Page 43 of Always A Villain (Revenge Duet #2)

A cool breeze brushes my skin. I stir in bed, reaching for Axe, but there’s nothing but cold sheets.

“Axe?” My voice is groggy as I sit up.

I freeze.

The shape steps forward. The skull mask catches the moonlight. A knife glints in his hand.

“Little siren,” he says, voice like gravel. “It’s time to hunt.”

I suck in a breath. “Axe... ”

“Run.”

My heart stutters, a twisted mix of fear and arousal hitting me at once.

I bolt.

A scream tears from my throat as I race outside, barefoot, across the wet grass. The villa disappears behind me. Every shadow looks like him. Every sound, every shift in the trees, I swear it’s him. He’s close. Too close.

Then he’s on me.

I don’t even get a chance to scream again. He tackles me to the ground, his hand over my mouth, pinning me into the dirt.

“I caught you, little siren.”

I moan into his palm as his hand shoves between my thighs. Two fingers slam inside me, rough and unforgiving. I’m already dripping for him.

“Soaking wet,” he snarls. “You like this. You like being hunted. Fucked. Owned.”

He rips my panties off like they’re paper, and I cry out as his fingers piston deeper, spreading me wide, forcing me open. I thrash beneath him, but it’s useless. He’s too strong, too in control. I can’t stop grinding back against his hand as his thumb hits my clit, dragging me to the edge.

“You want to come?”

I nod desperately, eyes glassy.

He yanks his hand away.

“No.” He slides his zipper down, grinding his hard cock against my ass. “You don’t come until I say.”

I whimper, my thighs shaking.

The knife grazes my neck as he leans in. “Open your legs. Now. Or I’ll fuck your ass until you cry.”

I snap my legs apart.

“Good girl,” he growls.

One brutal thrust, and he’s filling me so deep I choke on another scream. My body tries to adjust, but he doesn’t give me time. He’s already fucking me violently, his hips pounding into mine with no mercy. Grabbing my wrists, he pins them behind my back, using them as leverage.

I cry out as he hits that spot inside me, the one that turns me to ash. I can’t fight it.

“I didn’t say you could come.”

“Please,” I sob, delirious with pleasure. “Please, Axe. I need?—”

A rumble sounds from his chest as he bites down on my shoulder and thrusts even harder, the knife teasing along my throat.

“Come for me, little siren.”

That’s all I need. I shatter.

My orgasm rips through me, lighting me up like a match dropped onto gasoline as my whole body convulses beneath him. He follows, slamming into me with a savage grunt, spilling his release and groaning my name like it’s the only word that matters.

We collapse into the dirt. His mask presses against my cheek as I struggle to breathe.

“Christ, little siren. I’ll never get tired of fucking you like that.”

He pulls out, the mix of him and me dripping down my thighs. The knife falls to the ground as he strips off the mask and pulls me into his arms. We lie there in the grass, the stars bright above us as we come down from our high.

I trace the line of his jaw, my heartbeat still racing. “I’m glad you brought the mask.”

“Of course I did.” He kisses me slow, his tongue caressing mine with more filthy promises. “You always did love a monster.”

His arms cage me against his chest as the night air brushes over my skin. I’m still trembling, his cum leaking onto the dirt below us, and I clench my thighs to keep some inside me.

He kisses my sweaty temple. “You okay?”

I nod slowly. “Yeah.”

Brushing his fingers over the bite on my shoulder, he smirks when I wince. “Good. You’re perfect like this.”

His arm rests across me. Protective. Possessive.

We lie in silence for a while, my body softening against him. But something’s clawing at me, and it won’t go away.

I trace circles on his chest. “I overheard Arsen and Griff talking earlier.”

He hums, unconcerned.

“They said the Sovereign found Conrad’s body.”

He doesn’t say anything. His silence is loud.

“They said it was…brutal.”

I swallow, shifting to look at him. His eyes are on the stars, but I know he’s not looking at the sky.

“Is there something you want to ask me, little siren?”

I hesitate. “I just want to know he suffered. That he didn’t get to die easy.”

His gaze cuts to mine, sharp and endless.

“He felt every second. I didn’t slit his throat. I didn’t shoot him in the head. I made him bleed, made him scream, made him beg.”

I shiver, but I don’t look away.

“He died choking on his own blood with a hammer buried in his skull. That motherfucker raped and killed your mother and took you from me. You think I’d let him go without pain?” His voice turns vicious. “I carved my name into his fucking soul.”

There’s no remorse. No apology.

Only vengeance.

I reach up and cup his jaw. “Thank you.”

His hand covers mine, rough and warm. “Anything for you.”

My eyes sting.

“I mean it,” I whisper. “You gave me peace.”

He leans in, his lips brushing mine, softly for once. “I gave you justice. You gave me everything else.”

A single tear slips down my cheek. He kisses it away, then pulls me tighter against him.

“You’re mine, Victoria Hawthorne. Forever. No one will ever hurt you again.”

I press my forehead to his. “I love you.”

“Good. Because you’re stuck with me.” He grabs my thigh and pulls me until I’m straddling him, one hand drifting down to my ass. “And tomorrow, you walk down that aisle in white. Like a fucking lie.”

A laugh burst past my lips, breathless.

“But later that night?” He squeezes. “You’ll be on your knees. Wearing nothing but my last name branded on your ass.”

I smile, tears and laughter tangled together as I curl into the monster who burned the world for me.

And I don’t regret a single thing.

He’ll always be a villain, and I’ll always be his.