Page 18 of The Queen's Serpent

“I have a few other projects that I think might help, like living roofs where the people can be given the resources to grow organic produce on their roofs, and ways to allocate proper internet to impoverished communities, so that the kids have better access to education.”

He gets a wistful look in his eyes as if he can see these people, these communities that he speaks of. I listen to his words as he reflects with such passion about his projects, and the initiatives that he wants to produce, to help others who have less than him, and I realize that I know very little about Diego Cabano, and the type of man he really is.

Have I misjudged him based on the ruthless, corrupt, and power-hungry image he portrayed when I first met him? I mean, he was trying to force my sister into marriage with an alliance at the time. Is he that man, or this one who wants to help impoverished communities? Could the problematic truth lie somewhere below the complicated surface of both versions of the same man?

Remember that he kidnapped you! It doesn’t matter if he intends to save the world, because he took your world away from you.The words hiss through my mind, but they don’t have their usual impact.

I turn off the water and wrap one arm around my chest and another over my crotch, very aware that I am wet and naked, and he’s fully clothed and staring at me with hunger on his face. He’s eyeing me as if I am a little, tiny rabbit, and he is a hungry wolf ready to devour me.

“Towel, please,” my voice sounds breathless to my ears, as my heart pounds in my chest. He turns away from me, not acknowledging my request, and shuts off the water in the giant tub, which is now more than two-thirds full.

“You won’t need it, at least not yet.” He trails his hand through his thick dark hair as my eyes become riveted to him. “Come here, Issy.” He beckons me with his words, the tone seductive and filled with need as he firmly strokes himself over his pants, the prominent bulge clearly evident. Before I can think clearly, I take a step forward but stop myself from going any farther.What the hell am I doing? I can’t allow myself to become dicktimized.

“Release me, Diego. Return me to my family before someone fucking gets hurt. You know that you can’t keep me here forever as your prisoner,” I demand of him, but I can immediately see that my words will not move him. A scowl races across his face as he takes the short steps to reach me, and pulls me roughly towards the tub, his fingers digging into my skin.

“Get in the fucking tub, Issy, or I swear to fuck, I’ll drown you in it.” He eyes me like the unhinged, temperamental asshole that he is, his expression relaying his thoughts clearly. He might actually enjoy drowning me. He wants me to fight him, so that he can hurt me. As much as I want to push boundaries with him and see how far he’ll let me take them, I have no desire to swallow a bunch of water.

The wistful, calm Diego of moments ago disappears, and the broody asshole makes a reappearance. How could I have thought that there was something else to him? This isDiego Cabano, a man who won’t take no for an answer, and would readily use violence and coercion to get what he wants. He’s a killer, a deranged, possessive psychopath, and utterly without mercy or a conscience.

I step into the tub awkwardly and hesitantly, trying desperately not to lose my balance. Self-consciousness courses through me, knowing he’s getting an up-close and personal look at all my parts, and it makes me immediately sit down, hoping that the water will help camouflage me.

I watch from below my lashes as he grabs the back of his shirt in one quick movement, and rips it over his head. The shirt falls to the ground, and his hands move to the button of his jeans, releasing it and pulling down the zipper, his long meaty cock becoming visible between the parted fabric.Jesus, fuck.

My mouth suddenly becomes parched, and I forget what I had even asked him for. My eyes center on the purple mushroom head, and the large veins that protrude along his length. My eyes follow what I know graces that amazing cock, a tattoo of a serpent that starts below his balls and wraps around his base, circling around his long length and ending with the serpent’s mouth open just below the ridge of his crown. It’s a stunning piece of art, beautiful in its complexity, shading, and colors. Itlooks so realistic that you would think he truly had a serpent sliding on his skin.

Fuck, I can already feel my core tightening, and the desire to run my tongue all along that tattoo is almost overwhelming. Diego has the most impressive cock I have ever seen, and the fucker knows it. He uses it as a weapon and as a drug.Here I am, an addict, just waiting for his mercy. His own personal slut.

He makes a motion to step into the tub with me, and my whole body recoils away from him, my knees bending and my arms wrapping around them as I make myself as small as possible. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?” I question in a hoarse tone.

He stops midstep and stares down at me, the scar on his face pulling taut as his eyebrows rise towards his hairline. “I thought that was pretty evident,Princesa. I’m getting in the bath with you.”

Chapter eleven

Diego

“Desire is the kind of thing that eats you and leaves you starving.”

Nayyirah Waheed

I watch as her lips purse with obvious dissatisfaction, and a pink blush rises in her cheeks and makes its way down that delectable neck of hers, the one that is missing the imprint of my fingers as a warning to anyone who looks at her, signaling that she’s allmine. The ache to wrap my fingers tightly around it is almost all-consuming, causing a quiet buzzing in my head with visceral need.

The water sloshes around the tub as she tries to make herself as small as possible on one side. Her beautiful porcelain skin is still marred with insect bites and bruises, and she looks thinner than she had been before I brought her to this jungle. The fear that her sexy curves will continue to diminish if I keep her a prisoner, is a hushed whisper in my mind, reminding me that I am the cause of all her misery at the moment.

Bringing her here was a mistake. She won’t survive, my mind seethes.

“The fuck you are! Get away from me, you psycho,” she cries. Her body trembles with fear and rage that makes itself visible on her delicate, doll-like face. I can see into the facade that she wears like a second skin, the one that urges her to be strong but knows that she’s not, at least not yet.

She is so perfect, so small, so very fragile. Mine.

I deserve her anger and her hateful words, but they still piss me the fuck off and make me want to force her to her privileged knees, so that I can shove my cock to the back of her throat and make her swallow her venom, and her truths.

My hand snaps forward as I step fully into the tub and tangles into her wet hair, yanking her forward until she is forced to her knees with a scream, as more water sloshes over the side of the tub. “You have a vicious mouth,little one.One that I think needs occupying since you seem to think you can make demands around here. In case you didn’t notice,Princesa, you are my fucking prisoner, not my guest.”

She tries to pull back from my merciless grasp, but I don’t release her, and a pained cry leaves those pouty lips of hers instead, as dark strands of her hair are ripped out with the movement.Fuck.The sound shouldn’t excite me, but it does, and it causes my cock to swell further with the desire to hear more of those cries leave her.Fuck yes, baby. Cry for me.

“Stop trying to fight me, Issy. You will never win against me, and you will never escape me.You are mine.The sooner you accept your fate, the easier things around here will be for you.”

Even though I utter the words, the reality is that I never want her to stop fighting me, challenging me, and keeping me on my toes. I need the constant push and pull from her, which reminds us that we are alive. Our relationship may be volatile and plagued with issues, but it’s ours.

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