"Don't worry, unhinged princess. You'll be screaming my name shortly. Whether that's in pleasure or pain, that's strictly up to you. Maybe a little of both." He takes another step closer, my eyes trailing over his all-black clothing, and the hairs on my arms stand on end. "Tell me, are you a pain slut, unhinged princess?"What. The. Fuck?This guy is delusional and certifiable.
"Listen,Dracula wannabe,don't come any closer, or I'll do more damage than I did last night." My body tenses, as I loosen my limbs and step away from the bookcase, so he can't trap me against it, all my training coming to the forefront of my mind. I watch every move he makes, preparing myself to have to fight him off.Dammit, I knew I should have brought one of Joffrey's large kitchen knives with me to school today, fuck the consequences.
He trails his long, tattooed fingers along the bookshelf, knocking books off of it at random, that crash to the floor with athud and become obstacles to my retreat. My eyes fixate on his thick bottom lip, as his tongue plays with the silver ring piercing located in the corner. I'm so enthralled, that he manages to take a step or two closer before I clock him. His heady scent of sweet cinnamon, and something spicy, fills my nostrils, forcing me to swallow a groan.Fuck, why do all the villains have to smell so good?
"You haven't answered my question. Is that because you don't know whether you like a little pain with your pleasure? Should we explore your limits? Just so you know, I have none, and I definitely like more than just a little pain, and lots of blood, with my pleasure." The seductive look across his features, I'm sure, would be tempting, if I didn't know this fucker would probably enjoy asphyxiation, and bleeding me dry, both of which, thankfully, are not part of my kink list.
"It doesn't matter what my kinks are. I'm not interested, nowfuck offand go play with the other deviants you call friends."
An amused chuckle leaves his lips, and the sound sets off alarm bells in my head. "Playing hard to get, little monster? I enjoy playing games too. I especially like to chase." He lunges forward suddenly, and if it weren't for my ingrained training, I wouldn't have been able to deflect his attempt to grab me, and counter with a punch to his shoulder, causing him to take a step backward as he reassesses the situation. “Who hurt you so that you learned to fight like that, little monster?”
"Don't fucking touch me!" I growl, ignoring his question as my anger fuels the spike in my adrenaline, my fight or flight is activated, and my heart pounds like a drum inside of my chest. I keep an eye out for him charging me, and attempting to box me in against furniture, as I shove chairs at him, as he keeps his aggressive forward motion.
"You see,Olivia, you made a mistake coming to Soule, one that may end up costing your life." One of his hands disappearsbehind his back, only to reappear with a sharp-looking pocket blade. Fury fills me at its sight, and the fact that I talked myself out of bringing my own blade, deeming it unnecessary, because there was no way these guys were that unhinged. Well, just look at me now, weaponless, and proven wrong, and shit. “Everyone has a monster inside of them, unhinged princess. The question is, do you let yours out to play or do you need me to carve it out of you?”
"You're insane, you know that? What are you going to do, murder me in a library that twenty people saw us in?" I pick up another metal library chair and throw it at him, but it just bounces off his arm and lands on the ground, and he seems unfazed.Shit, shit, shit.
"Not before I have some fun." He rushes forward once again, and I have to throw myself over one of the library tables to get away from him, throwing books, and whatever I can get my hands on, at him in an endeavor to slow him down. My heart pounds loudly in my ears, as beads of sweat course down my spine. My brain is screaming that we're going to die here, killed by a psychotic fucking vampire. I grab an abandoned laptop, and brandish it like a shield as he strikes out with the blade again.
The laptop goes flying, and a sharp sting along my forearm, where the blade has managed to nick me, catches my momentary attention. My mouth is frozen open in shock as I watch him bring the blade to his lips, spreading the beads of my blood on the surface before he licks them clean. "Fucking delicious," he groans. An eerily, psychotic-sounding laugh emanates from him, that has a chill breaking out along my limbs. "I'm going to enjoy carving up all that pretty skin, unhinged princess. I may even allow you to keep some of it intact when I'm done with you."
Hell fucking no! Iclamp my hand over my forearm, feeling the trickle of blood running down to my palm, and mixing withmy sweat. I spare a quick, dangerous glance at the damage, and breathe a slight sigh of relief that it's just a shallow cut. Fury fills me that this asshole has had the audacity to cut me. I'm going to break every bone in the hand that holds the knife, to teach him a lesson about playing with sharp objects.
I'm quickly running out of options, and places to run, unless I take the stairs to the second-floor mezzanine of the library, which I'm loath to do, knowing full well that would be a death sentence as I'd be trapped with no way to escape.Where the hell are all the staff?I can see the students being afraid of this monster, but what about the faculty? "Why are you doing this? I don't even fucking know you?" I demand as I overturn another table, and use it to stop his forward momentum. My breathing is becoming increasingly labored with my fear and exertion, yet there's no way for me to stop, even for a second, without him being able to reach me. Frantically, I search for a way out of this space. The door leading out of the library beckons me with the promise of safety, but it is far out of my current reach.
"Because I can, because Mayhem rules here, and you came into our world without asking, and you have to pay the price."Pay the price; what the hell is this lunatic even talking about? I make a fatal mistake as the backs of my ankles connect with the first step, pitching me off balance. As my arms reach out frantically to stop myself from falling backward, he extends his muscular arm and grabs me by the neck, tightening his grip, and a loud, pained gasp exits me. I'm suspended mid-fall by only his ruthless grip, my legs trembling with the weight of holding me up at an odd angle, as I fiercely rip at his hand and try to gouge his hazel eyes. "You will learn that we’re without mercy. You will bow at our feet, and crawl when we dictate it. You will swallow our poison gladly, enjoying our corruption, and thank us for your sweet death."
He leans forward, his lips mere inches from my own. "You will belong to us, craving our touch and words, and maybe one day we will release you, but that day isn't today, Olivia. Today, you're nothing but a pretty insect, I long to rip the wings off."
I dig my fingers into the surface of his hand, feeling his skin giving way under my nails, and the slippery feeling of his blood tainting my fingertips. A sense of desperation, not only to flee, but to live, fills me. "That's it, baby, make me bleed so I can return the favor," he moans as his mouth slides over my cheek, and his tongue licks me, like a reptile tasting its anticipated dinner.
A part of me observes his movements with sick fascination, even as my lack of air begins to cause white spots, and dark shadows, to close in on my vision. Up close, he's even more beautiful, in a malignant and devastating way. The way you know that the devil was likely the most beautiful of God's angels before his fall from grace, and he became tarnished, but no less enticing. He's a promise of sin, pain, madness, and damnation, and even knowing all that, my treacherous core tightens with arousal. "I can feel your heartbeat pounding rapidly underneath my fingers." His lips press against the side of my cheek, his deep voice rumbling against my skin. "I wonder what you would look like if I slit open your throat, and allowed you to bleed out. I bet you would look glorious covered in red."
The vivid picture that he paints finally has me snapping out of the fog his presence and touch have placed me under. I risk losing my balance completely, as I tangle one of my legs around his ankle. I slam my other knee up into his groin and force my elbow to come down at an awkward angle on his forearm, causing him to release his hold on the blade, sending it crashing to the floor, and out of sight. His grip on my neck weakens momentarily, allowing me to suck in a huge, ragged gasp of oxygen.
"You're... going... to pay... for that... bitch," he hisses in pain, but I don't give a shit. I slam my elbow down again, hitting his forearm in desperation, and I try to use my foot to take out his knee.
Just then, the door to the library opens with a bang. I can't see who's there, but I hear rapid footsteps approaching, and before I can make sense of what’s happening, I'm slammed onto the stairs, my back taking the brunt of the fall, as the vampire's body lands heavily on top of me, and my head collides with the step above. "RELEASE HER, DAMON!" The booming voice breaks through my pained whimper, as the marble step digs into my back.Damon,his fucking name is Damon, my mind screams, as if that could help somehow in this messed-up situation.
Damon is yanked off of me, and I can finally take a deep breath. When I'm able to raise my head, my vision momentarily swims before me. I see two large men shoving each other, one trying to restrain the other. My eyes narrow, and to my horror, I realize that it's Professor Jacob Rawdon doing his best, and failing to stop Damon. "Run, run now!" He yells over his shoulder, as Damon takes a swing at him, which has his head bouncing to the side with the impact.
I don't hesitate. I stumble shakily to my feet, and drag my aching body toward the door of the library, my breathing laboring in my chest as sour bile rises up the back of my throat. With one last look behind me, I escape the library, silent tears trickling from the corners of my eyes as the fresh air assails my skin, and I search to see if the other two are lying in wait to attack me. My mind tries to reason with me for clarity, but my thoughts are all muddled together. All I can clearly make sense of is that one of my monsters is now attacking another to save me.
Fuck.
CHAPTER 24
SIM
Iturn the corner around one of the large, stone gothic buildings, my body tense, on alert for Mayhem and their cronies, and filled with frustration. I’ve been walking Soule's University campus for what feels like hours, and I still can’t find her. I'm not sure why the hell I'm even here. I pulled out of all my classes months ago to focus on my MMA career, and I swore I wouldn't come back here. The sun’s warm rays are beginning to sink low over the stone courtyard, bleeding orange and burnt reds across the university building's walls, and all I can think about is how fast everything's fallen apart. One incredible and unbelievable night, that’s all it took to shred my life into something unrecognizable.
Olly.My pretty lavender pixie.
Her name is an ache in my chest I can't seem to comprehend, and the memory of her soft skin, her enticing scent, and the sound of her voice, husky with pleasure, are wrapped around me like sharp thorns digging into my skin. They tear me open and make me bleed out, even as they embed deeper. It was only one night, but the way she looked at me like she saw something worthy, it’s all tangled up in my head. Then, to make matterseven more confusing, she ran. No explanation. No goodbye. Just gone, like she realized she’d made a mistake.Fuck, was I a mistake?
The logical part of me, the fighter, the planner, tells me this shouldn’t matter. She’s just a random girl, an amazing one-night stand, but nothing more. I have a future mapped out: leave this town, put Mayhem and its filth behind me, focus on the cage, the fights, the way the world falls silent under my fists and blood. I’m good at fighting, naw, I'm better than good. It’s the only thing that’s ever made sense in my world, and it's not something I'm willing to put at risk. It's my only ticket out of here. Why now, when I'm so close to getting out, did she appear? The tightening and thrumming in my chest doesn’t care about logic, or my need to escape Soule. It’s loud, pulsing, whispering her name in every heartbeat.
Fuck, I'm a mess, a love-sick wuss.I rub my large, rough hand over my face, dragging sweat across my jaw. My healing knuckles are stiff and ache from training, and my ribs still sting from the last underground match, and last night's exertions with Olly. Under it all, a dull, persistent dread coils tight in my guts, because I know what it means to defy Cross, Damon, and River. You don’t step into Mayhem’s path and walk away clean. I’ve seen what happens to those who try. They disappear, never to be heard from again, and sometimes, their families do too.
