Page 23 of Blood and Thorns

Sebastian didn’t stop to check whether I was following,his longer strides taking him across the room before I’d even stepped out of the lift.

Scampering after him I quickly looked around, finding beautiful rugs on the hard floors, top of the range gadgets, and expensive-looking paintings that brought in bursts of colour to the otherwise masculine design.

Finally, Sebastian stopped at a door down a corridor, opening it without a single glance towards me. Stepping to the side, he waited, even as I hesitated.

“Wait, will I be able to go and get my stuff?” I wondered.

His smile was cruel, just a slow twist of his lips, and maybe I’d made the wrong decision. “No,” he said, shutting me inside and then locking the door behind me.

Sebastian

Arabella hadn’t moved for the past two hours, sitting in the corner of her new room with her head on her knees. I knew, because I’d been watching her the entire time on my phone.

She’d essentially offered herself to me, and my cock had been eager to take her up on it. But despite the fire in her eyes, fear wasn’t a turn on when it wasn’t mixed with anticipation. I’d give her a day to wallow in self-pity, and then I’d figure out what the fuck I’d do with her.

My tarantula, Raven, crawled up my arm, content to just sit on my skin while I watched my new plaything.

The lift clicked to my right, and I didn’t bother to turn to know it was Caden and Langdon. They were the onlyones to have access this late, as I’d sent my staff home for the evening a while ago.

“Bas, what the fuck?” Caden muttered, throwing himself down beside me before tossing Arabella’s bag onto the coffee table. He eyed Raven, even reaching over to see whether she’d move over to him. She didn’t, instead crawling further up my body until she nestled against my neck.

“I knew I should’ve locked the code,” I muttered. “What are you doing here?”

Langdon shrugged, standing with his signature smirk. “How’s your princess?” he signed, raising an eyebrow. “Locked away in her tower?”

I suppressed a growl, instead giving him my middle finger, which earned me a silent laugh in return. “I don’t remember inviting either of you over,” I grumbled.

Caden crossed his arms. “We’re making sure you’re okay. What you did with her was out of character.”

“Impulsive,” I added, and he nodded in agreement. I was violent. Uncivilised, and chaos personified. But I was never impulsive because that meant I wasn’t in control.

“So, what, you planning to keep her as your personal fuck toy?” Caden shook his head, clearly disapproving.

Yes.“No.”

“Then why?” Langdon asked, moving around so he could sit on the table facing us. He was wary of Raven, but not afraid. Probably because she’d bit him once when he was being a prick.

My lips parted, but for once I didn’t have an answer.

I didn’t know why I made the deal. She was beautiful, but I’d seen and fucked women just as beautiful, if not more so before. So why her?

Tension pulled at me, the need to destroy an impulse I soon would no longer be able to avoid. I’d always had amonster inside me, one that only relented once I purged my darker desires through either fucking or fighting. Sometimes painting, but only if I destroyed everything afterwards.

It was a compulsion I no longer contested, although fucking hadn’t been as satisfying recently.

“You sort the fight?” I asked, directing my question to Langdon.

He nodded. “Saturday night,” he signed.

“Good.” I really needed to feel knuckles against my cheeks and blood against my skin.

“You wanna hit Atlantis?” Caden asked. “I’m sure Aeris can sort you something to take the edge off.”

I reached for my whisky, the glass cold beneath my fingers. “No.” The movement jostled the tarantula, who made her way down my stretched arm to the table where Caden scooped her up.

The women I usually fucked were faceless. Picked out specifically to fulfil a need and nothing more. Yet sex had become... predictable. Even when I went to Atlantis and let my monster out, it was never anything more than a physical release.

Sex and desire were not mutually exclusive, and the thrill of wearing my mask, making demands that were fulfilled without hesitation, had lost its appeal. My cock hadn’t twitched for anyone in a while. Not until a certain little rabbit looked up at me with such disobedience while my hand had encircled her throat.