Page 119 of Prince of Pain

I eyed my name on his pec, the blood droplets continuing to drip and mess up the sheets, but we didn’t care.

I was carved into his skin as he was on mine.

We had a twisted kind of love, my heart beating faster at the realization that this was more than sex or a connection. We’d said it differently than other people until now with long nights awake talking and a bloodied knife, but it was still love.

“I love you,” I said quietly, hurt moving through me as he sat up. I thought he was going to push me off his lap and leave, but he wrapped his arms around me and tugged me closer, the blood on his chest smearing against mine.

“I love you too, baby.”

Then he kissed me, erasing any doubt that lingered below the surface.

Chapter Twenty-One

Ryder

Iwas agitated. Channing wasn’t able to bring me anything to take the edge off, my arm was aching, and Tempest was driving me insane for some reason today.

We’d had a good night last night, fucking and watching movies together, but this morning all I felt was frustration and irritation.

Apparently, so was she because we kept snapping at each other.

Fucking didn’t fix it. Silence made my head feel too loud, but noise made my head want to explode.

The house was still a mess from her tantrum on Sunday night, and it was now Wednesday.

“I told you to clean up,” I grunted, tapping the couch with my foot to jolt her a little. She’d been lying around on her phone for hours, acting like a bitch.

“You clean it if it’s bothering you,” she answered flatly without looking up, texting away without a care in the fucking world.

“It’s not my mess, Temp.”

“So? I’ll get to it later. Stop nagging me.”

I scowled, walking behind the couch to grab the bottom and tip her out of it, making her shriek as she tumbled to the floor. “Get the fuck up.”

“Why are you such an asshole?” she bit out as she stood to glare at me. “You only get like this when you’re fucking sober. I prefer you when you’re fun.”

“That’s the thing, Temp. Being high isn’t the issue, it’s the comedown. Trust me, I prefer you when I’m high too.”

She flipped me off and stalked into the bathroom, locking herself inside, and I rolled my eyes as the shower kicked on. She couldn’t avoid it forever, she was cleaning this shit up either by choice or by force.

I dropped onto the couch and grabbed my phone from the coffee table, pulling up Channing’s number to text him.

Ryder: Can you come any sooner? This bitch is driving me insane, and I’m going to kill her.

Channing: Think about it. If she’s dead, you only need to buy half the amount and save some money.

Ryder: Not funny. I might literally kill her, dude. At least let Mase come and play with her so she leaves me the fuck alone.

He didn’t reply straight away, and just when I thought he wasn’t going to, a message came through.

Channing: Mase could do with a good fuck to get rid of his mood.

Ryder: Tell him to hurry up then. Temp is his rent-a-girlfriend for the day, free of charge.

He sent back laughing emojis which I hoped meant he’d at least send Mason to occupy the brat in the bathroom, and I logged onto Onlyfans to check my account. Tempest definitely had more subscribers than me, but it was growing.

Between us, we could at least pay for shit.

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