Page 38 of Cold-Blooded Creatures

But first, I was going to make her dream about what pleasure different types of pain could bring until that was all she could think about. Until I was all that occupied that incredible mind of hers. I was going to own her fully—mind, body, and soul.

I had become obsessed. As simple as that. And I always reached my goals. I held no care over what tools I had to use or measures to take to get to the finish line.

“Fine. I’ll go,” she spat out.

“If you do not behave, nor will I,” I warned, and stepped back, curious as to what she would do.

“I’d do as he says,” Zion echoed, and clapped my shoulder. Warmth seeped through the thin cotton fabric of my black t-shirt. “She’s even more delicious than you think.” Grinning, he strode into the hallway leading to the dining room, the kitchen, my study, common areas, and a stairwell to the upper floors.

“A madman and a prick,” she muttered, moving her hair to spill around her shoulders. “Who do I have to pray to for a moment of peace? Is that such a difficult request?” Twisting on her heel, she followed Zion’s footsteps.

I suppressed my chuckle as she shot me daggers over her shoulder every few feet down the dimly lit hallway. If she was not going to fall in line, that swaying ass in front of me was going to get a lesson in obedience.

Especially when I could not erase the image of her pinned against Zion. How she had resisted him, how he had bitten her bottom lip and bent her body harshly, his hips pressing into hers, and she had melted. I exhaled through my nose to drown that swelling knot of tension. I did not desire to sit through the rest of the dinner uncomfortably in my jeans.

“How was the show?” Eli asked, as we entered our usual meeting space.

I liked this room. Not too bright and not too dark. The lights in the corners kept the worst of the shadows at bay whilst providing enough illumination. The cut-out lampshades had been Eislyn’s idea, and now I relished the various shapeless forms twirling on the walls. It created a balance between light and dark. And did not irritate my eyes.

Or, truth be told, the sensitivity to light was a symptom. Once migraines caught hold of you in your teenage years, they tended not to release you despite you entering adulthood. It had not been hard to determine stress was the main trigger, but when you were the one at the helm of your people, tension became your constant companion.

Particularly when the space you were in was filled with the annoying group of misfits who had burrowed their way into your life over the years.

“Can’t complain.” Zion plopped down into the chair beside Kali. She had dumped her ass back at the head of the table. “Should I share, pretty birdie?”

She scoffed. “Pretty boy, the only thing you’re good at is your words.”

Snickers rounded the table, and Ezra quipped, “That she is right about.”

“Want me to prove you otherwise?” Zion offered.

“Thanks, but no.” Ezra brushed him off. He was one of the four people in this room who had not visited Zion’s bedroom. Or his underground. Zion liked to announce them loud and clear, so even those at the other two compounds were informed about his conquests.

But while he had an unofficial goal tocollecteveryone in our inner circle, I preferred to wander on the fringes of our people. Once you stood at the top of the hierarchy chain, relationships complicated things too much. And your partners became prime targets for your enemy. Years had taught me that anonymous hook-ups could serve as an efficient enough method of satisfying your base needs and instincts. Whether it be a visitor from another compound, whose muscular body I noticed in our training rings and made him kneel or bend over the same night, or a passerby whose dress drew my attention on the street and I later ripped it to shreds to expose the flesh I craved, they all carried out their purpose: clearing my mind.

Only now, I had transgressed. Breached my own rule of no attachments.

But I simply could not have left Kali to fester in that cursed city. Like the sweetest honey, she had lured me out of my castle, each brick a fear of mine.

And having her here, seeing Zion tease and rile her up, beckoned my lip corners to twitch. If anyone else tried so much as to brush a finger along her shoulder, I would pluck their vertebrae that instant, but him…

Fuck, it was enjoyable.

More than that.

“Can we just eat? I’m famished.” Ryder grabbed the closest steaming bowl brimming with a spicy-smelling vegetableconcoction our kitchen had cooked up and piled half of it on his plate.

That broke the dam and bowls exchanged hands around the ebony table as everyone loaded spoonfuls into their plates. I took Kali’s empty dinner plate and filled it with a bit of everything. Taking away the pastries I had offered her earlier, I placed the dish overflowing in grilled vegetables with a few slices of roasted chicken in front of her, mindful of the doc’s advice I had ignored. She needed easily digestible nutrients first, sugar later. Only, she had salivated at the baked goods so hard before that I could not hold off from offering them to her.

Hauling her feet on top of the table, she crossed her ankles. “You told me to go back to the dining room. Not to eat.”

She was treading unstable waters by testing my patience. I could not wait for when she would eventually cross the line and my hands would be free to carry out the consequences.

“Shall I remind you of my proposal?” With my elbow on the backrest, I gestured to the large table we were gathered around. In reality, it was too soon to actually execute my suggestion. But it did not mean never.

I always staked my claim publicly. Like right now. She was hurting herself by not eating, and I was not making peace with it.

“You mean your threat, Gedeon? I can get myself off better. No need for you. Or is this a way for you to compensate for”—her contemptuous gaze lowered to where my crotch was covered by the table—“something you lack?”