Page 62 of The Masks She Wore

?She shook under me but ignored me.

?I shoved her face into the covers, and she bucked against me, fighting for air that I wouldn’t give her.

?When her body started to go slack, I pulled her head up. Rae inhaled deeply,coughing. “Fuck, yes. Yes.”

?I leaned over her. “Was it willing?”

?Her body trembled for an entirely different reason this time. She breathed in a ragged, tear-filled breath as she shook her head, her defeat palpable. She buried her head, her hands gripping into her blanket. “I came,” she said, her words muffled. “I shouldn’t have cum.”

?The rage caused my hand to tighten, my teeth to grind. “It was a response, baby, nothing more. Don’t worry, we’re taking care of it.”

?Her breath caught and she tried to look back. “What?”

?I grinded my hips into her ass again, feeling her ass press back against my cock. She needed me as much as I needed her. Good.

?I released her and sat up on my knees. “Roll over.”

?And she did. She shifted and wriggled under me until she was laying on her back, wincing, trying to get comfortable despite the pain it caused her.

?Her eyes were watering, tears streaking down her face, her makeup ruined by the covers. Fuck, she looked beautiful.

?I settled back on her thighs and studied her. She was doing the same. I could see it in the way her eyes took me in. She was trying to memorize me, to understand me. I wondered when she would figure out that she never would. I wouldn’t allow it.

?I pulled my knife out of my back pocket and flicked it open, finding her eyes again, her chest heaving. “We can’t kill him yet, but it’s being handled.”

?I leaned over, pressing my hand right over her collarbone, pushing down to hold her in place, feeling her heart race as I poised the tip of the knife right above her heart. “I claim you. From now until death finds us,” I recited easily. “Repeat it back to me.”

?Her eyes searched mine, pupils blown, and I wondered if she was going through the possible ramifications of what she was about to do.

?But my girl was reckless, looking for a high she wouldn’t find anywhere but with me. She needed this. She needed it more than she needed air to breathe.

?Her throat bobbed, her eyes wincing as I pressed the tip of the knife into her soft skin, the blood boiling around it. “Fuck,” she mumbled, trying to move her hips up only for more tears to fall as the pain erupted across her back.

?Fuck, I wanted to kill him.

?“I claim you,” she finally said as I dragged that knife down. “From now until death finds us.”

?I lifted the tip and went back to the top of the ‘J’, dragging the tip across it to finish the letter off.

?I leaned back and unbuttoned my own shirt, shifting the clothes to the side until she could see my chest. Right above my heart, I carved an ‘R’, the blood dripping down my chest as it dripped down hers.

?When I was done, I found her eyes and licked the blood off theknife, her lips parting in desire. “You’re mine now. You won’t ever escape me. Not even in death.”

?She nodded, her lip trembling, her eyes glistening, relief and pain reflecting back at me. “Okay.”

?Normally I would have fucked her until she couldn’t move, but Malachi and I were here for a reason, so it would have to wait until later. Until I could erase everything Max had done to her thoroughly. “Good,” I replied and slid off the bed. I folded the knife up and slid it into my pocket before buttoning up my shirt, the red spreading across the white like an ink stain. “Now, you’re going to go out there and listen to what Malachi has to say, do you understand me?”

?She nodded but didn’t move. her eyes closed as she breathed carefully.

?“Rae,” I bit. Did she have a thing about blood? I’d have to break her of that—

?“Just give me a second,” she snapped, the tears slipping through her eyes. “Please,” she added weakly.

?My glare softened as I watched her, studied the way she was laying, stiff, her muscles tense. She was trying to work up the strength to stand, I realized. It wasn’t just a bruise, it wasn’t just surface level, she was in true pain. A pinched nerve, a pulled muscle. Perhaps more than that. I would have to watch her, make sure she hadn’t done any real damage to her bones. Call one of our doctors to look at her and make sure there wasn’t any permanent damage.

?I wanted to fuck her after Malachi left, after she heard everything he had to say so she could rest afterwards, but now I was wondering if that would even be possible. I had claimed her as mine, and although I wanted to drain her of any will to survive, I wanted her healthy too. She was my toy, but a toy was only good to play with if they were healthy enough to play.

?Another few seconds passed, and she finally opened her eyes, shame filling them. “Can you help me up, please?” she asked, refusing to meet my eyes.

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