“Keiran, you killed—”

“Let’s play a game of don’t talk until I tell you to.”

“Bite me,” I spat. I didn’t intend for him to take me so literally.

His teeth sunk down on my cheek and wouldn’t let go no matter how much I begged and cried. The pulsing between my legs increased as he continued to use the sponge against me.

“Keiran, please. You’re hurting me.”

“I want to fucking hurt you,” he said when he released my cheek. “I want to hurt you and make you scream.”

“Oh, God.”

“Just let go.”

“I can’t,” I whimpered.

“You will. Come for me.”

“Keiran, please don’t do this to me.” I pressed against his hand, creating waves in the water around us.

“Should I give you my dick instead?”

Yes, please.

When he started to lift his hand, I panicked and grabbed onto him, keeping him there. Together, we stroked me to a volcanic release that had to be the most intense orgasm I’d ever experienced though, with him, it was always intense.

As I caught my breath, he kissed the spot where his teeth had undoubtedly left marks, and I wondered how I could possibly explain it to my aunt when she returned.

“Now that you’ve stroked your ego, you can go,” I stated in a dismissive tone. “If that’s all you had to say, you wasted your time.”

I was up and out of the tub before he could respond and made a dash for the door. I needed to get to my bedroom. Locking him out would do no good, but I had something better.

Two can play this game.

I completely forgot about my naked state and ignored the chill bumps that covered my skin by the time I entered my bedroom. Wasting no time, I whipped open the top drawer of my desk, pulled out my purchase from earlier, and waited for him to come after me.

I didn’t have to wait long.

Chapter Eight

Keiran

I was starting to believe cat and mouse was Monroe’s favorite game. She never missed an opportunity to run from me even though I would always catch her. When she ran from the bathroom like a bat out of hell, I fought the urge to laugh. She did exactly as I expected her to and was pleased to find she didn’t disappoint. I ignored the urge to chase after her.

Instead, I picked up the sponge I had just used to make her come and took a quick bath. I wasn’t one to take leisurely baths in garden tubs with bubbles and shit, but I did it to mess with her head. It was also an excuse to get close to her and touch her as I had been itching to do since the last time. It seemed too fucking long ago.

I gave Monroe enough time to find her hiding spot before stepping out of the tub. After a quick towel dry, I stalked out of the bathroom in search of my prey. I didn’t have to search hard. The noise coming from her bedroom let me know where she had disappeared to and that she wasn’t hiding. Her bedroom door was open, and when I stepped in the doorway, my heart actually skipped a beat.

Son of a bitch.

Legs spread, feet planted, arms extended, and with a determined look in her eye, Monroe held a gun that was pointed straight at my heart.

“What is this,” I asked, attempting casualness. I wasn’t afraid. In fact, I felt quite the opposite. My dick had never been harder.

“I want you to leave and never come back.”

“Or you’ll shoot me?” I took a step inside the room and closed the door behind me. Confusion appeared on her face when I moved closer. It wasn’t the reaction she expected.

“That would be why I have a gun pointed at you.” The hard edge in her voice faltered, but only for a moment.

“Why a gun? Why not call the cops?”

“So you can get out of it and come after someone else I love? Forgive me, but I don’t have much faith in our justice system anymore. The penal system sucks.”

“So why not just kill me?”

“Are you seriously going to tempt the person with the gun?”

“I’m thinking I should call your bluff.”

“That would be stupid. Leave and don’t come back. Whether I put you away or kill you, I will not let you hurt me again.”

“Why the change of heart?”

It was the picture of a dam breaking as large tears rolled down her face and her hand began to tremble. “Because,” she sobbed. “Because I’m done surviving you. That girl is gone,” she screamed.

“So who is standing in front of me?”

“The girl who will fight you even if it takes her last breath.”

“Then why are you crying, baby?” I took another step toward her, but she didn’t seem to notice.

“Don’t… don’t call me that, Keiran. Please don’t call me that. You’re just trying to mind fuck me.”

She wasn’t completely wrong, but she wasn’t entirely right either.

“You’ll always be mine, Lake.” I took another step. “You can use a gun…” Another step. “You can use a knife…” Just a little closer. “You can fucking kill me, but you’ll always be mine.”

By the end of my little speech, my chest was pressed against the gun, and I felt her fear. I lifted my hand slowly and flipped the safety off. Her small gasp of breath blew across my neck, and I felt my dick stiffen.

“So shoot me.”

Her arm whipped out faster than I’ve ever seen her move. The butt of the gun slapped brutally across my lip, and I could instantly recognize the metallic taste of blood.

She hit me.

She fucking hit me.

The expression on her face told me she was just as surprised as I was, but she recovered quickly and tipped her righteous chin at me in a challenge.

Fuck. Me.

“You’re going to regret that.”

“Somehow I doubt that. What I can’t seem to figure out is why you’re still here.”

“You fucking hit me.” I thumbed at the moist spot on my lip and peered down to see a bright speck of red coating the tip of my thumb.

“Are you going to cry about it?”

“Monroe,” I started but stopped and took a few deep breaths. I was having a hard time controlling whatever the hell was pushing against the surface for a taste of her. Whatever I was feeling, she must have seen when her expression became fearful, and she took a step back. “Have I ever hit you?”

“N—no.”

I snatched her by her shirt and brought her chest to mesh with mine.

“Then you don’t hit me.”

I felt my teeth grind against each other and practically felt the grit in my voice as I spoke to her. I could tell myself I was mad because she hit me. That maybe I was even mad because she shed my blood. But no, I knew why I was really upset. Doesn’t she know who I am and what I am capable of doing? What if I had been someone else? Someone wouldn’t hesitate to hurt her.

She held the gun in her hands, and she mistakenly believed it made her strong when it only made her much more vulnerable. She wasn’t ready to use the gun, and I didn’t mean on a physical level. Mentally, she was still too protected by her innocence. Someone more depraved than me would have killed her with her own gun by now.

“It’s just a little bloodshed,” she mocked. Her body betrayed her as I felt her quake and listened to the uneven rhythm of her breathing.

“Are you nervous?” I fought the smile tugging at the corner of my lip.

“In your dreams.”

“You have no idea what I dream about.”

“Dead little girls and the other people you murdered?”

Her back had hit the wall with a violent crash, and I was on her before I could waste time to regret my next move.

I was going to own this girl.

I braced the back of my arms against the wall and leaned down, bringing our faces close together. It was the closest I was willing to allow myself. I didn’t dare touch her again. Not now. My demon was raging a war against my will power and was calling me to hurt her, to give her the bite of pain she reserved to like only during sex.