Page 108 of A Debt of Darkness

We’re damn well going to find the cunt, and I’m going to make sure he pays for daring to put my wife in danger. I’m going to enjoy every fucking second of agony that the bastard suffers. It’s going to be painful—but not for me.

“Do you think he was working for Rowan?” Ivy asks.

Matt and Ryan exchange worried looks. We haven’t considered this possibility and it’s not inconceivable. Rowan might have sought Damon out, seeking to use his insight and manipulate Ivy’s trust to attack me. What we found could have been a carefully staged rouse, and Damon could have been trying to lure Ivy into the woods so she’d be caught.

Ivy’s eyes widen, and she stares at me, pleading with me to answer her question. She’s so achingly beautiful when she’s like this, and my selfish, cowardly heart doesn’t have it in me to break hers. I smile and run my fingers down her face, soothing her as I decide a lie is kinder than an uncertain truth.

“I’m sure he wouldn’t betray you. But we’ll need to find him and work out how he got in here.”

Ivy nods and exhales loudly, collapsing her weight onto me as all her burdens have been lifted. I wrap my arms around her, holding her close, and she sighs again.

We’re going to have to deal with Damon.

We’re also going to have to deal with Rowan and his coven.

We’ve got the time we need to track the cunts down and make them pay for even daring to threaten my mate.

The girl whose heart is mine and is the reason I exist stares up at me and she’s as much mine as I am hers. She’s more beautiful than any jewel and a masterpiece more exquisite than any ever crafted—and the girl who’s perfect for me surprises me again as I realize she feels the same about me.

30

SUCH PERFECTION

HENRY

Iwatch Ivy fussing around my bedroom, rearranging ornaments I’ve acquired over the centuries. Her fingers hesitate before she touches the more valuable ones, instinctively knowing which ones are most precious. Our bond has strengthened and it continues to deepen, and I’m content to let her explore my room while I indulge my fantasies of what we’ll do in it.

She was sore this morning and the slight stiffness as she turns suggests any movement reminds her of last night. I intend to make fucking sure she’s reminded of my cock regularly, especially now there’s little need to hold back.

Her lips part, and she stares at an ornate egg in its ornate stand. The jewels adorning it are pristine and the pearls are perfect, and it’s truly exquisite. It’s far too ornate for my taste and I only saved it to remind me of what happened with Matt, Ryan, and myself.

“That’s priceless,” she says, too shocked to raise her voice to more than a whisper.

I nod. “Do you like it?”

Ivy’s eyes narrow, and their green darkens. She doesn’t. She knows she doesn’t and she’s worried she’ll insult me.

“It’s extravagant.”

My lips curl into a smile at the answer she gives, trying to avoid offending me. Ivy sighs and turns, making a sound softer than any noise she made last night. I wanted her to scream until her throat was too damn hoarse to do anything other than rasp, but even I knew that would be cruel. Ivy’s still new to fucking and her pussy’s learning to take my cock.

“We need to discuss something, now we’ve…” I pause and she blushes, divinely, “completed our bond. There’s a custom I’d like to follow.”

Ivy stiffens as my cock hardens.

“We collar our pets, Ivy,” I say, getting up and walking over towards her at a deliberately slow pace. “It’s a very public display of my affection.”

She takes a deep and stuttered breath as her heart pounds against her chest. Ivy’s nervous and excited, unsure and conflicted. Part of her wants to find out more and the other part is scared this will be another unpleasant experience. One more thing I force on her.

And I won’t let another shitshow happen.

Not after the one with the rings.

Her pupils dilate as her eyes widen and she bites her lip, sending my arousal through the roof. The thought of her in my collar as she does it makes my cock strain and I’m going to fuck her, whatever she decides.

Not that she’ll be deciding.

“Do I have a choice?”

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