Page 77 of A King So Savage

ChapterTwenty-Six

My vow to you

Savage king.

Ava did not movefrom the bed as Kingston stepped into the bathroom. The sound of water running as though from a great distance made her so sleepy.

She must have dozed off after that because it seemed like only seconds later, he was smoothing a hand over her forehead.

“I’ll return shortly.”

He was gone before she could gather her wits and beg him to stay. Her head didn’t even lift from the pillow as the door clicked shut, indicating his departure.

Ava drifted a while longer in a fuzzy world, dangling between shock and reality before her mind slowly cleared itself. She slid from Kingston’s bed and made her way into the bathroom. Turning the faucet on for the shower, she patiently waited as the water heated. Soon, steam billowed from inside the marble-slabbed stall.

Was it real life that she’d watched Kingston Winter pleasure himself with his hand around his cock and her name on his lips earlier that morning?

It didn’t seem real. And yet, it was.

Peeling off her garments, she winced as pain shot up her arms. Bruises were already forming around her elbows, purplish red and in the shape of fingertips. The mirror reflected them back as she wadded the clothing into a tight ball. Everything went into the small wastebasket beside the sleek bath vanity. She even discarded the scrap of underwear. After that cretin’s paws had been all over them, there was no way she would keep them.

Stepping into the shower, Ava wrapped her arms around her body and stood for an eternity beneath the stream of water. It was almost too hot to bear but she did not care. She needed the piercing, needlelike sensation of the droplets hitting her skin. It meant the ugliness of that morning was perhaps being washed away.

Eventually, she bathed and washed her hair. Both the shampoo and soap had a fresh yet masculine aroma. There was nothing floral or girly about any of it. It was all ocean breezes and evergreen woods. Spicy tea. She was drowning in Kingston, but she didn’t mind. Filling her lungs with the scent, she let it cascade through her as the soapy water swirled and washed everything clean again.

Ava reflected on the display of emotions she’d seen on Kingston’s face. Something profound had shifted between the two of them during her rescue. Something she didn’t understand. She’d fallen into his arms, so, so glad he’d come for her. A tiny portion of her soul, the dark, shameful, scary part of her heart, wasn’t really bothered that a man would likely die because of her.

Kingston would protect her. He said she belonged to him now.

Rather than fearing the man holding her prisoner in this gilded tower, Ava reluctantly acknowledged he was a sanctuary. Never mind he was the one dragging her down into black depths.

He was changing her.

“I’m crazy thinking I’m safe with him.” But even her silent admonishments were useless observations. Kingston Winter wanted her, and Ava was ready to kiss the Devil himself for a mere token of the safety he offered.

But wasn’t it the pinnacle of insanity to seek protection from a murderer and kidnapper?

Ava finally emerged from the shower, searching through the vanity drawers until she located a stash of new toothbrushes. Ripping open the package, she methodically and brutally brushed her teeth until her gums were nearly bleeding. She rinsed and spat over and over until the sour beer flavor of Malcolm lingered as nothing more than a memory in the depths of her mind. A bad memory which could now be filed away in a little box with others.

But although she was physically clean, having scrubbed her skin to the point of discomfort, Ava wondered if anything could erase the reality of what she’d gone through that morning. How could she forget? How could she continue keeping all the bad locked away?

I cannot forget everything I’ve endured since arriving here. Nor what happened before. Mom and Dad. Their deaths. Carson and his cruelty. It must all be faced. Challenged. Conquered. No more hiding from any of it. Even if it hurts to know the truth.

The niggling premonition that things would only get worse sent Ava’s chin tilting higher. She must be stronger than those around her expected. Even if she served as Kingston’s toy for however long he wanted her, she would not break for him.

* * *

Ava knewshe was intruding on Kingston’s privacy. Even with his express permission to be there, her stomach still twisted into knots of apprehension.

Are you scared of what you might find? The secrets he keeps locked away?

Standing in the middle of the enormous, sleekly masculine walk-in closet, she stared unblinkingly at the rows and rows of pristine custom suits.

Did the man not own a simple t-shirt? A pair of jeans? Sighing, she thumbed through one of the lower racks, admiring how the luxurious fabric glided through her fingers. The suits were an extension of Kingston himself. Exquisitely made. Dark. Concealing secrets and cruelty beneath a beautiful exterior.

She turned toward the built-in drawers, but hesitated in opening them in her search, terrified of what she might discover. The souls of his victims captured inside little velvet boxes. Implements of torture. Contracts for lives that no longer existed.

Or maybe the hearts of women foolish enough to fall in love with a monster.

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