"Do you like them?" I taunted. "Is this what you wanted to see, Luna?" I glanced down at myself, staring almost fondly at the horrific memories. "The round ones, they're from bullets. But the rest…I can still feel them, you know. Every single one. I can still feel them being carved into my body. Except for these." I ran my fingers over a neat, straight scar above my left pec. "These I didn't feel. See, I had to release it somewhere. The pain. The fear. The anger and frustration. It had to go somewhere. It couldn't stay inside of me anymore. I had to let it out, or I was going to combust from the inside out and there'd be nothing left of me but bloody pieces of meat. I had to let it out." I wanted her to understand. It was important to me that she understood.
"Tristan," she whispered.
My eyes flashed up to hers. They were filled with pity. I didn't want her fucking pity. “Hands,” I ground out.
She approached me without hesitation and held her hands through the bars. Pulling the belt from my slacks, I used it to bind them together. Then I unlocked the door and stepped into the cell, the door clicking shut behind me. The smell of her fear was intoxicating.
“Who did you kill tonight?” she asked softly.
I met her eyes. “Whoever I’m ordered to. It doesn’t matter.” I moved to stand behind her, enjoying the way her shirt barely covered her ass. “Are you wearing anything beneath that shirt, Luna?”
She didn’t answer.
Her midnight hair hung in wild waves just past her shoulder blades. I decided I preferred it like this when she slept, instead of captured in a braid the way she usually had it. I realized I’d forgotten to put hair bands in the bathroom for her before I brought her here, and I was glad.
With my blood-stained hands, I lifted the bottom of the shirt she wore until the rounded curves of her ass were on full display. I ran one fingertip along the crack between them, then cupped one cheek in my large hand and squeezed. I loved her skin, so soft and supple and pale against the darker tan of my hands. So flawless. Unlike my own. I loved all of her body, the curves and dips and grace of it.
I ran my palms over the outside of her hips and thighs as far down as I could reach before I came back up. Reaching around her, I shoved my hands under her shirt and cupped her breasts…
Her head fell back against my chest. Long, dark hair tickling my skin. My breath caught, and I froze, heart pounding hard, my eyes on her stunning profile. Her eyes were closed, and her lips were parted. I released my breath on a hiss, forcing myself to stay where I was.
When she realized I wasn’t moving, her eyes fluttered open, and she quickly lifted her head. “I’m sorry,” she whispered.
“It’s okay,” I told her. “It’s okay.” I wasn’t sure who I was trying to convince more, her or me. With shaking hands, I shoved her shirt up as far as I could, then lifted it up and over her head and pushed it down her arms until it hit the bars.
Luna slowly lowered her head back to rest against me. This time, I was expecting it, and I was less reactive.
However, the sound I made was raw and desperate as I looked down at her breasts with their hard nipples jutting out over the soft curve of her stomach. From this angle, I couldn’t see her pussy. But that was good, because I didn’t think I'd be able to control myself if I could.
I touched her the way I always did, as if her body was mine to do with as I wished, running my hands up over her soft belly to heft the weight of her breasts in my hands, playing with her nipples with my thumbs.
“Tristan, I want to touch you.”
My blood turned to ice at her words, and I shook my head, unable to speak. My hands tightened on her breasts.
“Please. Untie my hands. Let me touch you.”
“I can’t,” I managed to get out past the tightness in my throat.
Luna yanked her arms down, trying to force her wrists from the belt.
“Stop it,” I growled.
She did it again, harder this time. And again. And again. I could see the skin around her wrists turning red from the stiff leather.
“Stop it!” I wrapped my hands around her forearms, trying to hold her still.
“No,” she snarled. “Fucking untie me.” Even with me holding her arms, she managed to give them another good yank.
Panicked now that she was going to hurt herself, I grabbed her jaw and turned her face until she was looking at me. As angry as I was with her, I couldn’t keep the strain from my voice when I asked, “Why are you doing this to yourself?”
She stared up at me defiantly and wet her lips with her tongue, making them glisten.
A low growl rumbled in my chest as I followed the movement. Luna's eyes flashed with defiance. Lowering my head, I took her mouth with mine, nipping at her full bottom lip until she opened for me and let me in.
The anger in her kiss was palpable, and I gripped her jaw so she couldn't pull away. My overwhelming need for her simmered just below the surface, threatening to boil over at any moment.
"You want to touch me, Luna?" I asked, my voice a low, dangerous rumble in her ear. "You want to feel my skin against yours? To know me, as I know you?" She didn't answer, her eyes flashing fire.
