Page 68 of Villainous Rise

Sober. Present. I repeated the mantra in my head, fighting against the raging tide of my own lust. I wouldn’t fuck her. I wouldn’t use my mouth or my hands on her pussy tonight. I’d drawn the line, and I would enforce it, even if it killed me.

But I was going to watch.

Annie’s head fell back against the mattress and a moan spilled from her lips as she pumped her fingers in and out of her beautiful, tight cunt. Her thumb circled her clit frantically.

The wet, slick sounds of her masturbating right in front of my face—it was the most exquisite torture I had ever endured.

“Cipher,” she sobbed, her hips bucking upward. Her thighs trembled violently under my grip. She was right on the fucking edge, her body chasing the release.

She just needed one final push.

I pressed my mouth to her inner thigh and bit down. My teeth sank into her flesh, delivering a sharp, precise spike of pain right through the haze of her pleasure.

Annie screamed my name, her body bowing off the bed as the orgasm ripped through her. I could fucking see how her inner muscles clamped down hard around her fingers. I held her down by the thigh, my teeth still grazing her skin, absorbing the aftershocks of her climax as she shattered for me.

Annie’s chest heaved, her breath tearing through the quiet room in ragged, broken gasps. I stayed on my knees between her spread legs, my jaw aching from the force of my own restraint, my cock a hardened rod of pure agony.

She opened her eyes. The dilated, blown-out blue of her irises locked onto mine. The defiance was still there, burning bright and hot beneath the heavy haze of her climax.

Slowly, she pulled her fingers free from her pussy. She didn’t say a word. She just extended her hand, offering those two drenched fingers to me.

I couldn’t have stopped myself even if my life depended on it.

I leaned forward and took her fingers into my mouth.

The taste of her hit my system, a pure, uncut narcotic flooding my veins. It was salt and heat and the dark, musky sweetness that belonged exclusively to Annie. I sucked her fingers deep, my tongue swirling around the slick digits, catching every drop of her essence. My eyes drifted shut as the flavor coated my tongue. Three fucking months. Three months of starving, of convincing myself I could survive on the memory of this taste alone.

I was wrong. I was a goddamn addict, and this was the only fix that mattered. The rush of it scrambled my tactical mind, leaving nothing but raw, primal hunger.

My teeth scraped gently against her knuckles as I drew her fingers out, only to pull them right back in. I could eat her all day. Every day. I could bury my face between her thighs and drown in her wetness. The urge to shove her back against the mattress, tear that black lace to shreds, and bury my tongue deep in her cunt was a physical pressure demanding release. I wanted to pry her legs wider and taste her right from the source.

I wanted to consume her. Claim her. Mark her so deeply she would never wash me off.

My hand tightened on her thigh, my thumb brushing the angry red mark my teeth had just left behind. The feral, violent monster inside me raged against the cage of my control. Take it, it demanded. She’s right here. She’s offering.

I dragged her fingers from my mouth with a wet pop.

If I stayed between her legs for one more second, I was going to go fucking mad. I was going to fuck her senseless, drunk or not, and ruin the meticulous foundation I was trying to rebuild.

I forced myself to stand.

Annie let her hand fall to the mattress, her chest still rising and falling erratically.

“I have to go,” I rasped. “Before I do exactly what I promised I wouldn’t.”

“You’re leaving?” She stared up at me, her lips parted, her eyes dark with the same agonizing need clawing at my insides.

“I have to.” I clenched my fists at my sides. “Because if I stay, I’ll fuck you. And tomorrow you’ll hate me more.”

I turned away before I could change my mind. Before the monster won. It was going to fucking kill me to leave her tonight. But I needed her to choose me. Really choose me.

And that couldn’t happen tonight.

I reached for my mask where it had fallen to the floor, my fingers still trembling with the need to touch her.

“Wait. Cipher, please.”

I turned slowly.