Page 3

The window rattled and sprang open with frightening force. Wind shook the pane, and my hair lashed against my cheeks. I hurried to swing it closed and grabbed at the latch. With a bit of maneuvering, I was able to hook it in place, cutting off the whoosh of the wind.

My harsh, ragged panting made my chest ache.

Turning around, I froze.

This was it, I’d officially lost it. I was so terrified that every limb stiffened to the point of pain. I blinked quickly, like it would change what stood before me.

The looming creature wasn’t human. His eyes were pitch black; a deep, dark void. As frightened as I was, I couldn’t stop staring as I searched for a pupil, for something , in their inky, terrifying depths.

He was an amalgamation of different creatures.

Features of a cat, complete with slanted nostrils and the slightest cleft tipping up the middle of his upper lip, giving them a pouty aspect.

Ram horns curved upward from silky-looking .

. . hair? Moonlight fell across the strands, enhancing the feather-like texture.

My heart pumped in my chest with violent thuds. This thing was terrifying.

Something moved behind him, and two huge, arching wings twitched, bending close to his body. He was so large that the top of his head was just shy of touching the eleven-foot ceiling. This is going to get me committed again .

I closed my eyes.

“You’re not real,” I chanted over and over. I gripped my cross so hard that the sharp edges dug into my palm.

Oh father, who art in heaven ?—

The evilest sound I’d ever heard left the creature before me.

Grating and mocking. I’d officially lost my mind.

The softest graze caressed my chin. My eyes popped open, and his mouth spread in a grin, wider than any human could manage, displaying sharp, elongated teeth.

In the upper left and right quadrants of his mouth, his slightly hooked incisors jutted out.

The rest of his teeth were just as sharp and pointy, but they weren’t as curved.

He leaned closer, and all I could manage to do was suck in a harsh breath. He cocked his head, and his pure black eyes remained on me.

Moisture slicked my hand grabbing the cross, and I released it. The copper tang of blood reached my nose, and I lifted my trembling hand in front of my face to see the small bleeding cut. He gripped my wrist so suddenly I wouldn’t have been able to avoid the monstrous claws even if I had wanted to.

I stiffened, watching him with wide eyes. His touch was harsh and cold.

“Don’t, please,” I choked out.

That terrifying mouth spread, and he ran his inhumanly long tongue across my palm without letting go of my gaze. The graze was rough like that of a feline. Nausea clenched my stomach.

“Don’t please ,” he mocked. His voice was deep and gravelly; low-pitched and as powerful as he looked. I wasn’t short, but he made me feel like a speck in comparison. A pitiful, weak, speck.

“You should have obeyed me.” He clicked his tongue in a faux disapproving manner.

What was he talking about?

His stick-straight hair fluttered around his shoulders as he cocked his head eerily. He threw my hand down, and I took the opportunity to stumble back, but before I could make it far, something slithered around my wrist, stopping me.

A dark shadow wound itself around my arm, slowly making its way up to my elbow. I desperately yanked and swatted at it, but the inkiness tightened, pulsing and expanding to grab my other arm. They tightened, keeping me in place.

“Let me go,” I whimpered.

His large wings stirred, causing his loose shirt to flutter.

“Let me think about it.” He was suddenly an inch from my face. “No.”

His sharp teeth were much too close.

In a swift movement, I was dragged by the hold on my arms and landed on the bed with a hard bounce that rattled my brain.

I screamed, struggling against the shadows that had manifested into a more solid entity to pin me on the mattress.

The very shadows that always appeared at the corner of my eye, but dissipated before I could get more than a glimpse.

But this proved it, I wasn’t insane. Each time I’d heard things or seen things, they’d really been there.

The creature approached until he stood over the bed. I lifted my head, straining for freedom while he watched me writhe. He did nothing but watch.

“Why are you doing this?” I cried out, panting.

“You know what you did, Beatrix.”

“What are you talking about? I don’t know you,” I said, energy leaking away with each attempt to get free.

His large hands took hold of my thighs. He forcefully spread them, and my skirt pooled around my legs. His claws dug into the skin above my knees, causing small punctures. The sharp, stinging pain zipped to my shin. I flinched, but my legs refused to close.

“You should have obeyed.”

The shadows inched my skirt higher and higher until it wrapped around my waist. With a quick movement, the shadows delved under my underwear and ripped them off, causing the cool air to brush against my bare sex.

This wasn’t happening. Oh, God, please no .

Tears blurred my vision as I thrashed with more effort, using every ounce of strength possible to break free. It was no use. The bed dipped as he crawled onto the mattress, slowly inching up—torturing me.

“We-we can talk about this. I don’t know what I did, but please, I repent. I’ll be a better person.” I trailed off once his face hovered over mine. His hair fell forward, and the tips tickled my cheek.

“You should not have fucked the human male,” he said.

My mind raced. There was only one person I’d slept with.

Andrew, my ex-boyfriend. Each moment of intimacy had led up to the night we fucked.

But in the lead up, we’d fooled around, and without fail, the voices became so intense I couldn’t get into it.

The time I’d shown up at his apartment in the middle of the night, I’d felt rebellious and angry.

It felt like the voices were trying to deprive me of happiness, so I went to him, pushing through the insistent, indiscernible voices.

But they’d won. I couldn’t focus on sex, which made the entire event . . . unsatisfying.

But how did he know about that? And why punish me? The shock stopped the pleas in my throat.

“You belong to me.”

The memory of the hushed whispers overwhelmed my thoughts. It dragged me back to that night. How I had squeezed my eyes tight and gritted my teeth through them. Except, unlike before, they weren’t unintelligible, and it wasn’t multiple voices; it was the creature hovering over me.

“ You have always been mine. ” His mouth spread into that creepy smile again. That cadence—that voice . . . The whispers were always him.

A touch grazed my leg, but his hands were braced on the bed.

“Why?” I croaked.

“You should have obeyed.”

Something cold touched my knee, and I gasped, peeking down between the sliver of space between us. It felt as tangible as a hand against my skin.

More shadows slithered up and wound around my wrists, pulling my arms up so high it verged on pain. Struggling against them was useless. They were too strong.

He rose onto his knees and sat back on his legs.

His long limbs were covered in clothing; the linen shirt split at the top to allow me a glimpse at his too-smooth flesh.

The pose seemed inconspicuous and laid back, like he didn’t have a worry.

Even though his eyes were pure black, I could feel his attention on me.

The shadows slackened the slightest amount, and I took the window of opportunity to slap my thighs together.

Strands of shadows wound up my ankles until they reached my knees, and they pried me apart, baring me to the creature once again. I hadn’t had the chance to even scoot away.

He cocked his head, staring down at my sex. I was close to hyperventilating. I couldn’t move, and my heart pounded so hard I could hear it in my ears.

He lifted a finger, the tip of his sharp, black claw pointed upward, and shadows spawned. From mist to a thicker consistency that was more tangible than it looked. The pitch-black shadow slid down, and I had to tuck my chin closer into my chest to watch it lower between my legs.

“Stop.” I peeled my eyes so wide that it hurt.

The shadow grazed my sex. The initial touch was so cold that my entire body stiffened. Why was he doing this?! My throat hurt from how hard I was panting. The cold sensation prodded more insistently.

“W-w—” I choked off with a cry. The shadow pushed inside me; the iciness invading and stretching my core uncomfortably.

Gritting my teeth didn’t abate the pain, and my lower lip trembled. This couldn’t be real. The monstrous creature sat back, watching me writhe helplessly in place.

The shadow worked deeper, and I winced.

“Would you like more?” The eerie way he stared at me sent chills skittering up my spine.

The thing pulsated inside me and grew.

I screamed, writhing to get away from the discomfort, but all it did was move. The pressure was more than I could handle, far greater than the fullness I had felt when fucking Andrew. Nausea swirled in my gut.

“Please stop.” My voice shook.

“You’re going to kill me.” I struggled to speak.

Right when it felt like it would rip me apart from the inside out, the shadow inside me pulled back, and the forcefulness turned into something different.

The prolonged pain turned to something worse .

. . something pleasurable to the point that I could no longer breathe.

Its attention spread to the button of nerves. I gasped, my stomach contracting.

The gentle caress became more insistent, and with it came electrical spikes that traveled up my spine.

Pleasure fired through my belly and pooled between my legs. A small whimper slipped from my lips. Such overwhelming shame accompanied my need, but even then, I didn’t want it to stop.

The creature looked demonic, staring down at me with shadows whipping around him. And still, its otherworldliness invited me in to explore. I wanted to touch the soft-looking feathering.

God help me .

He cocked his head, and the gentle rub against my clit and the shallow throbbing of the shadow inside me, tore my breath from my lungs.

My hips lifted toward the delicious sensation licking through my flesh.

Bunching the comforter under me, I whimpered.

I felt so full and desperate for more. Flames licked through my core so intensely that I gasped.

I was so, so close to the pinnacle. Coming felt wrong.

I didn’t want this, but I couldn’t stop my body’s response.

My legs wouldn’t stop shaking. I wanted—I wanted . . .

“But even your pleasure . . . I can take it away—just like that.” With the twist of his hand, everything stopped.

The orgasm slipped through my fingers, elusive, as if it had never existed.

My breaths sounded especially loud to my ears.

I met his onyx gaze, then took in the impassive expression on his strange, angular face.

“You’re evil,” I spat. And I’d wanted to come even if the evil staring down at me was the cause. Heat flooded my entire body, and I twitched my hips with the bit of freedom they now had, trying to grind against the fullness that had gone still inside me.

His sneer widened.

“And you are mine .”

Just like that, the shadows disappeared to join the others binding my wrists together. The monster flicked his hand in an upward motion, and I was pulled upright.

I tried to pull my wrists apart, but it was no use. He gave them a little jerk. Just enough to turn my gaze to him. He held the end not attached to me like a leash. Keeping my gaze, he tugged, making me stumble forward with a gasp.

“Come, weak mortal.”

He said it like I was some sort of animal. Not that I would ever treat an animal this poorly, but he spoke as if I were nothing. I scanned the tension around my wrists. Kidnapping 101: Never let the kidnapper take you to the second location.

I kicked my foot out, connecting the tip of my sneaker against his pant-covered leg.

I held my breath, waiting for the death blow.

But he threw his head back . . . and let out a booming sound, similar to a laugh, but raspier and frightening.

Nausea rose in my throat and my heart thundered so hard that it hurt.

The shadows gathered behind him, accumulating. They seemed to be undulating and alive. So slowly, he made the tendrils drag me closer to the black mass.

As much as I fought, I couldn’t stop the slow progression to him.

I’d be another statistic. Another woman to just . . . disappear.