Page 41 of Blood and Thorns (Twisted Ever After #1)

Sebastian

I didn’t get addicted. I’ve seen what it could do, that sickness. The obsession over your next fix. Nothing else mattered, which was why I never fucked the same girl twice or allowed myself to taste the cocaine.

But Arabella was different. A poison injected directly into my bloodstream, and I couldn’t wait to take another hit.

I had planned to toss her away once I’d grown bored and then track down her father because he still needed to pay. But she’d somehow brought me back from the abyss, again , her sunshine and light in the most dire situations calling to my demons.

Hunting had been euphoric, stalking her through the darkness only for her to fight and then submit so beautifully. She’d been scared of the knife, and yet when I touched the sharp edge to her skin she’d moaned, her cunt pulsating.

Greedy. Perfect. Mine.

Her weight was sleight in my arms, her head resting against my shoulder as I walked her towards her room. I knew I should simply put her to bed and leave so I could figure out my next step. But I found I didn’t want to go, not yet .

Things were happening outside my control, but with Arabella she was a constant. Something that anchored me when everything else was fracturing.

Setting her down on her sheets, I ached to touch her. To rouse her from her sleep just so I could watch her shatter around me again. Hear her cries of pleasure and unrestrained moans.

She’d pretty much passed out once I’d finished with her, her skin decorated in my marks.

Covering her in my shirt, I’d carried her to the car where Chip drove us both back to the penthouse.

I snarled at him, as well as the guards trailing me, warning them that if they dared to look at her in this state, I’d kill them.

The bed dipped as I put my knee on it, and her eyes fluttered open.

I expected panic, or even fear. Not a lazy blink and a slight frown.

She sat up in bed, and my eyes dipped down to where her pussy was still pink, swollen, and had the biggest urge to make sure all my come remained inside. Fuck. I imagined her swelling with my child, and this strange possessiveness shot down my spine.

“Were you just watching me?” she asked, peering at the room.

She really was cute while freshly fucked, wearing my shirt and a little dishevelled.

“You talk in your sleep,” I commented, just because I wanted to see colour flush her cheeks.

I was rewarded with exactly what I’d wanted. “I do not.”

I smiled, unable to stop my lips curving. “You do. You whisper and moan my name.”

Arabella jerked up further in bed. “I do fucking not.”

She did, and the first time I’d heard it I thought I was manifesting. But she did talk in her sleep, which was why I liked to come listen. Her voice was calming, soft and lyrical with just the perfect amount of husky bite.

“Do you need me to read?” she asked, as if reading my mind.

I raised a brow in question.

“You always ask me to read when you’re in a mood.” She pulled the sheets to cover her lower half, and I had to clench my fist to not rip it from her.

I stilled, my eyes clashing with hers. “You’re not here to notice my moods, you’re here to be a warm, wet hole,” I said, delivering the statement cold. “That’s what you agreed to, wasn’t it?”

An angry flush burned across her chest, and her eyes narrowed on me.

“Fine, read to yourself then.” She went to swing her legs over the side of the bed, but my hand on her thigh stopped her. “I didn’t agree to be your prisoner.”

“You did. You wanted an escape for your pathetic life, and that’s exactly what I gave you. Don’t come crying to me now that you’ve decided this isn’t what you want.”

“I agreed to pay off my father’s debt,” she bit back.

“You agreed to do whatever I wanted in return for his life,” I pulled her a little down the bed, the motion moving the sheets and revealing what was mine. “That includes where you spend your time.”

“Can I at least go out?”

“No.”

“Not even for a walk?”

“No.”

She sucked her bottom lip between her teeth, her usual defiance hidden beneath a streak of stubbornness. “Please?”

“Please only works when you’re on your knees about to suck my cock.” I pulled her closer, until I felt her staggered breath brush against my chest. “Stop painting me as your prince.”

That fire I craved so much danced in her irises. “Trust me, I stopped believing in fairytales the moment I met you.”

“And yet you screamed my name only an hour ago.”

A sound of frustration left her plump lips. “I hate you.”

I leaned closer, noting how her pulse jumped against her delicate throat. “Your cunt clearly disagrees.” I went to stand, the movement jerking her slightly on the bed, and she winced.

The sheets pooled, the swell of her breasts showing in the gape of my shirt. Without thinking I turned to the bathroom, grabbing a washcloth and running it under warm water.

She eyed me like I was a snake, flinching when I pulled the sheets off entirely to leave her mostly exposed.

“What are you doing?” she demanded, but I ignored her, gently washing her inner thighs and then her pussy. She hissed but didn’t stop me.

“Don’t look so concerned. I’m not going to fuck you again because I know you’re sore.” She didn’t seem to believe me. “Don’t get me wrong, I am this monster you’re picturing in your head. I do what I have to do to keep my position. But I don’t intentionally hurt women or children if I can help it.”

“You hurt me,” she pointed out.

“You wanted me to hurt you.” I dared her to argue, but of course she didn’t.

“Why not women and children?” she asked, moving away so she could curl her legs beneath her.

My hand clutched the now cold cloth. “Because they’re always used as pawns in someone else’s game.”

“Am I not a pawn in your game? ”

“A willing one.” I pinned her with my stare, loving how she never looked away.

“What happened to make you so angry earlier?”

She was so fucking curious. It was going to get her killed. “Were you scared?”

“Not of you.”

Such honesty. “Then what were you scared of?” I asked.

Her jaw clenched. “Is Caden okay?”

My knuckles cracked from how hard I clenched my fist. “You were scared for Caden?” I was definitely going to have to pay him a little visit later. Maybe hit him a little harder.

She shook her head, which eased some of the anger that sparkled with jealousy. “I was scared you were going to hurt yourself.”

I searched her face for deception, almost sickened to find the comment genuine. “You care about everyone you hate, belle ?”

“Only those who keep me locked in a tower, and it’s Ara.”

I let out a puff of air, which was as close to a laugh as she was going to get. “I found out the woman I thought was dead may actually be alive.”

“Why is it important that she’s dead?” she asked gently.

“Because she was the one to give me my scars.”