Chapter 4

CHAPTER 4

SALEM

30 years old

R ed satin sheets are the perfect backdrop for the beauty that is Justice Bane. His limbs, long and lean, appear as though he's been carved from priceless marble. A relic of time long gone, formed into a human by the hands of ancient gods.

Justice is a masterpiece. His skin, a patchwork of dips and crevasses, of smooth, silken flesh and rough, silvery scars.

The feelings I have for Justice far surpass that of simple love and adoration. If I am poison, Justice is the only antidote. He is my reason for breathing. Without him, I am nothing but a lost soul wandering the barren earth, searching for meaning in the abyss of my depravities.

His soft snores drag my attention away from my meandering thoughts.

After being checked at the hospital and treated for minor smoke inhalation, Justice was released into my care. He didn't argue, fight, or attempt to make an escape without me. He knows it would be a futile endeavour.

He knows I will find him. I always find him.

My little firebird may relish in his release and find joy in freedom, but it never lasts long. I love nothing more than capturing him and reminding him of all the reasons why I am the only person he needs in his life.

After cleaning the remaining soot off his body, I apply a fresh layer of medicated lotion to the minor burns on his hands, knees, and feet. I move on to cleaning his face with a warm washcloth. His lips twitch and his eyelids flutter as the sedatives wear off and consciousness returns.

Reluctantly, I get up and go back to the bathroom to clear away the detritus and wash my hands. When I return to the bedroom, I swipe his thick, brown hair back off his forehead before I go back to refilling jars of medications and salves at the antique armoire.

A tug on the chains catches my attention as Justice stirs. At my hands, he always comes alive. The chains pulling against the iron bedhead are music to my ears, and I wait with bated breath as Justice finally awakens and recognises this room.

His room. His home I purchased for him.

I don't live here, no one does. It's merely a familiar place for Justice to stay when my need to sate my sick and twisted desires consumes me.

"No." He tugs on the chains again, each steel cuff digs into his precious flesh as he pulls on them. "No, no. Please no."

"Open your eyes, my little firebird." My fingertips dance along the curve of his neck. "Let me see you, love."

He obeys of course, and tears well in his deep green eyes. He shivers as my fingertips continue their gentle dance across his naked, pale flesh, leaving a trail of goosebumps in their wake. When I reach his navel, I circle it slowly then trace the long, thin scars across his abs. Head cocked, Justice's pained expression mixes with confusion.

"Why, Salem?" he asks, his voice soft. "Why do you keep doing this? Why won't you leave me alone?"

I reluctantly draw my hand away from his glorious form and admit the truth, "I missed you." It's been so long since I've indulged in the delectable flavour of his blood, sweat, and tears. So long that I've almost forgotten the texture of his flesh, and the feel of his velvet soft tongue against the veins of my cock, and across the curve of my lips.

Never taking my eyes off Justice, I begin unbuttoning my shirt. "How have you been, my love?"

"Salem…" he starts but trails off when his eyes track my movements until my fingers reach down to unzip my jeans. Justice shakes his head, eyes clamped shut, but it's too late. I saw the heat in his gaze, and there's no mistaking his growing erection.

He wants me, but logic and reason, and every moment of his past, tells him I'm dangerous. That here, there is no safety… here, his life is in imminent danger.

The tight leash I have on my own self-control, and the regular check-ins with my brother, Diablo, are the only things keeping me tethered to sanity.

In my dreams, Justice is consumed by flames. His body burning, flesh sizzling from his bones, and his screams… his screams feed the depravity I keep locked down in the fiery depths of my broken soul. I want to watch him burn while simultaneously wanting to protect him from the entire world, and from me.

He writhes against the sheets, naked body rippling. "Salem," he begs. "Please, please, let me go." He pleads so beautifully, but I can't give in. I'll never give in. To do so would allow him to see the truths I keep buried.

After removing my jeans, I fold them neatly and place them on the bedside table along with my t-shirt. With my leather belt in my hand, I climb onto the bed and straddle Justice's groin.

A pained cry escapes his lips when I position myself until my balls are pressed against his own. His cock throbs, an involuntary twitch he tries to stop by tightening his abs and writhing beneath me, but his chest heaves—he knows it's time.

With his eyes closed, I take in the curve of his brows, and the long, dark lashes that fan across his eyelids. He swallows hard, his Adam's apple bobs, and when I lean down to wrap my leather belt around his neck, he begs, "Please don't. Please, Salem, I can't… I don't want to."

"Beg for me some more," I tell him as I tighten the belt around his throat. "Tell me how much it hurts."

"Salem, please." He writhes and shakes. His back arches as I tug on the belt, and he panics. "NO!" he screams, but it's quickly muffled when I press my hand over his mouth. Eyes wide, he stares up at me, sheer terror in their dark green depths.

I shuffle forward until I can grind against his cock, relishing in the feeling of his thick, hard length sliding between my ass cheeks. "Your body, Justice…" I glide along the length of his cock. "I've missed it—missed you... So fucking much." I circle my finger around the tip of his cock, smoothing the precum over his crown. "Your touch, your cock, your screams."

He lets out painful, muffled cries, and I remove my hand from his mouth and allow him to suck in a much needed breath of air.

As he screams and thrashes, I press gentle, lingering kisses to his lips, his cheekbones, his forehead, his eyelids. "My beautiful firebird," I whisper against the shell of his ear as I increase the speed of my rocking against his thick cock. "Come for me, love." I press a kiss to his throat, loosen the belt, then bite down into his soft, pale flesh until the taste of blood coats my tongue and Justice releases another ear piercing scream.

A rush of warmth coats my ass as Justice's orgasm rocks him into submission. When his body finally relaxes into the cool, red satin, he cries.

"So beautiful," I say as I slide down his body, tracing my tongue over the myriad of scars as I do. When I reach his soft cock, I lap up his release, swirling my tongue around his groin until he's clean. Then, I take his cock into my mouth and suck hard, making sure to nip at the sensitive crown and dip my tongue into that delicious slit.

All the while, he moans and sobs quietly, body undulating as he begs me to stop, pleads with me to let him go, to set him free.

If only he realised… there is no freedom.

Not for Justice.

My love. My heart. My firebird.

He belongs to me. In this life and the next, Justice is mine.