Page 27

CHAPTER 26

J essica

Terror.

The sharp claws of fear dug into every inch of me. I was shocked at first, paralyzed to the point I couldn’t think clearly.

Did the man intend on drowning me?

No. I refused to believe that, yet as my pulse increased, the moment of panic turned into a giant tidal wave.

He’s testing you. He’s testing you. He’s testing you.

Repeating it over and over again in my mind was only boosting the anxiety. I tried to concentrate on my heartrate.

My stomach was in knots as my mind swirled around my life, visions of everything I’d accomplished, family and friends bursting to the forefront of my mind. Tears formed in my eyes, but there was no one to see them.

No one coming to my rescue.

This was it. I’d fallen prey to my own insistence on revenge. Now I was going to pay a hefty price. The will to live was burning brightly, but I had no strength to fight him.

But seconds later, anger swelled inside and I fought to free myself.

Sinner kept fucking me, driving deep inside my aching pussy with purpose. Trust. He’d muttered trust a few times. Is this what he meant? Was I supposed to allow him to take my life into his hands whenever he fucking felt like it?

I struggled even harder, flailing my arms, but his hold was too tight. I had my eyes open, staring at the drain.

Just as I reached for the stopper in hopes of draining the tub, a wave of pure rapture crashed into me in an entirely different way than I’d felt before. More powerful. So intense that the sheer feeling of raw ecstasy was overwhelming. I had no idea how many seconds had already passed. I was lightheaded, the thudding beat of my pulse booming inside my head.

It was so strange, the sensations tearing through me incredible.

I’d been right. This was just another test. I felt it in my gut and by the way his fingers while keeping their hold were caressing me.

Instead of yanking the plug, I trusted in myself as well as the monstrous man, lifting my arms from the water and placing them over the two edges of the tub. With my eyes now closed, I fell into a purposeful lull as my toes began to curl.

An orgasm hit me harder than ever before and I fought hard to keep from screaming under water.

The rush was exciting, exhilarating, and everything no one should hope for.

I was suddenly jerked up from underneath, immediately gasping for air as the climax soared to another plateau. I was crazed with anger and excitement, the sensations the most extreme electricity I’d ever experienced.

I let out a ragged yet loud moan, my head pounding from the earlier pressure. Lights flickered all around me, the skittering sensations of my pulse increasing my heartrate. The orgasm refused to back down. As Sinner continued to fuck me long and hard, skin slapping against skin echoing in my ears, another equally powerful orgasm swept through me.

I couldn’t speak or stay focused on anything but the extreme pleasure.

“Such a good girl. Trusting me will bring the greatest joys of your life.”

Trusting him. Was it even possible to do? My mind was so muddled I closed my eyes, doing nothing more than enjoying the dancing vibrations.

He was such a monster, a man I should fear, someone I should keep away from.

But I was so damn connected to him and I couldn’t fathom why.

The excitement was real, the desire sublime.

“You were going to…” I couldn’t finish the sentence.

“Kill you? Now, why would I take the life of a woman who enticed me so much?”

“Because you… Because you need to win.”

His laugh echoed in my ears. “I will win, but not that way. I’m a fair man.”

He wouldn’t know fair if it bit him in the ass. He didn’t have to play by anyone else’s rules. He’d created them along with his two brothers.

The sick feeling of euphoria drifted through every cell and muscle, turning my body into a toy he could play with and mold.

He cracked his hand against my backside again, jolting me back to reality.

Gasping from the sharp reminder of earlier anguish, I was instantly frozen all over again when he pressed the tip of his cock against my asshole.

“I don’t… I’ve never…” They were the only words I could form. When I heard his chuckle, a single tear slipped past the lashes of my right eye. All I could think about was that I wasn’t good enough.

Whoa. Hold on. That was crazy.

He released his hold on my neck, soothing my back by rubbing his fingers up and down. “Breathe easy, Desdemona. I promise you that you’ll remember this night for a long time to come.”

He was so certain of himself, so sure that I would follow his commands every step of the way. He’d mentioned the chains holding me, keeping me locked away as if a prisoner from myself. Maybe he was right. But maybe that’s what needed to happen. I couldn’t do this to myself. I just…

Confusion had never been an issue before. Maybe I was in some kind of trance. As he slipped his shaft in by a couple of inches, I sucked in my breath audibly, a shudder running through me.

I was sick to my stomach, furious with myself for falling prey to the man. This was just a game to him. I felt it. My gut told me that. Yet I’d encouraged every moment I’d spent with him.

Maybe it was only a test, but he’d further awakened something so dark and forbidden in my soul I wasn’t certain I could return to real life as I’d been before.

A wave of discomfort shifted down my legs and he drove his cock in again, stopping to caress my back.

“So beautiful. So perfect.”

Was that what he said to all the women he brought into his house? I’d heard what he’d said, his insistence I was the only one, but how was that possible? And if so, why?

Another burst of pain rolled through me as he thrust the rest of his shaft inside my asshole. I was startled by not only the electric jolts soaring through every muscle, but also by the sudden pleasure drowning out any hint of discomfort.

Gasping, I shifted in the now lukewarm water, once again gripping the edge of the tub as he pounded into me. The man was brutal with everything he did, but I couldn’t seem to get enough of him.

Everything I’d thought so wrong, so out of order in my life was coming back to haunt me.

Dreams.

Fantasies.

Such intense longings with vivid images that I was left unable to sleep.

Years of feeling that way.

Years of knowing I was different.

He’d captured not only the darkness festering inside of me for years, but also my body, taking it as his own.

The thought brought so many emotions, so much anxiety yet as he continued fucking me, I found how lost I truly was. As if I was running through a forest of lush foliage while thorns bit into my bare feet.

Nothing was real any longer, yet it was even better than it had been.

He issued a deep growl, much huskier than before. He was in his element, digging his nails into my hips as he thrust so brutally that the wind was knocked out of me.

“Uh. Uh. Uh. Uh. Uh. Uh.”

Lights flashed in front of my eyes and I clenched them shut, determined to block out the rest of the world. Was that even possible?

With another hard crack of his hand on my backside, I sensed he was close to coming, erupting deep inside. I jutted my hips back, meeting every brutal thrust, water now splashing everywhere from the force he used.

He refused to stop, spreading my muscles wide open.

As he finally erupted deep inside, something else dawned on me.

The hate I’d felt for years had suddenly disappeared.

“I’m sorry, baby girl, but your sister is dead.”

“What?” I stood right where I was, staring at my father as I tried to process the words. I’d known she’d been sick, so very sick. But she was getting better. “She’s better. She’s home.”

He shook his head. “She came home to die, Jess.”

“Where is she? I want to see her.” I started to run from the room and my daddy stopped me, bending down and holding my arms.

“I can’t let you do that, baby girl. She…”

“What? What, Daddy?”

“I’m afraid she was so upset she couldn’t tolerate living any longer. She drowned.”

“Because she was sick?”

“No,” he answered. “Because the man she fell in love with left her.”

Buzz. Buzz. Buzz.

I was instantly jerked awake, opening my eyes and staring up at a stark white ceiling. While my vision was clear, my head remained fuzzy. Something didn’t feel right.

The buzzing sound continued and it took a few seconds to realize it must be an alarm. Turning my head toward the sound, the bright red numerals of the clock pulsed slightly. It was the dim glow of my clock.

What?

I rose to a sitting position, instantly yanking the covers up to my chin as I scanned the room. This was my bedroom. The few bottles of perfume I owned were in the exact place I’d left them on my dresser. The book I’d been trying to read for weeks was on my nightstand crowded next to the clock.

My closet door was slightly open, just the way I’d left it when…

What the hell was going on?

The ugliness of the dream filtered into my mind and I stifled a cry. It was the first time in over a year I’d experienced the memory in a dream. Agony tore at me. I couldn’t do this. I couldn’t think about it. No.

Had Xander lied to me or had my father pushed away the one good thing in my sister’s life?

A single sob rose up from my throat, but that was it. No more. Going down the ugly road wasn’t going to ease the nagging sorrow or answer any questions. I was finished with living a life dependent on revenge. What would it accomplish? What was going on with my brain?

I pressed my hand to my head, trying to grasp the last thing I remembered.

Being carried to the bed. His bed. Sinner. Or Xander. I wasn’t certain which of the two personalities he’d been at the point when he gently eased me under the covers, tucking me in as if I’d been a good little girl.

Still thrown, the fact my brain was in a tremendous fog brought a trickle of fear. How had I gotten here? Had he brought me home late and I just didn’t remember? How was that possible? I’d had a couple of drinks, but certainly not enough to intoxicate me. Was it possible he’d slipped me a mickey of some kind?

Or… A knot formed in my stomach.

Was it possible that I’d imagined the entire thing? I jerked the covers away, noticing I was wearing the thin nightgown that I alternated in wearing at night. My car. Hold on. If he’d brought me home, then my car wouldn’t be in the driveway.

I threw back the covers, planting my feet on the floor. While I wasn’t exactly woozy, I was still unsettled on my feet as I stood. I even had to grip the chair and the edge of my dresser on the way to the door. I wasn’t certain if I was praying my car was in the driveway. If it was then I was nuts.

The living room blinds were closed and as soon as I pulled them open, I cringed and looked away for a few seconds. When I finally had the courage to glance outside, I nodded over and over again.

I was completely and unequivocally insane.

My car was right there.

Turning away from the spectacle, I took several deep breaths, steadying myself as I headed back to my bedroom. At this point, all I could do was crawl under the covers and hide.

Maybe for the rest of my life.

By the time I made it into my room once again, my gown has swished back and forth across my bottom. That was uncomfortable as hell. With a little more spring in my step, I moved toward the dresser, shifting my body and tugging the nightgown up to my waist.

I wasn’t crazy after all.

There were faint blush marks crisscrossing my bottom from when he’d punished me. With his belt.

Because I’d asked him to do so.

Fuck.

What did all this mean: the charade of pretending he wasn’t Sinner, running me a bath, testing my mettle, and being so unlike the ruthless bastard I knew him to be?

This was a mind fuck. That’s what it was. He’d played a hand in his game I hadn’t anticipated. He’d won the round after I’d beaten him at his own game playing Dark Nights. I could envision what would be next.

My sinner, my stalker wouldn’t be able to leave me alone but for so long. The game was too far in the future.

However, he wasn’t going to win. Not by a long shot.

If he wanted to play games, I was all in.

Xander might be my sinner, but he just better look out. I was a force to be reckoned with.