Chapter 49

Forty-Nine

I'm restless. Hilda won't let me near the cards again, and despite being cleared, the guys won't let me perform right now. I feel annoyed, and I walk around the cirque in search of a purpose, anything to keep my mind from being consumed by my constant worry and fear. Even now, the hair on the back of my neck rises as if I'm being watched, leaving goose bumps across my skin. I speed up my steps and glance over my shoulder, reminding myself I'm safe here. Night may be falling, but my family is here.

A shadow darts between tents, following me, and my eyes widen. Heart pumping with adrenaline, I quicken my steps, moving between two more tents to make sure what I saw was real, but then I see the shadow again.

I search the area, refusing to hide. I'll lead him into a trap instead. My eyes land on the equipment tent, and I rush over, ducking inside and dousing the lantern as I pick up a hammer and wait with bated breath. I put my back against the curtain near the entrance, my feet on a box so no one can't see me under it. My eyes widen as I try to make out every detail in the dark, my hands shaking slightly as I hold the hammer aloft, ready to attack.

From one breath to the next, I try to slow my racing heart and loud breathing, and then the ten flaps move, bowing inward and admitting someone. With a yell, I dive at them, swinging the hammer, only for it to be caught midair by a strong hand, holding my arm high above me while the other grips my throat. It cuts off my yell and squeezes. It takes a moment for my eyes to adjust, but when they do, I swear they bug out of my head.

"Diamond?" I whisper, staring into his familiar eyes.

"I caught you, Queen. The hunt is over. Now what shall I do with you?" He backs me into the tent as my fear morphs to confusion and then lust at the darkness I see in his gaze. "I was going to let you go, but then you ran. Don't you know you should never run from predators, Ember? It makes us want to chase. It makes us hungry, and in the dark, all alone, you are too tempting to pass up."

The backs of my knees hit the equipment table, and it jitters from the force, knocking items to the floor, but neither of us spare them a look. I'm trapped in his dark, hungry gaze, my body controlled by his. My heart races in anticipation, and my thighs clench together in want. All this time, he has never crossed the line, but he will tonight.

He's done holding back, and I can't fucking wait.

Gripping tighter, he forces my fingers to spasm, and I drop the hammer into his waiting hand. He slides his long fingers languidly across it, watching me before pressing the hard edge of it against my cheek and dragging it down my throat, pausing over my pounding heart. "You were going to use this on me?"

I nod. Something about his silky, dark voice steals my own. The air fills with promise and violence, yet I can't seem to look away, barely able to blink, and my eyes burn from staring at him.

He tuts and lowers it before he circles my hardening nipples through my blouse with the hammer. "Maybe I should use it on you then. Fair is fair, don't you think, Ember?" he purrs as he drags it down, flipping it in his grip and pressing it against my crotch. Fear slides through me, but I don't back down.

"I've been behaving all this time, being good and not touching you, but I want what's mine. Do you understand?" My eyes widen, and he grips my chin so hard I whimper. "Words, Ember. Consent right now or walk away, because if you say yes, I won't stop no matter how much you beg. You must understand that."

"I—" I swallow hard, glancing down at his lips.

"Say yes or tell me to get out," he orders, his voice harsh. "If you say yes, you're mine, all of you, and I will do whatever I want with you. Last warning."

Dragging my eyes back up to his, I lick my lips with anticipation. "Yes. Yes, I'm yours."

I expected him to kiss me, but instead, he rips off my blouse, the cool air brushing my exposed chest and causing my nipples to tighten. He watches my chest heave with my heavy breathing until he finally leans down and captures a nipple between his teeth. His eyes meet mine as he slowly clamps down, observing my every reaction. Pain and pleasure mix until it becomes too much, and I cry out. He stops and waits for me to still, and with purposeful movements, he bites deeper, pushing me to the brink before he lets go. The blood rushes back to my nipple and makes it tingle as he turns his head and does the same to the other one. My moans fill the air, my eyes sliding shut as I shudder against him.

Gripping my wrists, he jerks my arms up and then behind me so my chest arches out and my eyes snap open. The ache in my shoulders mixes with the pleasure in my body and has me gasping.

"You keep your eyes on me the entire time. Don't shut them or I will force them open," he warns. "You will know who is fucking you, Ember. You will watch every depraved thing I'll do to you and know that you wanted this."

Keeping my hands pinned, he grabs some rope from the table and winds it around my wrists. It burns as I try to tug free to no avail, and then his hand slides across my chest, tweaking my sore nipples while his other one pulls the hammer away.

His smirk is brutal as he flips it in his hand. Confusion swirls with my lust as I wonder what he's going to do.

Holding the thick wooden handle of the hammer, he forces it between my thighs, and then his feet step on either side of mine, closing my legs so tightly that I grind into that handle to the point of pain. The thick, square head sticks out and presses against his cock as he leans down and bites my throat.

My cry fills the air, and I try to pull away, but I'm trapped between him and the table, my pussy rubbing against the wood. It hurts but also feels so good, especially when it presses against my clit, making me whimper.

He pulls his teeth away and licks before moving down and biting again. He repeats this over and over, marking every inch of my neck. His hands find my hips and yank them back and forth, forcing me to grind against the wood.

When his voice comes, it's muffled against my skin. "You're going to come like this, Ember," he says. "I'm going to make you. You're close already, no matter how much you don't want to accept it. I taste it on your skin and see the tremble in your limbs. Keep fighting though. I like it. The harder you fight, the harder you will fall."

Groaning, I roll my hips. It hurts so fucking good as I grind my clit into the wood through my pants. I rock into the pain, consumed by it, and when I splinter apart, I scream into the darkness.

His chuckle fills the air alongside my cry as he lifts his head, his smile crooked as he watches me pant and shake. When the pleasure finally abates, I slump with a whine, my pussy throbbing and aching from the pressure. His hand slides down my front as he steps back and extracts it from between my bruised thighs.

Throwing it over his shoulder, he runs his eyes hungrily down my body. "I'm just getting started, my love."

Before I have a chance to wonder what he means, he rolls me, his hand coming down on my back and pushing me over the table until I'm bent across it. My hands are tied at the base of my spine as he grips my pants and tugs them off. I can feel my wetness spread over my thighs and pussy, and when he kicks my legs open wide, I know he can see it.

His fingers slide through my mess, and a moment later, I hear him sucking them clean, the slurping noise making me shudder. "You taste divine, and look at you, all puffy and pink. Ripe for the taking."

Turning my head, I strain to see in the dark.

"And take I will," he continues. I hear shuffling, and then the thick head of his cock prods my entrance before he slams inside me. The force makes me scream, pain spasming through me as he buries himself as deep as he can. I'm wet, but it still hurts, and when he pulls out and thrusts back in, my eyes squeeze shut as my body tries to adjust to him. Just as I start to, he pulls from my channel. His hands grip my hips and then part my ass, and his wet cock presses against my hole there.

"Di—" I start to protest, but he pushes inside with a snarl, forcing his cock past my stinging muscles. The pain nearly makes me black out for a moment. I try to escape, to move away, but he holds me there as he roughly slams deeper into my ass with each thrust.

"Please, no, stop!" I beg, kicking back, tears squeezing from my eyes. It hurts so much, but like he promised, he doesn't stop.

He doesn't care.

I said yes to the beast, and he won't be chained again.

He offered me a way out, but I rejected it. Now I have to survive this.

It should scare me after everything I have been through in my past, but deep down, I know Diamond would never hurt me. Not really, not like Roger. He'll push my limits and make me feel things I have never felt, but he will never break my body. He'll use it and worship it, and the fucked-up part of me loves that.

I get wetter as I beg him to stop, the word "no" turning to "yes." The idea of him taking me against my will makes me so slick it's embarrassing.

He fucks my ass hard and fast, the force slamming me into the table until it creaks and groans, my nipples dragging across the abrasive wood as I'm yanked back and forth.

"Look at you, split open for me. This tight little ass is all mine. You're crying, but your pussy is dripping for me. You like it, don't you, Ember? Like me claiming this pretty ass, fucking you hard and fast like an animal? Even when you say no, you beg me for more."

Whimpering, I bite down on my lip until I taste blood. He tilts my hips and forces himself so deep into my ass, I know I will hurt for days, and then something hard presses against my pussy entrance. My eyes widen, and my body freezes, but he doesn't care. He rubs it over my pussy, the hard edge hitting my clit.

"I want you filled to the brim. I want every inch of you claimed," he purrs as the hard edge presses against my entrance again and he pushes it inside me. My eyes widen as I try to glance back, but I can't see him. He forces it deeper, the stretch between that and his cock taking me to the edge of too much and yet not enough. This time, he slowly pulls it from me and works it back in, loosening me up as his hips rock, his cock swelling inside my ass.

"That's it. Take it deeper. Let me watch you come apart like this. Let me do every dark and depraved thing to you," he growls, and when he pushes the thing all the way inside me, I feel something thick at my entrance.

The hammer.

He's fucking me with the hammer.

I revolt a little, but when he starts to move, I lose myself in the pain and pleasure, and all morality and protests disappear.

His thrusts are brutal, bordering on too much. It hurts but it also feels so damn good, forcing me higher even as I cry out, words falling from my lips that only seem to spur him on.

"Please, no, yes, stop, more."

I can't make up my mind, but it doesn't matter. I'm not in control here, and he won't stop until he gets what he wants.

Leaning over me, he bites my neck once more, and my scream rips through the air as it sends me over the edge, making me come. My pussy clenches on the handle, my ass on his cock, and with a groan against my skin, he pumps into me before swelling inside me and finally spilling, filling my ass with hot ropes of cum.

Shaking and still riding the high, I writhe below him, my eyes crossing from the pleasure until it finally ebbs away and I slump.

His teeth pull from my neck, and he kisses the bite better. "You're perfect," he praises. He lies on my back for a moment, so I can feel his pounding heart, before he straightens and pulls from my ass. I wince, and when he starts to pull on the handle, I cry out.

"Shh, almost over, my love. You did so well," he murmurs as he pulls it free, and when I'm empty again, I gasp.

After undoing my hands, he turns me and lets the table hold me up since my legs are jelly. I must be a mess, with bruised lips, tears dripping down my face, and marks all over my neck, but he looks at me like I'm the most beautiful, precious thing he has ever seen.

He leans down and kisses me softly. "Perfect," he says before leaning back.

I'm unable to speak. I just stare.

Lifting the hammer between us, he arches his brow as I eye the dripping, glistening wood. "Clean up your mess, Ember," he orders, sliding one hand into my hair, the other pressing the wood to my lips.

I open my mouth, and he slides it in. I lick and suck on the wood as he watches. I do as I'm told, cleaning off my cum, and when he pulls it from my mouth, he grins proudly at me.

He pets my hair as I pant. "Good girl," he praises, tossing the hammer away as he leans down and scoops me into his arms, which I'm thankful for since I still can't feel mine. "Now, let's get you to bed."

Snuggling against him, I drape my arms around his shoulders, my tear-stained face pressing against his chest even as a smile curves my lips.

I survived Diamond's darkness.

I survived the devil of the cirque, and I fucking loved it.