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Her gaze flickers to the screen, momentarily torn between the man inside her and the horror playing out in front of her. The lighting is terrible, making it hard to make out the details. Yet something about the scene deeply unsettles her.

This movie isn’t supernatural—at least she doesn’t think so. It feels more like a slasher film. And now that her eyes have adjusted enough, she sees it clearly; a body sprawled on the floor, drenched in blood, his face beyond recognition.

“Zev,” she moans, moving her hips to meet his thrusts, the tension between them building in a slow, insidious climb. “I don’t know if I can watch this. It’s—it’s a bit much.”

“Shhh.” He presses a kiss against the small of her back. “Just watch.” He rolls his hips, angling deeper, finding a spot inside her that makes her shudder. “Pay attention.”

Her eyes flutter shut, but she can still hear it.

Beyond the wet slap of skin against skin, beyond her own gasps and moans, there is something else.

A voice. A haunting melody hums in the background.

The sound sends a chill racing down her spine.

But somehow, it only amplifies the pleasure pooling in her core.

“Wait, what’s—” She barely manages the words as she finally sees him. The man on the screen. The one humming in the background.

He is now standing over the body, wearing a long black coat, black leather gloves strapped to his hands.

He is tall and broad, with waves of white hair braided on one side while the other side spills free. And there is an axe clutched in his gloved hand.

Her breath falters.

“Relax,” Zev murmurs, his fingers bruising into her hips as his pace suddenly quickens, feeding off her fear.

On the screen, the man crouches beside his victim, resting the axe against the bloodied floorboard. Then, with slow precision, he reaches up, gathering the rest of his white hair into a bun. He pulls a band from his wrist, tying the hair.

Vivienne’s stomach drops, her pulse pounding in her ears.

Zev.

She tries to move, to scramble away, but Zev tightens his grip, locking her in place.

“Don’t go running now,” he breathes against her ear, a smirk evident in his voice. “The movie just got interesting.”

Zev thrusts into her relentlessly, while on the screen, another version of himself raises an axe, hovering it over the bloodied man’s trembling arm.

Vivienne’s body burns with pleasure, yet fear coils around her bones. She doesn’t understand why she is still so aroused, why her body welcomes him even as she seems to be forcing her mind to recoil.

“W—what’s going on?” Her voice is shaky, lips trembling.

“Are you still wondering why you’re like this?” The version of Zev on the screen asks, his hand tightening on the bloodied man’s jaw.

The man groans, barely conscious.

She watches as he—Zev, swipes a dagger from the pocket of his coat.

“You touched what’s mine,” He forces the blade into the man’s mouth. “Spoke filth with this tongue about her. So, I’m cutting it off.”

Vivienne gasps. “What—”

Zev slams into her harder, stealing her breath. “Hush. Less talking, more watching.”

Sweat beads on her skin, body tightening, overwhelmed as pleasure and horror tangle like poison in her veins.

She watches as the dagger severs the man’s tongue. A strangled sound escapes her, though she doesn’t know if it’s from Zev fucking her hard and raw, pushing her to the edge of pleasure, or the grotesque sight before her.

“I’m not usually this mean,” he muses, tossing the tongue aside. “But that girl, she makes me wanna do terrible things to any man who looks at her. I’m very possessive of her, you see. Sharing her is something I just can’t seem to do.”

Vivienne gasps when Zev suddenly flips her, pushing her to the edge of the bed, her head dangling. “Eyes on the screen,” he commands, wrapping her legs around his hips before thrusting deep.

“Keep your eyes on the screen. Watch how I kill men who dare to touch you.” His words are raw and vicious as his cock pounds into her while his onscreen version circles the man on the floor.

“Oh, god yes,” she cries, her heel digging into his hips, her slick wall clenching around him.

“Fadden,” the name suddenly echoes from the screen.

Vivienne freezes. James Fadden?

That’s James Fadden on the floor there?

How—he knew?

The necklace!

She was still wearing the necklace when she went into James’s office.

Fuck!

“Remember what the Bible says about sins?” Zev places the axe on James’s right arm . “If your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off.”

The axe swings. Blood sprays. A shrill cry rips from Vivienne’s throat, morphing into a moan as her body betrays her. Zev smirks, gripping her thigh and throwing her leg over his shoulder as he rewinds the video. “Fuck, I need to see that again.”

He thrusts harder, chasing his own release, dragging hers from her like a man possessed. The video replays—the arm severing, the blood pooling—the orgasm tearing through her shame drowns in its wake.

“See? I am the perfect man for you, ladybird,” he murmurs, his voice raspy, muscles clenched as he spills inside her.

“Fuck roses, I’ll bring severed limbs of the men to your doorstep.

I’ll hang their heads on a stake in your name.

Say, the name, darling. All you gotta do is say their fucking name.

And I’ll slit their throats. I’ll make them shiver at the mention of your name.

I’ll make them bow to even your shadow.”

Pressing a gentle, deceptively soft kiss on her neck, he pulls out of her, collapsing next to her in the bed, breathless.

His words replay in Vivienne’s head, thrumming in her veins. But she is unable to shake off what just happened on the screen. What kind of monster has she become?

The room is silent for a while except for their panting.

Then cold reality finally rushes in.

“I—I want to go home,” she whispers, sitting up on shaking limbs, slipping out of bed.

Zev rolls onto his stomach, propping himself on his elbows, unconcerned. “Didn’t like the movie? Fine, I’ll pick better next time. What do you say about uh, Sleeping Beauty? I used to like those.”

Her expression hardens. “You are fucking crazy.”

“About you? Absolutely.” He pats the side of the bed she just left empty. “Now come back. I don’t wanna have to chase you.”

“I don’t wanna spend another second here.” Her voice shakes, bitter. “Get me out of this place. Take me home, now!”

His sigh is lazy, but his eyes are sharp and dark. “You know, you’re really infuriating.” He exhales sharply. “Fine, I’ll go hard.”

He begins to rise off the bed. And Vivienne bolts for the door. Naked. Shaking. She barely registers as she stumbles into the living room.

“God, I need to go. I need to go,” she chants, her chest tight, stomach in knots as tears spill out of her eyes—warm—running down her cheeks, blurring her vision. “I need to get out of here. I need to go home. God please, take me out of here.”

Then she hears it. A click.

She turns sharply with a gasp, her arms wrapped around her body.

Zev stands by the end of the hallway that opens into the living room, a gun dangling from his fingers.

“I told you not to let another man look at you.”

Her breath stutters.

Another man?

Is this still about Fadden?

“Now, I have to lose two competent soldiers because of you.” His voice is dark, laced with something lethal. “Because you decided to flaunt what belongs to me in front of them.”

Her pulse pounds. The gun lifts—not at her, but past her.

The shot rings out, echoing twice and a loud scream tears from her throat as she drops, hands covering her ears, shielding her head.

She hears it, the loud thud of bodies collapsing to the way the tiled floor.

Then silence, followed by the cold, undeniable scent of blood.

She lifts her head, slowly, her eyes scanning until they stop at a spot. Her heart pounds, blood rushing in her ears.

Two men lie motionless in the corner, blood pooling around them.

Her lips part, throat expanding as a shrill cry tears from her chest, shattering the world around her.

Then darkness rushes in, the world tilts and she crashes to the floor.