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When I humiliated her, she loved it. She was always mine in one capacity or another.

Not theirs. Never theirs.

“That’s it.” I haul her up and off the ground, taking her to the bathroom. “This is where I draw the line.”

“What are you doing?” Her little feet kick the air, but I ignore it. “What the hell are you doing? We were in the middle of a conversation.”

“Punishing you.” I put her down inside the shower, flipping the light on.

“For what?” She spins before I manage to tighten my grip on her waist, glowering at me.

Removing her fishnets, I whip her dress over her head, ignoring her protests. “For suggesting those vile pieces of shit deserved mercy.”

She pounces on me but doesn’t get a step in before I bury my fingers in the soft flesh of her waist. Her lips twist. My grip is relentless, and I can’t help inflicting pain on her.

Can’t help what happens next, either. I reach for the drawer under the sink for one of the new disposable razors I stocked today, grabbing it while she punches my shoulders.

I tear the wrapper with my teeth and spit it out. The cap on the razor comes off next.

“You got locked up for it.” Her eyes snap from me to the razor, then to my face. “It wasn’t fucking worth it. I wasn’t.”

“You don’t get it, do you?” The murderous fire inside me builds and builds the longer I have to listen to this madness. I pin her to the wall with my hips, slamming my free hand next to her head. “They assaulted you. They deserved to die.”

Her eyebrows knit together, her lips pinched. Chin quivering. “But you?—”

“I could’ve done better, okay?” I seethe, my face inches from hers. Her blue eyes are oceans. Waterfalls. A violent whirlpool sucking me in. “Could’ve been more careful, sure.But I can’t change the past. And you’re deluding yourself if you think I’ll ever apologize or regret killing them. This is the last time I’m telling you that.”

“Being locked up.” The torture in her voice reaches deep. Tugs on the slivers of humanity inside me. “For me, it?—”

“Shiloh, you won’t ever insult me by repeating what you just said. How you weren’t worth it. Do you hear me? Do you fucking hear?”

“You don’t care.” Those tiny punches do nothing to hurt me. My chest is made of stone. My body can take it. It was meant to absorb her pain.

It’s her anguish that gets to me.

“You don’t care. If you did, you wouldn’t have done it.” She’s really going at me now, her blows to my chest losing their rhythm while she’s hitting me.Tap, tap. Tap, tap, tap. Tap.“Wouldn’t have been taken away. You’re doing it all over again and you don’t care. Why won’t you listen?”

“I am listening.” I’ve been listening to her repeat it over and over. Watching her sanity slip away. She needs reassurance, and I won’t lie to her. Honesty is all I’ve got left. “I hear you. Thing is, I don’t regret anything I’ve done for you. I won’t. And for the love of God, stop worrying that I’ll get caught. I won’t.”

“How can you be so sure?”

“I already told you. But since you’re past listening, I’ll talk to you in the only way you understand. Through pain.”

“No.”

“Yes.” She’s no match for my strength. I flip her over, shoving her face up against the wall and spinning a knob,turning on the water in the shower. It’s cold at first. I wait for it to warm, my body shielding Shiloh. While I do, I wrangle my boxers down to the floor. “You’ll be getting fuckloads of it tonight.”

“I asked you one thing,” she huffs, but she opens her legs for me. “One thing and you won’t give it to me.”

“Ungrateful brat. You should be thanking me.” The water spray gets in my eyes while I kneel behind her. “For being attentive to your needs. For giving you everything.”

I don’t need her gratitude, not really. I’d burn the world down for Shiloh. Any day. Any time. For no reason other than knowing she’s safe.

“Stay,” she mumbles as I spread her legs farther. She flattens her hands on the wall, looking down at me. “Stay.”

“Never leaving you again.”

Water streams down her body, caressing the curve of her back, her round ass. The red lacerations I left on it shine, the crimson red so fucking tempting that I lean in and lick it.