Page 55 of The Devil's Vice

His lips brush mine, leaving a tiny trail of sparks where he touched me. I hold my breath, desperate to feel him and taste him again. A dark chuckle pours from his mouth, and suddenly, his hand is around my throat, cutting off my air supply. My survival instincts kick in, and I desperately claw at his steel rod of a forearm in an attempt to dislodge his grip.

“Because you’re not actually a good girl, are you?” he hisses, his breath hot against the shell of my ear. “You’ve been bad, little flower. And bad girls deserve to be punished.”

He releases his grip, and I slump to the floor, heaving in lungfuls of precious oxygen. His hands dig into my sides, and I barely have time to blink before he slings my body over his shoulder.

There’s a loud ringing in my ears as we ascend the stairs. I’m terrified of what he’s really capable of. He said we were going to play a game—what the fuck am I supposed to make of that? More importantly, why am I so excited to find out what he has in that twisted mind?

“Watch your head,” he murmurs, holding his palm over my crown as we shimmy back through the hatch door. My pulse races as he steps across the floorboards, each footfall creating an ominous creaking noise. My body shifts on his shoulder as he reaches up, and something clicks softly. There’s a loud scraping noise, and when it finally ceases, the crisp scent of eucalyptus and pine wafts up my nose.

Outside.

The cool night air bites at my skin and makes me shiver, but it doesn’t matter. I’m going outside.

“I’m going to put you down. Do not try to run.” Kain’s voice sends me plummeting back to reality. Just because he let me out of the cabin doesn’t mean he’ll let me out of his sight. I’m the opposite of free.

Making good on his word, he places me gently onto the ground, keeping his hand at the small of my back to steady me.

“You may take off the blindfold now.”

I try to do as he says, but my hands shake so hard it makes the task impossible. He sighs, and then his rough hand touches mine. “Let me,” he whispers, his voice unusually soft.

“Okay.” I drop my arms to my side as he deftly undoes the knot. Once he’s done, he reaches around and pulls me flush against his chest. The shaft of his cock digs painfully into the small of my back, and I’m overcome with the urge to reach behind me and palm it. Bad. Bad, Lillith.

“Do you want to play with me, Lillith?” he husks, digging his fingertips into my abdomen. “Because I want to play with you.”

“What does that mean?” I ask, my eyes wide as he trails lower.

“I want to see how fast you can run.” He leans down, raking his teeth along the side of my neck. “I want to smell how wet you get when you’re being hunted.”

“What about the wager?” I whisper, my chest quaking with the effort to keep my breathing level. He hums low in his throat, placing a delicate kiss on my neck. I barely have time to enjoy it before he replaces the gesture with teeth, sinking them painfully into my flesh.

“Ow! Fuck!” I hiss, trying to jerk away on impulse.

“Bad,” he murmurs, increasing the pressure until the skin breaks. My eyes roll to the back of my head as he sucks the area, lapping the blood greedily with his tongue.

“So sweet,” he groans, giving the wound one last kiss before pulling back entirely. “I can’t wait to taste the rest of you.”

“You’re sick,” I whisper, my knees seconds from caving where I stand. This is wrong. All fucking wrong. But then, why does it feel so good?

His chest shakes. “Yes, little flower. I am. And you fucking love it,” he coos, giving my ass a swat as he steps back. “You get a two-minute head start. If you make it to the road before I catch you, I’ll set you free. If you can’t…” His breath hitches. “If you can’t, then you agree to be mine. No more shutting me out. No more disobedience. Just mine.”

My mind reels, the strong scent of pine suddenly making me nauseous. That, or the knowledge of what will happen to me if I fail. I shake my head. No. I’m not going to fail. I’m going to make it. I have to.

“Which way is the road?” I ask.

Kain snorts. “Your time starts now, Lillith. I suggest you start running.”

My legs move before I know what I’m doing. I race past the tree line, barely registering the splitting pain in my feet as I crash through the brush. I have no idea whether I’m running toward the road or into the beast’s mouth, but it doesn’t matter. I need to put as much distance between us as possible. Even if I don’t make it, I’m sure as fuck not going to make it easy for him.

I’m so out of my mind that I don’t notice the root until it’s too late. The top of my foot gets caught, and the added momentum from my sprint sends my body cartwheeling through the air. There’s a sharp crack as my temple slams into a stump, and I’m vaguely aware of something warm dripping down the side of my face. My hand trembles as I reach up, swiping my fingers through the viscous fluid pouring from the gash along my hairline.

“Oh God…” My lips are numb as I stare down at my palm caked in mud and crimson. I need to get up. I have to keep running.

A stick cracks somewhere in the distance, and my heart drops to my stomach. As much as I want to believe it’s the work of some animal, I know better. It’s him. The devil.

I lost.

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

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