Page 28 of Vow to Corrupt You (Gods of Corruption #1)

Nikos

Do that again, and you’ll see a side of me you won’t like,” I warn, my tone low and dark as I lock the door to my office behind me.

Serena stands there, her eyes flickering between mine with fear.

This woman seems so innocent, vulnerable, and fragile, yet she’s the only person who has ever dared to cross me like that.

She fucking spit on me in the tattoo shop a few weeks ago, and now she fucking slapped me in front of her family and my staff.

I’ve said she’s either foolishly fearless or she hates me to such a degree that the prospect of death seems more appealing than spending the rest of her life by my side. Still can’t decide which one it is.

“How could you say something like that to my father?” she shakes her head.

“You still don’t see it, do you?” I rasp, wrath boiling in my blood at her oblivion. She’d unquestioningly defend her family, no matter what they do, not seeing the damage they did to her. Literally sacrificed her life to save her brother’s.

“See what?” she snaps, causing my fists to clench with more force.

“I’m tired of hearing about what kind of villain I am while you let your family walk all over you.” I take a few steady steps toward her, but this time, she doesn’t back out. “I needed to provoke a reaction from you, Serena. Anything .”

“Oh, and what reaction did you expect after humiliating me in front of my family?” She tilts her face up a bit shakily, as if my presence dominating the space between us feels like a threat to her.

“I didn’t say it to humiliate you.” I lean down, our noses almost touching. “But to finally see some fire in your eyes that wasn’t there when you let Valeria belittle you. To see you stand up for yourself instead of letting people walk all over you, over and over, again and again.”

“Are you implying my family doesn’t care about me?” Her body tightens with each forced intake of air, like she’s struggling to hold herself together. “But you do?” The last part comes out as a scoff.

My hand clutches the soft curve below her face, using every ounce of my willpower to resist forcing her to her knees and giving her the punishment she deserves.

To restrain my wrath that’s building in me because of her.

Because of her insolent mouth that pushes me to the edge of my sanity, her resilience, and reckless courage.

One day, it will be her undoing. Or mine, for that matter.

How can someone so little evoke more in me than anyone I’ve ever met, any war I’ve ever battled, any danger I’ve ever encountered? It’s insane. Maddening.

“Can’t you see that you apparently mean more to me than you’ve ever meant to your father?” There’s a sudden shift in her eyes, a tiny spark of something I can’t decipher, igniting her deep brown gaze.

“Accusing my father comes easily to you,” she sucks in a shallow breath. “But you seem to forget it’s you who takes pleasure in toying with me. It’s you who took me as if I were nothing more than just a prize in your twisted game of power, dominance, or whatever else strokes your distorted ego.”

A sneer slips from my throat. “I am not a saint, never pretended to be. Unlike your father. He came to me. He traded you for your brother’s life as if you were a bargaining chip.

I merely took his offer and collected what was mine.

” I growl, gritting my teeth. “And yet, your hand lands on my cheek. Not his.”

“Why did you agree?” Her voice drips with frustration.

“Why did you marry me? You said to my father that this marriage brings you no benefit. You didn’t need a wife.

Can’t have children. You could’ve killed Salvatore, killed all of us, and faced no consequences.

Quell the riot at its very root. Why bother? ”

My grip tightens as I pull her closer. I am mad she managed, and still does , to sink deep into my skin like a tattoo, inking her entire being into my very core.

“Because I saw you.” My lips brush hers as a sigh escapes her mouth, whether from the tightening grip or my confession. “I came to your house to kill your family and make your brother watch. To make an example out of all of you. But I fucking saw you .”

I hate her for having to admit that out loud.

This woman took hold of my body and mind, and all it took was a single glance of her innocent eyes.

Perhaps it was meant to be. Like Hades claiming Persephone as his Queen, I am consumed by the need to possess her, to make her mine, fully, irrevocably, for all eternity.

Make her my own Persephone, the Queen of Darkness, my darkness.

“They should crawl to you on their knees and worship you for what you’ve done for them. Demand the respect you deserve. You’re the Queen they should bow to. They’re just the pawns. You seem to forget that.”

“I understand now,” she mutters, a look on her face that I’ve yearned to see finally there. “You don’t want me to be your plaything. You want me to be yours.”

“Took you long enough to understand.” I brush her bottom lip with my thumb. “I want you to be mine. In every sense of the word. In all the sick ways a human can belong to another human. Mind, body, and soul.”

“No heart?” Her brow twitches faintly in a tease.

“Why would I settle for your heart if I can have more than that?” My thumb forces her lips to part. “I want the madness of your mind, the longing of your body, the surrender of your soul. Something a heart alone can’t give.”

“And what if I want your heart?” Her head tilts back as her lips search for mine.

My hand roams down to her neck as I press my lips against hers.

“I’ve none to offer,” I nibble her lip. “But I can give you far more than that.”

I pull her in, closing the non-existent gap between us with a fierce kiss. My lips demanding hers, my tongue dominating hers, possessing her in just the way I’ve wanted to from the start.

Gasping for air, she pushes away.

“Just for the record, this changes nothing. I still hate you.”

My lips curve in a smirk. “I hate you more. I hate everything in you, from your innocent eyes to your cock-worthy lips to the way your chuckle makes every part of me need you. I hate the way I want you. The way you’re my all-consuming obsession.”

Her lips tremble against mine as if her heart just skipped a beat. “I want to be your all-consuming obsession.”

My grin grows wider. “I’d want nothing less.”

“Earlier, you wanted me to beg you to fuck me, didn’t you?” Her exposed chest expands and contracts with ragged breaths.

My head inclines. “And now?”

She fixes me with her daring gaze. “I don’t beg. I demand.”

My teeth graze my lips while I look at her, like a predator at its prey.

I pin her against the wall, my lips crashing against hers in a fierce, aggressive kiss, only to trail possessive kisses down her neck, down the deep cut of her dress. The way her body surrenders to my touch fuels me with overpowering need.

Without effort, I lift her into my arms, holding her against my chest. “Not here. Not the first time.”

I carry her toward the door and open it with one hand, still holding her in my arms. As it swings open, I see Remo standing by as always. Serena hides her face in the curve of my neck as if it would make him disappear.

“Boss?” Remo clears his throat.

“Send her family home…immediately,” I command.

He nods. “What should I tell them?”

As any fucked-up and unapologetic bastard with no conscience would say, I reply, “Tell them I’m going to fuck my wife.”