28

Asher

Present

“Asher.”

Blair lets out a sharp gasp, her eyes widening as I step inside. Her family stands frozen in the hallway, eyes wide with shock, with another guy—a tall, preppy-looking douchebag with the unmistakable air of privilege—who must be Wes.

Wes recovers first, opening his mouth as if to protest, but I take a slow step forward. He pales, stumbling back, his bravado deflating on sight.

My gaze shifts between her parents and him, a silent challenge, daring any of them to make a move. Her mom’s face is frozen in horror, as if the sight of me standing in her pristine hallway is like a stain she can’t scrub out.

Her father’s jaw tightens, a twitch of anger in his gaze. “Who the hell do you think you are?” he spits.

Grinning, I duck through the open doorway over and pull a kitchen knife from the counter, running my thumb along the blade’s edge as I turn back to them. The cold metallic hum fills the silence, and her father’s face twists. I let my gaze roam around the room, taking in the spotless walls, the meticulously arranged furniture, the beige sterility of it all.

“So, this is what your house looks like,” I say to Blair, my voice low and mocking. “I was never allowed here, remember? You always came to my grandma’s apartment. Were you worried I’d get my dirty fucking fingers all over your perfect, spotless little life?”

Blair stands tense, her breath catching as I lean in and my thumb brushes over her cherry-pink lips. She trembles, looking up at me with a mix of fear and something else—something wilder.

“No,” she whispers, shaking her head. “That wasn’t it at all. I never judged you, Asher. I never thought you were less than me.”

I laugh harshly. “More fucking lies.”

“Don’t kill them,” she begs, her voice breaking. “It’s not worth it. Please, Asher, don’t throw your life away for them.”

“I’m not here to kill them.” I glance over her family with cold disdain. “But you breathe a word of this to anyone, and I’ll make sure you pay with your lives.”

I snatch their phones from the table and fling them across the room.

“Blair, bring me a roll of duct tape,” I order. “One wrong move, and blood is going to paint these nice clean walls.”

Blair nods shakily, crossing the room and opening a drawer. She pulls out a roll of tape, her eyes wide, still processing the reality of what’s happening. I nod toward her parents.

“Tie up their hands and lock them in the basement.”

Her hands tremble, but she does as I say. The ripping sound of tape fills the room as she wraps it around their wrists. I watch as she forces herself to stay calm, a sheen of sweat glistening on her forehead. She opens the basement door, and her parents shuffle down the steps, silent with terror.

Wes watches with a mixture of shock and fury. “Jesus, Blair, you’re just going along with this psycho? I thought you were going to be—”

“Shut the fuck up,” I snap, my gaze locking onto him, holding out the knife. I nod at Blair. “Tie him up, too.”

Wes flinches as Blair approaches, and he starts to backpedal. “Look, you can have her, alright? I don’t want her. I thought she was going to behave. This is not what I fucking signed up for.”

Blair hesitates, her eyes darkening with anger, and then she yanks a strip of tape from the roll, grabbing his wrists and forcing them together.

I walk toward them and reach down to grab Blair’s skirt, ripping a portion of it. I ignore her gasp, grinning as I bring the strip of fabric to Wes’s mouth and stuff it inside. His protests come out as muffled, furious grunts.

I grin, leaning in close, letting Wes feel the weight of my presence. “Have you fucked him yet, Blair?” I ask, my voice mocking.

She shakes her head, and I can feel her trembling as my gaze shifts back to her.

I move toward her, my lips brushing her cheek, trailing to her ear. “I know you like to show off. I learned that last night. How about we give him a little show before I decide whether or not to slit his throat?”

Blair’s eyes flicker with dark heat. Her face is smeared with mascara and dirt. She’s never looked so beautiful.

I push my thumb between her lips, feeling the soft wet warmth of her tongue. Heat pulses through me. My cock hardens. How nice it’d feel to rip off her skirt and fuck her pretty little pussy in front of her the man she’s been promised to.

Blair moans like she can’t hold it back even if she wanted to. “Yes,” she whimpers. “I need it.”

I get to fuck Blair one last time. She gets to serve a big fat fuck you to this man she’s been practically sold off to.

I free the length of my cock from my pants, and push Blair to her knees. She takes it in her mouth, and I hold her head steady as I thrust into her. She gasps and sputters around me as heat pools deep inside me.

“You betrayed me, Blair, but you’re still so good at pleasing me.” I grip her jaw and glance over at Wes, grinning darkly. “Your future wife’s lips feel so fucking good around my cock.”

Wes lets out a muffled scream, but I ignore him, the anger and desire and fury spiraling together in a dark, twisted knot.

The pleasure rumbles in my throat as Blair’s cheeks hollow, taking every inch of me like she was born to do it.

Suddenly, Wes jerks his arms, breaking free of the tape. He lunges, and I react instantly, swinging the knife in an arc, slicing across his cheek. Blood spurts, and he stumbles back.

As if in slow motion, his balance tips as he falls backward, his head smashing against the heavy wooden corner of the coffee table. He lands in a broken heap, blood pooling around him.

Blair’s gasp echoes through the silence. I laugh, dark satisfaction rises in me.

“Asher, you… you shouldn’t have—”

“I’m not going to apologize for fucking up the men who hurt you,” I say. “Now, where were we?”

Grabbing her small frame, I push her up against the wall so I’m holding her in place, facing me. I tear down her panties, throwing them to the side and tease her exposed clit. She’s already soaked again from sucking my cock, as my fingers slide over her wetness. I’m like a wild animal as I lose control, plunging every inch of me inside her and thrusting upward so her feet lift off the ground.

She’s moaning, cursing, pleading, begging. Every pound of my hips that slaps against her ass sends her voice more wild, more desperate. I don’t know how the fuck I’m going to live without this feeling in my life now I’ve had it, don’t know how I’m going to live with Blair. But she’s made her choice. All I can do is punish and please her one last time.

I groan hard, feeling how close I’m getting. But I need her to come undone first. I grip her harder, her eyes rolling back in her lolling head as I increase my punishing rhythm, my mouth finding her swollen lips, her bruised skin, her exposed neck, each of her hardened nipples.

“Yes,” she gasps. “Oh, god…”

“Come for me, Blair. Come around the cock of the man who just fucked up your future husband. Come on the cock of the man who’s punishing you.”

She clenches, her body convulsing as the scream tears from her mouth.

I drop her still twitching body back to the ground where she crumples, still whimpering in pleasure. I’m so close to the edge; looking at her, a beautiful mess at my feet, immediately drives me over it. I palm my cock once, twice, then grip her hair as I come all over her pretty little face, rubbing my cock in the seed that covers her.

She moans, like she’s never experienced anything as satisfying. For a moment, our breath fills the silent room.

“Clean yourself up,” I order.

With a trembling hand, she uses her shirt to clean up her face.

I should leave. I should take the money and just walk out. I should forget that Blair ever existed.

But I can’t.

I exhale. “Tell me why you did it, Blair. I need to know.”

She takes a shaky breath, looking up at me, her eyes wet with unshed tears. “I was going to vote to split the money,” she whispers. “I meant it, Asher. But then, after we were separated, Lex told me something…”

Her words hang in the air.

“What did he say?” I ask, my voice tight.

“He told me you… you were the one who nearly killed Michael, my dance instructor. The one who was going to help me get a scholarship.” Her voice cracks, and she looks away. “After that, he stopped all contact with me. I thought he was just traumatized from the attack. But… Lex said it was you.”

Her gaze locks onto mine, her face pale. My jaw clenches, rage building. I know exactly what Lex was doing—he wanted to destroy us, twist us up until we were at each other’s throats. He’s been playing us both.

Now she knows. I don’t regret it for a damn second.

“I know, Asher,” she continues. “I know you were stalking me and trying to ruin my life all the time we weren’t talking. I know you just want to control my life, just like my family and Wes.”

I blink, understanding flooding me. “That’s why you stole the money?”

“I thought you were going to steal, so I wanted to stop you. Even if it meant I got nothing. I just wanted to hurt you like you tried to hurt me.”

Fuck. The words sink in. Hurt her? Never. Never fucking ever . She’s believed some twisted version of my actions.

“Bullshit,” I say harshly. “I followed you. Yeah, I admit that. You were like a drug, Blair. I was addicted. I couldn’t just drop you, even though I thought you’d thrown me away. I was watching you at the ballet studio that day. I saw you go into the changing rooms. I saw your creepy fucking dance coach sneak around to watch you from the window and take pictures.”

Blair’s face shifts, shock flooding her eyes. “What?”

I meet her gaze, letting her see the truth. “Believe it or don’t. But that’s why I beat him to a pulp. And I’d do it again if it meant keeping you safe. Should’ve killed him.”

She stares at me, her expression softening, the fight draining out of her. “I got it all wrong,” she whispers, almost to herself.

“Lex wanted us to destroy each other,” I say, my voice low and bitter. “He wanted this—the twisted game, the revenge, the blood. It’s what he lives for. It’s what the whole Mortalis Society lives for.”

I breathe out. Blair only made her choice because of what Lex said, because she believed I would ever try to control and ruin her.

I want Blair flying free and strong and happy. Yes, I want control: the control to have me be the only man who ever touches her. I want to own Blair Bennett’s world, but I want this beautiful girl to have every dream of hers come true.

It’s time. It’s enough. We need a fresh fucking start, once and for all.

I hold out my hand. “Come with me, Blair.”

Cautiously, she takes it. There’s terror in her eyes.

I don’t know if she trusts me. I don’t know if she loves me, or if she’s too scared for that.

But her choice is to either stay in this bloodstained mansion or do as I say.

Outside, we get on the bike. Blair’s hands tighten around my waist, and I kick the bike into motion, tearing down the road, leaving her family and everything behind. The empty hills rise ahead of us, open and wild, and for the first time, it feels like we’re truly free.

But then, faintly, I hear it—the roar of engines behind us, the angry shouts echoing through the dark.

They’ve followed us.