10. The Shadow

THE SHADOW

N aughty girl. Bad, bad Ava. She wasn’t heeding any of my warnings.

She just kept investigating Liath’s disappearance. Kept pushing. Kept poking around in places that she shouldn’t poke.

I would have to do something about it.

She’d brushed off my threats so far.

I had to show her I was serious. I had to put the fear of the devil in her. Or at least, the fear of me .

Didn’t she know she was baiting the monster?

Or perhaps she didn’t care.

My girl had a dark side to her. A dark side that she kept even from her best friend.

A twisted shadow side that only I could see.

That only I could understand.

I could see it in the way she rolled the lily stem in her fingers as she lay in the middle of her large bed in just panties and a thin t-shirt, the dim glow of the moonlight that streamed in through her open curtains caressing all her curves.

She caressed the petals against the top of her breasts, her thighs pressing together, most of her pillows kicked off the side.

She kept glancing over to the window, to the ivy-covered balcony and the shivering blue-green needles of the ancient Scots Pine that stood alongside the wall.

She was looking for me.

Waiting for me.

That’s why she kept her curtains open.

She wanted me to come.

She wanted me to see her all laid out and needy.

Oh, pretty girl. I can already see you.

My hot breath swirled around my cheeks as I pressed my face to the crack in her closet, my nostrils filling with the clean scent of her powdery laundry detergent from her hanging clothes, brushing my back like fingers.

I caught every movement of hers, every change in her breathing. The way her lashes fluttered closed.

And the delicious way her nipples poked through the thin material.

My cock hardened and my mouth watered.

God, how I wanted to wrap my mouth around those darker circles, wet the material with my saliva as I sucked, feel those sensitive points stiffen to pebbles against my swirling tongue.

She brushed the lily petals down her body, over those soft full breasts, over the dip of her waist and the curve of her hips .

Her back arched as she drew up her knees and let her thighs drop apart.

Fuck. I had the most glorious view of her soft mound, her panties already damp, her soft, pale inner thighs open and trembling just like that lily, soft white drawing into a pink center.

She traced the petals of my lily up her thigh.

Goosebumps raced across her skin and she let out a soft moan as those lucky petals brushed over her pussy.

Need surged through me. I wanted to chase those goosebumps with my tongue.

He had claimed her first.

Even though he was now dead, I had to keep to my promise.

I’d failed him before. I could not fail him in this.

But…

Fuck. Ava just kept rubbing the lily over her skin, over her breasts and her pussy. Her moans getting louder. Her panties growing darker as she soaked herself.

She might not love me, not the way I loved her.

But she wanted me.

She needed me.

She was using my gift to get off, for God’s sake. She couldn’t beg any louder for me.

My self-control was fraying. My determination to keep my promise to him wavering.

Ava plunged her free hand into her panties as she rubbed the lily over her nipples.

“Fuck, yes.” Her soft moaning hit me in the gut with another punch of need .

The sound of her fingers pushing into her wetness was nearly my undoing.

I almost leaped from the closet then and there.

But guilt wrapped like iron chains around my chest, squeezing my heart.

No. I had to stay back. I had to hold back.

My job was to watch her.

To prevent her from investigating. From running headfirst into a danger so dark and twisted that she might never crawl out of it.

“You feel so good,” she moaned. For me.

To me.

I imagined spreading open her wet lips and plunging into her, filling her, making wet noises as I thrust in and out.

My cock surged with so much blood it pressed painfully against my zipper, demanding release, demanding I find my satisfaction in her wet, willing pussy.

My hands tightened to fists as I held myself back.

This was not why I had come here.

I had to stay focused.

Bigger picture.

But fuck, was Ava making it hard for me.

Her heels dug into the mattress as her hand moved hard against her bucking hips. “Oh God, I’m going to come.”

Yes, Ava. Come for me.

Her back arched off the bed. Her cry cut through the thick silence of the mansion, through my heart beating loud in my ears.

She sagged to the mattress as her body relaxed. Her lashes were already closing as she slipped her hand out of her panties and let it flop to the side, her fingers glistening with her juices.

I wanted to taste those fingers. To suck the sweetness off them.

But not yet.

I ran my fingers back and forth along the rough fibers of the roll of rope hooked at my belt like a meditation.

Soon.

She was almost asleep.

I couldn’t help but imagine how pretty her pale skin would look when it was restrained and reddened from my rope.

Her breathing has steadied, her lashes closed.

But I forced myself to count out ten minutes.

Ten torturous minutes.

Then I pushed out from the closet, the surge in anticipation and excitement threatening to take over.

For a moment I stood over her, watching her sleep.

She looked so peaceful that I considered leaving her.

But then I remembered how she defied me so blatantly, continuing to poke around Liath’s room after I left her there.

She needed something more than a warning.

She needed to be taught a lesson.

She needed to be scared, really scared.

And tonight, her adopted mother and her pesky bodyguards were out of the mansion, leaving her all alone.

Leaving her all mine.

This was my opportunity.

My fingers formed a double overhand knot with a loop in the rope. I kneeled over her hips, holding her down on the bed.

She was already stirring at the shift of weight on the mattress and my weight on her.

But I moved faster.

I wrapped the rope around Ava’s wrists, securing them firmly. With a swift motion, I tied the other end to the headboard, pulling the knot tight. The rope held fast, ensuring she couldn’t easily escape.

Her voice was a mumble. “What the…?”

I wrapped my hand around her throat. Firmly but not enough to hurt.

That got her attention.

Her eyes flicked open and locked with mine. “ You ! Get off me.”

She yanked at her hands but the knot held firmly. Just like I knew it would.

She scowled at me. “Let me go.”

I almost laughed.

Only she would face me with defiance rather than fear.

Although I did see fear hidden behind her narrowed eyes and chased by the goosebumps scattering across her skin.

She began to fight me, tugging at her wrists and trying to knee me in the back.

But I was positioned too well over her, my weight pinning down her hips.

I hooked my calves back over her thighs, taking away her ability to kick.

But she didn’t give up. No, my girl was stubborn and she was a fighter.

She screamed as she tried to buck me off with her hips .

Images of having her naked like this invaded my mind. Images of her fighting me while I pinned her down and fucked her.

Blood pooled into my cock again and I repressed a noise of frustration.

This was not the time to be getting turned on.

Although, with Ava, that seemed like an impossible task.

She gasped and glanced down our bodies toward where our hips met. Of course, she could feel my cock growing hard against her.

Her reaction spoke volumes.

She shivered under my thighs.

Ava wanted this.

She wanted me.

She liked the thrill of fear with her pleasure. She needed a dose of darkness with her desire.

Even as she feared me, she wanted me.

And I was only too happy to oblige.

One day, I’d show her how dark and twisted her little mind was, how depraved her body was, but not today. Not tonight.

Tonight, I was here to make sure she understood.

“Stop fighting me,” I demanded, grinding down onto her hips.

She continued to fight, scowling and spitting threats at me that just bounced off me like raindrops.

I repressed a smile.

My stubborn little doll. I’m going to enjoy breaking you.

This time she started screaming. Probably hoping that one of the staff all tucked away in the detached servants’ quarters down the back of the property might hear her .

“You’re just wearing your voice out,” I said in a bored voice, enjoying the feel of her writhing under me. “Your staff are taking a nice long nap.”

I let the P in nap pop on my lips.

She froze, the whites showing around her lovely eyes, her voice breathless. “You… you killed them?”

I chuckled. How poorly my girl thought of me. I mean, I could have killed them. Easily.

But that would have left bodies. And questions. Cops running around her mansion and my playground. These were all additional nuisances that really weren’t worth the effort.

No, I didn’t kill them. Just drugged their coffee.

But I didn’t deny it to her.

Maybe it was better if she thought I did. Maybe she’d actually fucking listen to me.

“So what if I did?” I asked.

A sadness flashed over her eyes before she tucked it away, her delicate throat bobbing under my palm. “Are you going to kill… me?”

“That depends on you.” I squeezed her throat just to make a point, to let her know how easily I could snap her neck if she defied me.

She swallowed, her throat bobbing against my palm. “W-what do you want?”

Finally, my doll was ready to listen to me.

I loosened my hand from her throat and traced down her neck and her collarbone, reveling in the softness of her skin. “You are going to do exactly what I say.”

She flinched at my touch even as she shivered. “W-what do you want from me? ”

My fingers traced over the swell of the top of her breasts and she sucked in a breath.

Fuck. Those breasts begged me to cup them, to run my fingers over those nipples, now poking out of her thin t-shirt.

But I stopped myself. Now was not the time to get carried away.

I jerked my hand away, flexing my fist because it ached to stop touching her. “You are going to stop investigating Liath’s disappearance.”

Surprise crossed her features before defiance hardened her jaw. “No.”

For a moment, I just stared at her.

Lying underneath me and tied to the bed.

What the fuck? She was in no position to deny me anything.

The surge of frustration rushed through me, mixing with my burning need, this potent cocktail going straight to my dick.

My erection was painful, the pressure behind my zipper making me dizzy.

I regripped her throat and leaned forward, letting some of my weight press around her throat. “You will do exactly what I tell you.”

As I restricted her breathing, just a little, just to make a point, that she was mine to control, her pupils dilated, her nipples hardened.

My cock responded by surging with blood as need coursed through my veins.

Oh, Ava, how I’d love to make you come while I choked you .

You’d fucking love it, too.

None of this vanilla shite that your ex was into. There would be no missionary position for a pathetic forty seconds, then roll over with us.

I’d fill you so full of fear and my cum that you’d never feel empty again.

She had the nerve to laugh. “You don’t scare me.”

I repressed a scowl. “I should.”

She shook her head, only a slight movement because my hand was restricting her. “You’re not going to hurt me.”

Annoyance bled through my need.

Stubborn, defiant, silly girl.

How I wanted to throw her over my knee and smack her ass until it turned as red as her cheeks.

I let go of her neck, reveling in the pretty way she gulped in air.

I reached for my holster. For my other surprise. My… backup plan.

This would scare her. Make her see how serious I was.

This would break her.

Have her crying and begging, have her putty in my hand.

I pulled out my knife and held it up to her face, letting the blade catch the moonlight streaming in through her open curtains.

“Are you sure about that?”

She began to tremble, her body shaking so delicately, her soft breasts shaking in her thin t-shirt as she gasped. She looked so pretty with those glossy pupils blown out with fear.

Before I could stop myself, I traced the flat of the blade against her neck like I was licking her with the cool metal .

The shudder that shook her body vibrated under my thighs and against my cock.

Fuck. Need swelled inside me, clouding my brain.

I traced the blade over the swell of her breast and dragged the tip of the knife lightly over her nipples.

It hardened so pretty for me.

I traced the blade over the other nipple. That, too, tightened into a tiny point.

Her back arched and she bit her lip, muffling a moan.

Fuck. She was too goddamn sexy. I could barely concentrate on what I was here to do.

I had to refocus. To get back to intimidating her. Scaring her into safety.

But I just couldn’t help myself.

I grabbed the hem of her shirt and lashed out with my knife, cutting up her t-shirt.

It fell apart, one side of her shirt falling off one breast to her side.

I pushed the other half of the shirt off her other side, revealing both her pale breasts, her perfect rosy nipples.

She gasped and her breasts shook as she let out a shaky breath.

Fuck yes.

My girl was perfect.

I traced the knife over her breasts, alternating between the borderline painful scratch of the tip, the teasing blunt knife edge, and the cool flat. “You have been such a bad girl. So disobedient.”

“No.” She let out a moan as she writhed under me.

I wasn’t touching her. My knife was. So I wasn’t technically breaking my promise .

But deep down I knew it was a lie. A thin veil holding me back from taking what I wanted.

Her.

“No. Stop.” She begged. Even as her hips bucked up, begging for me.

My girl was begging for me.

Even as she whispered no, her body screamed, Yes. More.

Who was I to say no to her body’s sweet, sweet request?

I traced the knife down her stomach and along the gorgeous curve of her hips. Her skin pebbled as I traced the knife across her sensitive skin. “I told you not to investigate and what did you do?”

She swallowed gasps and moans, each sound slowly sending me insane.

I shifted myself down her thighs so that I could see her panties, the front triangle now dark with wetness.

My girl was soaked.

The sight unleashed something in me. My dick ached to be freed from my pants.

Damn my promise.

Damn my intentions.

Screw my plan.

I slipped the edge of the knife under her panties on her hip.

Her eyes widened, her body lurching.

I placed my other hand flat on her stomach, holding her down. “Don’t move a muscle. I wouldn’t want to cut you. At least… not yet.”

She froze.

Finally. My pretty little doll was finally doing what she was told .

I grinned, need surging through me.

Suddenly I didn’t care that Ava wasn’t mine first.

Let the Devil curse me. My soul was already damned.

I wanted her.

I would take her.