Page 146 of Taken By Touch and Torment

She placed her hand on my throat in warning, but she didn’t yet apply pressure. She leaned into me, sniffing me like a wild animal. Her throaty groan made me want to vomit.

“Such a pity you weren’t one of my girls,” she said. “Durian never would’ve had to deal with your pesky acts of disobedience and attention-seeking. I would’ve made you into the most perfect, devoted little doll for him.”

I remembered the girl with her mouth sewn shut, and I stayed perfectly still, even as my hand itched to grab that blood-onyx-infused dagger.

“I still envision that night we strapped you to the cross, the divine scent of your blood and cunt, drenched in fear?—”

My fingers twitched. Just one move, and I could paralyze her. I could weaken her enough to aim for the heart.

She licked her dark red lips. She smelled of copper and overly-sweet perfume, perhaps to counteract her personality. “I can’t wait to have my way with you. The time will come. Our king will see how much my skills are needed. Yes… I’ll play with you until you’re nothing but a pretty doll, ready to be used however her Master sees fit.”

Her eyes grew crazed, and I kept a tight leash on my panic, knowing it would only send her closer to bloodlust. She kept repeating herself, over and over, and all I could think of was Kole’s voice saying island madness.

These vampires really were fucking nuts.

On her sixth ode to the breakability of my body and mind and her various plans to turn me into a human doll, I finally heard heavy footsteps down the hall.

Evangeline looked feral, her nostrils flaring.

“Get back,” Brennan barked.

She let out a strangled noise, as if she were a cat in heat. Brennan had to peel her away, throwing her back against the opposite wall. Her lip curled, her chest rising and falling rapidly.

Brennan planted himself between us. “Go get yourself under control.” His broad body was clothed in a black and burgundy uniform. His black boots were heavy against the marble.

At the flicker of power lighting up his palms, Evangeline finally slinked away.

Brennan turned back to me, and when he crushed his lips to mine, I became the best damn actress in all of Valentin.

I rewarded him for saving me, echoing back his own desire, melding my lips with his. I pretended his lips were Rune’s, even if they were too soft, too desperate, too coated in saliva.

My golden web of influence wrapped around us both in a tight embrace.

We are destined. We are star-crossed lovers meant to be together. My blood was made for you.

Brennan’s hands roamed my body, and I saved the anger and disgust for later. It was all fuel.

He pulled back, noticing the fang marks on my neck. “That bastard,” he growled. “The thought of anyone else fucking touching you…”

Well, I hate to tell you this, champ, I joked to myself, using humor to distract myself from the trauma of unwanted groping.

He scanned the rest of my blood-soaked body, finally coming back down to reality after his single-minded focus on finding me.

“Are you okay? What happened? Where is Aunt Carol?”

Rosalind’s face entered my mind. I thought of her gleeful laughter when she was teaching me how to fake certain emotions for greater effect. I remembered the way she’d pouted her lips and summoned big tears, letting them roll down her cheeks before bursting into another infectious giggle.

I thought of her lying in the street. The way Brennan had barely glanced at her as she bled out, her light dimming for good.

Before he could ask another question, I cut in.

“There was this vampire man,” I said, my voice shaking as manipulative tears clouded my eyes. I preyed on Brennan’s jealousy and relief that I was alive to distract from the holes in my story. “He was going to kill me, and Aunt Carol saved me. He was going to?—”

I pressed my head against Brennan’s chest, sobbing.

He rubbed soothing circles on my back. “There, there. You’re safe.”

“I’m scared,” I whispered, pulling back to stare up into his hazel eyes. “I don’t want to be his surprise. I don’t want to be his anything.”

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