Chapter 29

There is no redemption for evil. No mercy for the unholy. But as much as I want to murder Gemini Thorn for what he did to us, what he did to her , I made a promise to stand down. This is Libra's brother's fight now.

We face each other on the bed. Her hands are tucked in mine. She's so fucking beautiful I could cry. The blue-green in her eyes sparkles under the sunlight streaming through the windows. Outside, I can hear the ravens squawking, a sound that will always unnerve me but not quite as bad as it used to. They've backed off ever since we called a truce with Nocturnus.

It's a perfect morning. The first of many where we aren't waking up in fear or anger. I caress her cheek, allowing myself to touch her gently. Another first . She's soft and smooth. It heals me.

"Mordecai, how did you end up working in the poison fields?"

Even the way she says my name stirs something deep and primal in me. A need to posses and claim her over and over again. Like her mouth was made to speak only for me.

I tug on her waist, pulling her in closer so I can get a better whiff of her sweet scent. "We were orphans. In Wickford Hollow. You're given two choices when you turn eighteen—fend for yourself in the streets or go work in the fields. But either way, you have to leave the orphanage. There are no rooms for adults there."

A flicker of sadness transforms her gaze. "I'm sorry."

I shrug. We stopped feeling sorry for ourselves a long time ago. "It's not your fault. You didn't ask to be born into your world any more than I was asked to be born into mine. It's just how the cards are dealt sometimes. I like to think I'll get a do over in my next life. The ravens will make it up to me."

She looks down at my chest, her lips quivering. "Well, then I'll probably end up a lonely forest witch in the next life after all the shit I've done."

I laugh at that. Fuck, it feels good to laugh . "Ah, my little drama queen. There is no life in which you will ever be lonely again. I will hunt you down and claim you in every incarnation."

Her eyelids flutter as she looks back up at me. "I… I think I love you, Mordecai. I've never said that to anyone before. Not in this way."

I cup her face in my hands and press a long lingering kiss to her lips. "I love you so fucking much, Lib. You lit a fire in me that I never knew could burn so fucking hot." I kiss her neck, rubbing the tip of my nose across her skin as I make my way down to her shoulders.

She makes a cute little noise that sounds like a sigh mixed with a whimper. "No one treats me the way the three of you do. You see me, challenge me, and make me feel worthy of love. I've never felt that before. There's this warm tingling in my belly every time I look at each of you."

I'm obsessed with this woman. Utterly and completely fucking obsessed. "Just in your belly?" I tease.

Her cheeks redden. Did I just make Libra Thorn blush?

She slides her hand down my torso, taking her time as she fingers every muscle in my abdomen. "You know what you fucking do to me, Mordecai. The tingling is everywhere ."

My cock springs to life, tenting my sweatpants. I tug her even closer so that her hips are pressed against mine. So that she can feel how fucking hard I am for her . "Baby girl," I breathe out. "Touch me… Please ."

Her breath quickens when she dips her fingers inside my waistband. The heat between my thighs becomes an inferno as I feel her palm against my shaft. She wraps her fingers around it and squeezes. "This belongs to me."

A few drops of pre cum leak out as I sway my hips toward her. "Always. I want you to mark me, baby girl. Carve your name into me the way you did to Raithe and Fabien."

She lets out a little whimper as my cock grows even harder in her delicate hand. "I was afraid to… I didn't think you wanted that."

I take her bottom lip between my teeth and give it a soft nip. "I want it, Lib. All of it. Claim me. Own me . Mark my flesh so the whole world knows I belong to you."

She nods and kisses me on the neck. "Lay back."

A spasm rips through my core as I do as she says. I let her take control, basking in the glow of her dominance as she slides my sweatpants down and off. My cock stands at attention, swollen and slick with sweat.

I give the tip a light pinch, milking more of that thick pre cum out. She lets me paint her lips with it. I smear it in good, obsessed with the way it fucking glistens on her.

She laps it up with her tongue. "I love the way you taste."

This sends another ripple of tingles through me. "I want to bleed and cum for you. Please. Fucking hurt me ."

Her eyes light up. She fists me possessively. "Stay hard for me."

I lick my lips as I salivate for what she's about to inflict on me. "That's never going to be a problem with you, little freak."

She reaches past me and opens the top drawer of the nightstand. The sun glints off the shiny metal of the knife as she lifts it out.

Fuck. I'm so irrationally turned on right now. I grab my balls and squeeze them as my blood pumps faster. "Mmm, fuck."

She reaches in again and pulls out a vial of nightshade. She drinks half of it before holding it to my lips. "Share this sacrament with me."

My belly flutters as I watch the pupils of her eyes dilate inside a glowing ring of light. "You're my toxin, Lib. I'll do whatever the fuck you tell me to." I part my lips and let her pour the bitter liquid down my throat.

I draw in a sharp breath as it burns my insides. But then the euphoria sets in—a high that sends chills across my skin, tingling every crevice of my body. And all I want to do is drown in her essence. I want to bathe in her cum and saliva and blood.

I wrap my hand around her slender throat, knowing that I can crush it if I want to. I'm aroused by the power I hold. "For every cut that you make, I'm going to squeeze harder. I want you breathless and dizzy by the time you finish marking me. And then I'm going to make you cum so fucking hard, you won't remember where you are."

She pulls her tank top down to her waist, showing off her swollen nipples and the silver rings that adorn them. I sit up and roll my tongue over each one. "Cut me, baby girl." I scoot back against the headboard and pull her in between my legs so I can keep my hand around her throat.

She gasps. "Too tight…"

I smirk and put the knife in her hand. "Better hurry then." There's something so raw and primal about letting her mutilate me while she can barely breathe. She could black out at any moment with a blade on my dick. It's a fucking rush unlike any other.

Her nipples pebble under my command. She licks her lips and grabs my cock. I almost cum at the first incision. I have to clench my ass cheeks together just to keep from losing control. She drags the tip of the knife across my shaft, thrusting it in deep as she carves an L.

"Fuck," I rasp. The burn feels so fucking good. I tighten my grip on her throat and she almost gags. "That's my baby girl. Claim what's fucking yours."

Another spasm almost shatters me as she continues etching her beautiful name into my flesh. I cup my balls with my free hand, massaging them between my fingers to counteract the pain. "Mmm, I want to crawl inside you and fucking eat my way out." I lean my head against the wall and close my eyes as I break out into a cold sweat. My body's in shock and the toxin from the nightshade has all my senses heightened.

"Mordecai…" Her voice is distant, fading.

I look down to see her cheeks bright red. She finishes carving the A and lets out a whimper. The knife falls from her hands and onto the bed. I loosen my grip on her neck for ten seconds so I can pull her on top of me. "That's my girl. Now finish claiming me."

Her eyes widen as I line up my bloody cock to her entrance. I don't care that my wounds are fresh and raw. I want to fuck her right fucking now. " Your pussy is my fucking medicine ."

"Oh, fuck," she rasps as she slides down my cock.

I suck in a deep breath as the stinging reverberates through every inch of me. "Ride me like a fucking animal."

She rocks back and forth, twisting and grinding against me as moans rumble from her chest. I press my thumb against her clit and rub in circles, coaxing her release. I want her cum to seep into my wounds.

I tighten my grip around her throat again, forcing her to take shallower breaths. "The sooner you cum, the sooner I'll let you breathe again."

She arches her back and bucks wildly against me. A deep rosy flush sweeps across her neck and breasts. A fresh sheen of sweat glistens over every inch of her as she clenches her pussy around my cock like it's her only salvation.

Her eyelids flutter. "I… Everything is sparkling," she murmurs.

All the blood in my cock rushes forward. I'm so fucking close. "That's because you're about to black out, baby girl. Cum for me before I kill you."

"Uhhh," she whimpers. Her faint pulse suddenly ticks up. She jerks her hips back and forth.

Fuck. "Thatta girl. Yeah… just like that."

She lets out a gurgled cry just as her juices gush out, drenching my cock like a waterfall. I grunt and thrust deep inside her, allowing my release to finally meet hers.

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

A roar erupts from deep within my chest as my cock constricts and then unleashes. It feels like an explosion. Like a beautiful fucking massacre of cum and blood and sweat. I let go of her throat as she orgasms.

I watch, obsessed, as she gasps for air, seeing how her body rides me harder with every ounce of oxygen that returns to her lungs. Knowing that the struggle to breathe is only making her cum harder.

"Mordecai," she cries out, her voice raspy. "Fuck!" She rolls her hips as she grinds her pussy against me.

"Yes, baby. Take what's yours. Take all of me." I bite down on her shoulder, drawing blood. She tastes like heaven.

Neither of us attempt to move apart. I throb inside her as we catch our breaths, our twisted pleasure cementing us together as if we are one entity.

I kiss her ear, my breath hot and heavy. "Your life belongs to me, my love. No one gets to do that to you but me. No one ."

Raithe and Fabien have their own deviant games. But this one is mine.

She nods and looks back at me with so much longing, I'm tempted to crush her again. And she'll let me because deep down she knows I will never go too far.

I brush my fingertips against the marks on her throat. "The scars we give each other are sacred. You look so pretty with them."

Her throat bobs as she swallows. "I like the way you hurt me. Why does the pain feel so good?"

"Because it cannot tell a lie. It's real and raw and it makes you feel alive." I give her nipple a hard pinch.

She sucks in a sharp breath. "Next time, I want you to make me black out when I cum."

Fuck, this woman is perfect. I push her hair to the side so I can scrape my grill across her jaw. "We can work up to that… Would you like it if I fucked you after you pass out? Hmm? You'll wake up with my dick inside you."

"Mordecai… fucking hell. What have you done to me?" She gently rocks her hips as my cock springs back to life inside her.

"I've made you mine. This is what it feels like to be owned by me. And I know you fucking love it." I flip her onto her back and thrust inside her as far as I can go. I fuck her like an animal, hard and unrelenting. Until we're so raw and broken and tired that all we can do is collapse into each other's arms.