Page 177 of Beyond the Temptation: Vol 2

My hand wraps around hers, and my fingertips clutch the handle along with her. I want to see how far she’s going to take this. If she’s playing a game of chicken, I guarantee she’s going to bail before I do. If our fates are left up to me, we will crash into one another in a breathtaking, lethal wreck. I’ll scorch the earth to its ends to see the beautiful wreckage we create together and stand in awe as I bathe her in the purple rain of the world.

“Wh-what?” she stutters, her fingers shaking in mine.

“If I let Adam keep his pathetic life, do you promise to keep your word?”

“Yes. Whatever it takes. I’ll do it.”

“My terms, whatever I say?”

She slowly nods. She doesn’t understand what it is she’s declaring, but I’m going to hold her to it regardless.

“Etta, don’t make any deals with a scumbag like him. He probably eats children for fun.”

A devious smirk flashes on my face before I open my mouth. “No, I don’t usually, but I’ll make sure she swallows a few hundred of mine.” I wink in his direction, and she forces the blade to turn in our grasp. Yes, I can easily stop her, but I’m too excited to see what she is going to do next. If she sinks the metal to the hilt between my ribs, I’ll know she’s the one for me—that her love language is violence, just like mine.

“I didn’t agree to anything like that, asshole,” she says in a focused tone, but her body has an entirely different reaction. Her cheeks flush, and her nipples harden into peaks beneath her tight top.

“It’s all or nothing, little fox. Anything, and I mean anything, goes. You’re mine in exchange for his life.”

“For how long?” Her eyes flicker to me.

“Etta! You can’t seriously be considering this,” Adam barks, shaking his head in disapproval.

“The only thing you should do is thank her for saving your life,” I correct him, jabbing the broken pool stick in the air closer to his face with each word.

Ren gets behind Adam, his silver chain dropping out of his leather jacket, just in case Adam thinks he’s brave. I shake my head at Ren. If Adam forces this, I’m down to teach him a lesson. Ren breathes out an exasperated groan. “Fucking hell. Fine, but so help me, if one drop of blood gets on my shirt, you’re scrubbing it out with a toothbrush.”

I shrug, not caring what he says, but I don’t disagree.

“What’s it going to be, little fox? Your body…” My free hand wraps around her waist. “Or his?”

She sucks in a ragged breath. “Mine.”

Adam lunges at me, and her knife slits through my shirt and pierces my skin. The pain burns, but it’s not anything I can’t handle. It’s a minor cut that might take a few days to heal. I’ve given myself a lot worse. She gasps, retracting her knife first, but her eyes follow the line of blood down the silver metal as if it is the most glorious thing she’s ever done. I wonder if I’m the first to be on her knife or if she’s dirtied its surface with others before me. A small smile pulls at her lips, but she covers her mouth as soon as Adam’s eyes connect with hers. If given another chance, I’m going to rid him of his pitiful life for making her feel guilty. Causing pain isn’t something one should find shameful. Pain is inevitable, just like masturbation; everyone experiences it—regardless if it’s self-inflected or orchestrated by the hands of another, it happens.

“Great going, Adam. Lo was being polite, and now, you’ve gone and pissed him off,” Ren groans, flipping his black hair out of his face as he notices the blood on the tip of the blade.

I lift our hands to my lips, and my tongue runs along the trail of blood, removing some of the evidence of pain. “Now you,” I instruct, testing the waters to see if she is really telling the truth. I want to see how far she’ll let me push her.

Her wet, pristine tongue quakes as she opens her mouth and pushes it between her lips, carefully licking up and down the blade until the remaining bit of blood is gone. My cock throbs behind my jeans, and I imagine her mouth around it instead of on her knife. Although, I do have to say, what she just did just definitely has my attention. “Good girl,” I praise her and run my thumb over her lips, smearing red off the side of her mouth.

“Et—” Adam barely gets out before I slap him across the face with the pool stick. Blood sprays out of his mouth and across the green felt of the table. My elbow bends, and I give him a sharp whack on the other side before he can react. His hand flies out, cupping his jaw. “You hit me!” he wails.

“Walk away while you’re still breathing, Adam,” Ren cautions and shoves him from behind. Adam’s feet are still beside us, and he opens his mouth to speak.

Ren huffs, snatching the pool stick from me and tossing it on the table. “Really?” He eyes me hatefully.

I shrug.

“Just go, Adam. I can take care of myself,” she assures him without a hint of fear in her voice.

CHAPTER FIVE

ETTA

Adam huffs, glaring at me, and Ren shoves his hand against Adam’s back. “You heard her. Get a move on,” Ren says with a shake of his head, ushering Adam away from us and out the door. Lo’s fingertips trace my cheek and brush over my lips. I bite at the air, and he tilts his head sideways.

“Tsk. Tsk. Remember, little fox, you agreed to this.” His finger waves in front of my face, and my teeth chomp in the direction of his finger again.

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