Page 78 of Slaughter

I look up when I hear a sniff to find Bunny now standing in the doorway of the bathroom. Her eyes red from crying, brown hair a disheveled mess, and still wearing her black sequin dress. Black smears her face from crying off all her makeup.

My chest tightens that I hurt her. That I had to hit her as though she didn’t mean a fucking thing to me when she still means everything. Even after all this time, I can’t hate this woman no matter what she put me through.

She wraps her arms around her chest and lowers her eyes to the floor. “May I shower?”

I hate how she asks as if she needs permission—as if she is a true fucking slave—but I say, “Yes, but the water will hurt your backside.”

She just stands there, so I walk over to her and cup her chin, forcing her to look up at me. Blue eyes full of sadness.

She sniffs, unfolding her arms from around her chest, and surprises me with a hug.

I slowly wrap my arms around her, waiting for her to punch me. Stab me. Something to show me anything but affection. And I feel a pain in my chest when she buries her head into it. Her brother is fucking shit up even more. I should have shot that bastard in the face instead of the leg when I had the chance.

“I’m so ashamed,” she admits softly.

“Why?” I pull away from her.

Fresh tears slowly roll down her face, and I wipe them away with my thumbs. “Because I liked it.”

My fingers pause on her cheeks. “Liked what?”

She licks her wet lips, tasting her own tears, and whispers roughly, “What you did to me.”

I release her and take a step back, giving us space. I think she’s talking crazy. “What I did—”

“You have to understand,” she interrupts me. “I’m fucked up, Avery.” She drops her head in shame. “I’ve gone so many years with nothing but emptiness. Not able to feel anything.” She lifts her head, and her eyes look into mine. “You make me feel something. It may be pain, but it feels like love. It feels like life. I don’t feel dead. And I welcome that.”

I stand there staring at this woman confused. That felt like love? I used to show her love every fucking day of my life. How can she compare what we used to have to how I treat her now? When did she start to like being treated like nothing? When did she lose her self-worth? For her to like the way I punished her? It wasn’t like it was a mind game. Or tying her up and not allowing her to come. I physically beat her. Hurt her. Made her bleed. All because I had to show the world that she meant nothing to me.

When I don’t say anything, she reaches down and grabs her dress at the thighs and pulls it up. I reach out and help her get out of it.

“Will you take a shower with me?” she asks softly.

I nod and go over to open the shower door and turn it on. I hold it open for her, and she walks past me to enter, and my chest tightens when I look at her ass and thighs. Red marks run across them from where I took the belt to her flawless skin. Ten strikes. And I hate to admit that they made me hard. That I liked the way she cried. The way she panted and how I marked her. Guess I could argue that I’m just as fucked up as she is.

I enter and shut the door. She walks under the sprayer, hissing in a breath and stepping back away from it. Her eyes meet mine, and fresh tears form from the pain.

I should tell her that I’m sorry, but my eyes land on her bare breasts. All she wears is the collar around her neck. I place my hands on her tits, and she hisses in a breath for a new reason. “I wanna fuck you so bad, Bunny,” I admit shamelessly. If she can admit she liked the way I hit her, I can admit that I still fucking want her.

She places her hand around the base of my hard cock. “Then fuck me, Avery.”

My eyes search hers. They glisten with her tears. “It’ll hurt. Your ass …”

“Good.” Her hand runs up and down the length of my dick, and I groan, leaning forward to place my face in the crook of her neck. “Hurt me,” she whispers. “I want you to hurt me, Avery. Please,” she begs as her hand picks up its pace.

I grab her hand from my cock and slam her back against the cold tile wall. She lets out a sob when her ass and thighs hit the unforgiving surface. I then pin both of her hands above her head, and my free hand goes between her legs. She spreads them the best she can for me, and I thrust a finger into her soaked pussy, immediately adding another one.

She sucks in a ragged breath, and her head falls back into the wall. “Please let me come.”

“I’m not sure I want you to,” I say honestly, even if she has earned it.

She whimpers. “I need it.”

Fuck, she just needs to be used! She has become my perfect little slave without even knowing it. “What are you going to do for it?” I ask.

“Anything,” she answers desperately.

As I pull away from her, she sags against the wall. “To your knees.”