't.

“There's beauty in death, but I need you breathing. Our souls are entwined whether you like it or not,” I murmur along her neck. Her tears bead down her cheeks to her collarbones. I lick her salty teardrops. My internal beast is raging. Angry for how much he loves her. For how much he needs her.

“What do you want from me?” she whispers. Her hands grip the sheets as if they’ll swallow her whole and take her away from me. No one will ever take her from me again.

“I told you. You're mine. Willing or not, that's all I need.” My baritone vibrates against her throat. Her chest rises faster. Her pulse quickens. I nip at her skin. I'm dying to eat her alive, to mark her, to push her one more time.

I rip myself off the bed away from her, allowing her the illusion of a choice. She can deny me, but I'll lock her away from the world if she refuses. A life of punishment and imprisonment suits her and sure as hell suits my cock. All mine.

Her eyes flutter closed. A small smile tugs at her lips. A genuine smile, but it quickly sours into a heavy frown. It was more addicting than any drug I could let commandeer my system, making me crave another taste.

“I need answers. Are you even sorry for taking away my freedoms?”. I climb beside her and tug her little body against my chest. Her warmth floods my system, igniting my possessive side. I know exactly what she's asking. If I'm sorry for taking away her ability at being a mother.