“I watched my dad kill my mother,” I say softly. I hold his gaze as it softens.
“My princess,” he whispers, lying next to me and pulling me into his hard body. It’s not until my cheek is against his bare chest that I realize I’m crying. I never cry. “Never again, I promise you.”
“And I won’t leave you.” I say the words so quickly, and for a moment I misunderstand myself. Or maybe I meant it to be literal, I don’t know.
He holds me until I’ve stopped crying and then kisses my hair, whispering, “I need to clean you up.” He leaves my side and turns back to give me a look of warning. But I don’t want to run. I want to stay. I don’t want to hide from him.
I feel vulnerable and raw, and the way he holds me makes it seem as though that’s just right. It’s the way it’s supposed to be.
When he walks back into the room, he seems different. I’m not sure why, but everything now is so different.
My thighs tremble slightly as he slides the warm cloth between my legs. I’m still on edge from hours of stimulation. He gentles his hand on my thigh and moves me to lay on the bed on my side. I curl up as he lays the blanket on top of me, tucking me in and moving behind me, his chest to my back.
He feels so warm, so strong. And his smell is so comforting. I fill my lungs with his masculine scent. It relaxes me. The tiredness of the day settles against me, lulling me to sleep in his strong embrace.
“I was supposed to punish you, princess,” he murmurs and kisses my neck.
“Next time you touch yourself without my permission, you’ll be punished. Is that understood?” His voice is hard, but he’s holding me with such tenderness that the threat falls flat. Besides, I don’t want to touch myself without him. I want him to take me like that again and again.
I want more.
“Yes.” He holds me closer, and my heart beats frantically.
I’m vaguely aware that this is wrong and that I need to use this new development to my advantage, but the voice is so weak, drowned out by the steady beat of his heart, that it’s easy to ignore. If only just for this moment.
Chapter 21
Gio
* * *
I pour myself a double whisky on the rocks and collapse into my couch in the living room. Duke comes over and curls up at my feet. I scratch his head as I sip the whisky, staring at the blank TV, my mind wandering over what just happened.
I’ve needed a strong drink since the second I first saw her. I needed to feel her tight pussy, to hear her scream my name, to know that I was making her feel intense and unbridled pleasure. Finally, I got what I needed, and my blood’s practically ringing with incredible contentment. But I got more than I bargained for.
I regret going into her cage. I wish I hadn’t done that. I promised her it would be her safe space, and I worked so hard to keep it that way. I just couldn’t allow her to go back into her shell, not before I properly took care of her. She needed to be caressed, cleaned, worshipped. She needed to be shown how I feel about her.
Maybe I shouldn’t have gone into the cage. I could see the fear in her eyes, and I hated that. But afterward, it was worth it. She let me take care of her, stroke her hair, whisper in her ear. Finally, when she was relaxed, I left her dozing on the bed.
She’s dangerous; she makes me want to take her to my bed. To let her out. To share more with her. And that can’t happen.
She’s so fucking gorgeous. I can still feel her tight cunt wrapped around my cock. I can’t get enough of her lips, her skin, her moans. It’s all so fucking intoxicating. I know I have another job to do, but the idea of going out and killing again when I have my princess to train seems insane to me.
Now I’m faced with a new issue. I need to start that training, but I’m not exactly sure how to go about it. I’ve never actually turned someone into a sex slave before, and I still don’t want to do that to Grace. She’s my princess, not my slave, and I want to be the only one to have her.
I clutch my glass, the ice clinking against it as I feel my darkness rising up again. Lately it’s been so quiet, probably because I was so content with Grace. But now that I’m faced with the prospect of killing her father and turning her into a slave, I can feel that darkness rising.
I want to make her mine. I want to dominate her. And I want to slit her father’s throat for every bit of pain he’s shown her. He fucking deserves it. The darkness wants all that, too, but for a different reason. The darkness in me wants it because it wants to destroy everything in its path. I want those things because I care deeply for Grace, much more deeply than I ever imagined.
My two halves are still warring, but I know which one is winning. I know my humanity is still there, and it feels stronger every day. There are moments, just like this one, where my darkness rears its revolting head, but I can get past it.
I will get past it. For Grace. For my princess.
I take a long sip and scratch behind Duke’s ear. He looks up at me, head cocked, mouth slightly open.
“You want Grace to stay, don’t you boy?” I ask him.
He pants a bit. I smile at him.
