Page 44 of Fierce Monarch

I hummed above her, adjusting so I could stroke soft circles along her wrist with my thumb now that she was done hurting me. My arms were slicked with blood, but I’d wear those wounds with pride. “It puts your autonomic nervous system into a sort of ‘rest and recover’ mode. Pressure and weight like this help with anxiety.”

Greyson cocked his head, eyes darting over Mari’s face as he watched the angst slowly drain away, leaving only relief. “You’re acting like a human weighted blanket.”

“Exactly.” I chuckled. “The other option was an ice bath, but I decided it would be too much if you were still shocky from earlier.”

“I’m not shocky,” Mari snapped.

I nuzzled her neck, brushing my lips against her skin. “I know that now, but it wasn’t a risk I wanted to take.”

After my nod at Grey, he took over. “How can we fix this?”

“You said Ronnie and the others are?—”

“We’re not talking about the article or the Wolf, or even Cash. We’re talking about you,” I said gently. As expected, she locked up underneath me, so I adjusted my weight to press her back down against the floor. “Don’t bolt. Just talk to us. We’re your partners. Let us be there for you. We can shoulder some of the burdens.”

“There’s nothing for you to do. I’ve got to sort through this alone.”

I lifted onto my knees and rolled her over, needing her to see my face. When she was on her back, I huddled over her body, palms cradling her cheeks and forcing her to stay with me. “Maybe, but I’m not going to let you drown under the weight of the world, Mari. Use me.”

“Use you?”

“Yes.” I nuzzled her cheek with mine, feeling her sigh at the touch. “I’ll take some of it off your shoulders so you can breathe. Just tell me what’s wrong.”

“I can’t stand him being the last one to touch me,” she whispered. I leaned back to see tears lining her eyes, though I knew she wouldn’t let them fall. “I hate it. I hate him and his soft touches and his fucking words. I can’t get them out of my head, and I’m so… I just… I can’t do this anymore, Dominic. I need it to stop.”

Her little gasp killed me. This was Mari’s version of begging for help, reaching out to us and praying we’d pull her from the depths. The side she was only showing because she trusted us, because she loved us.

Of course we’d pull her out. She was ours.

Our woman. Our love. Our queen.

We’d always pull her out.

Greyson and I looked at each other, and though I could see the wariness in him, he nodded, reaching for Mari’s hand as he made himself comfortable close by.

I stroked Mari’s hair back gently and kissed her lips with the softest graze. “Don’t worry, mariposa. We’ll fix it for you.”

Chapter Twelve

Greyson

Dominic had Mari flipped in a second, her wrists shackled over her head with one of his hands.

Looking at him, I saw nothing of the Dominic I was used to. No jokes or flirting, no sweetness for Mari. Just cold, hard determination.

Dominic undid his pants just enough to pull out his cock, leaving the rest of his clothes on. Meanwhile, he tore off Mari’s bra, ripping her pants down her thighs as he straddled her ass. Hell, he barely moved to get the fabric out of the way. He held her underneath him, thrusting his cock between her cheeks and grunting like an animal. Every movement carried with it an edge of violence that set off every instinct I had as he leaned down to bite her neck.

It wasn’t a love bite. It was savage, and it tore a scream from Mari’s throat.

I jerked forward on instinct, ready to pull her out, but Dominic snarled at me. “Don’t.”

“You’re going to hurt her.”

“Only because she needs it.”

“You don’t get to decide that!”

“Grey, please.” When I looked at Mari, I saw pain on her face, but I saw pleasure too. Pleasure and relief. My heart raced, and I wasn’t sure I could stay in the room. Dominic was going to mount her like an animal, rut her into the mat, and even if the thought made me hard, it felt too close to real violence for me to be comfortable. It felt like one wrong move would wreck her and us and everything, and I wasn’t sure my nerves could take it.

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