He growls in response, two thick fingers sliding under my panties to rub over the wet heat of my core. I try to turn my head to meet his lips, but his other hand grabs me by thechin and jerks my face forward. He forces me to gaze down at the bleeding, unconscious body of my fiancé. The man we just tortured together. He makes me face just how messed up this situation is as he starts to fuck me slowly with his fingers.
“What a wicked little thing you are,” he says, his voice a low growl.
I swallow hard. “Yes,” I whisper. When I admit it, he lets me look up at him.
His eyes are black with lust as he gazes down at me. His nostrils flare as he breathes me in. He uses his grip on me to drag me closer, and leans down to press his nose into my neck, inhaling again. His hot breath sends goose bumps rippling all over my body, and I tilt my head back, surrendering my neck to him.
He growls again, and it vibrates through me.
“Your sin smells so sweet,” he says, pulling back to meet my eyes. “I don’t know if I will be able to hold back.”
“Then don’t try.”
His lips peel back, revealing sharp teeth in an expression that’s half snarl and half grin. “You’ve seen what happens when I don’t.”
He’s right. I’m fully aware of what those teeth and claws can do, the massive strength he wields. He killed the family I was almost a part of. That should frighten me, but… it doesn’t.
“I know you will give me exactly what I deserve,” I say. “No more and no less.”
Chapter
Twenty
Krampus studies my face. “You crave the punishment.”
I feel naked under his gaze. I turn my face away, but his other hand grabs me by the chin and forces it back toward him.
“I need it,” I whisper.
“Or what?”
“Or…” I shake my head. “I don’t know.”
He grips me harder in response. “Yes, you do. Why do you want to be punished?”
I shut my eyes, unsure what to say. The hand between my legs grips me harder, and I groan, lifting my hips. I want to grind against him, but he holds me too tightly, making it impossible to move.
“Why do you crave punishment?” he demands again. “Tell me.”
“Because I deserve it,” I burst out. My eyes fly open, and I look up at him. “Because it is the only way I can be forgiven.”
“You think I am the one who needs to forgive you?”
“No,” I admit. “But… I need to be punished to forgive myself.” It’s hard to voice it aloud, and tears gather in the corners of my eyes. I blink them away and gaze up at him,knowing my desperation is written all over my face. My mind flashes to Adrian’s severed head, the crossbow bolt sinking into Theodora’s neck, Karl’s limbless body, Louis falling in the snow. All of my lies and deceit and thievery over the years. Ineedthe cleansing pain that only Krampus can give me. I need to know if I deserve to live after all that I’ve done. “Please.”
Krampus relinquishes his grip on my chin. A moment later, his hand retreats from between my legs as well, leaving me aching and unfulfilled. His tail swishes behind him, but the rest of him remains stonily still.
“Take off your clothes,” he says.
I suck in a surprised breath. Glance at Louis, still unconscious on the ground beside us. Then I rush to unbutton my coat, fingers fumbling in their eagerness. I shrug off the bloodstained fabric and tug my dress over my head. Next, I unclasp my bra. My nipples harden in the sudden cold, and I feel Krampus’s eyes on me. I toss the bra aside and then slowly reach down to discard my panties, the last thin barrier of clothing. I kick them to the side and stand in front of the massive monster utterly naked, vulnerable and shivering in the cold.
“Get on your knees.”
I lower myself to the ground, wincing as my knees hit the biting chill of snow. For a moment, Krampus merely gazes at me there.
“Crawl to me,” he says.
The demand floods my body with pure heat, chasing away the frost. I place my trembling hands in the snow and move toward him on my hands and knees. By the time I reach him, I’m shaking with both lust and cold. I sit back on my heels again, swallowing hard as I see the bulge of his arousal through the loincloth he still wears.
