His eyes flickered. Calculating. Cold.
I stepped forward and collapsed at his feet, pressing my forehead to his boots, clinging to the hem of his coat like a madwoman begging for mercy. “Please… forgive me. I can’t live another day without you.”
His hand fisted in my hair and yanked me up with brutal force.
Pain lanced through my skull—sharp, delicious, punishing. I moaned.
“You fucking whore,” he snarled, dragging me eye-to-eye. His voice splintered with fury, vibrating with betrayal. “You left me forthem. You spread your legs for power. You lusted after the blades, not me.”
“I know, I know,” I gasped, eyes stinging. “My—” I caught myself before the word “lord” slipped free. “My King.”
That broke something in him.
With a snarl, he slammed his hand around my throat, squeezing until my vision blurred. His skin began to rot beneath his rage—maggots oozing from his brow, flesh peeling from his face to reveal raw bone and dripping cartilage.
And itarousedme.
The scent of death. His weight. The agony and hunger.
He crushed his mouth to mine, bruising, claiming, brutal. With a savage tear, he ripped open his trousers, revealing his thick, pulsing cock—hard and furious.
“Is this what you want?” he growled, pressing it against me. “Tell me.”
“Yes,” I breathed, desperate. “Gods, yes. I need it, Balthazar.”
“You don’t deserve it,” he spat, his breath hot on my face, his spit clinging to my lips like punishment.
“Please,” I begged, writhing. “Please, Balthazar. Fuck me. Punish me. Give me what I’ve suffered for. Take me—ruin me.”
With brutal force, Balthazar spun me around. My skirt was torn away like paper, my panties ripped down with a snarl. He entered me without pause, pounding like a beast unleashed—relentless, feral, possessed. One hand shoved my face against the glass, the other clamped around my waist like a vice. I didn’t cry out. Itookit—each savage thrust, each burst of pain and pleasure—because this was him. My King. My monster.
It was raw. Violent. Not love—but somethingmore.
Even in its cruelty, it eclipsed every lifeless encounter I’d endured with Jack. Jack had been lukewarm and predictable. But Balthazar? He was chaos and fire. Hunger incarnate.
Through clenched teeth, I whispered, “Oh, my love… I’m so glad I murdered Scarlett for you.”
He stilled. Eerily silent.
“What did you just say?”
My breath caught. My mind scrambled.Had I said that aloud?
“I... I didn’t say anything,” I lied, pulse racing.
He whirled me around, eyes burning. His hand closed around my throat, tight enough to steal my air. My limbs thrashed, but I was no match for him. Panic surged through me. This wasn’t dominance—it was annihilation.
And then… he changed.
His body convulsed. His skin rippled as bone splintered beneath the surface. Claws erupted from his fingers, curling with menace.Horns pushed through his scalp. His eyes glowed, not with fury, but agony.
He threw his arms to the sky and unleashed a scream that shook the ground beneath us—a sound not meant for human ears.
I collapsed to the floor, breathless and wide-eyed, my limbs shaking as I scrambled backward like a wounded animal.
“What’s happening?” I screamed, my voice raw from sheer terror.
Balthazar clutched his skull, claws sinking into his scalp as another unholy scream ripped through him—louder, more guttural, as if something ancient and furious was trying to claw its way out from inside.
