Page 81 of A King So Savage

She simply glared at him, so distraught she could not think clearly. He’d done her a tiny kindness, considering his initial plans for her. But what pained her the most was having it done without her knowledge. Or her consent.

A minor point, really, when compared to abduction and imprisonment.

“All right. No babies for now,” he casually conceded. Leaning over, he brushed her mouth with his own, confident she would not fight him. “And Ava, we both know you don’t hate me. You most certainly will not hate the things I’ll do to you now that you are truly mine. You will want the pleasure. The pain, too. You will need it. Crave it. And I intend on giving you everything you desire as long as you submit.”

“Everything except true freedom,” she replied bitterly.

“No one is ever really free, lamb. No one. Not even myself.” His smile might have been regretful, but the lust Ava recognized in his features and the cruel grip he retained on her chin eclipsed that softer emotion. “Remember this when I’m making you come over and over. When I’m deep inside you. I am also imprisoned. Obsessed. Enraptured. Captivated. And so fucking helpless to escape my need for you. The only solution is to have you again and again until this ungodly fascination is purged.”

“Are there any more rules?” Her thighs trembled from the images his words created. Such a strange contradiction to despise a person so much and yet ache for his attention. It was maddening. “I want to be sure I understand everything.” Her voice was carefully subdued.

Kingston hesitated, his breathing changing with subtle nuance. Ava held her own, wondering what acts of depravity he might demand of her. How much damage would he wreak upon her treacherous body and unwilling heart?

“Just the most important one.” In a voice as smooth as summer honey, he said, “Rule number five. When we are alone, you will address me as ‘Sir’.”

Ava’s gaze dropped, her stomach flipping upside down at the reminder of his mastery. And that’s when she caught sight of something previously missed. A spot of blood. It marred the pristine black of his shirt cuff where it peeked beneath the edge of his coat sleeve. Blending so perfectly with the ebony-hued fabric, she should have missed it.

She couldn’t stop staring at that incriminating splotch. A trembly, “Yes, sir,” automatically escaped her lips without conscious intent before she could stop it.

It was already starting. Her submission. Her capitulation.

Her downfall.

Kingston frowned until he realized what had captured Ava’s rapt attention. He lifted her chin higher until she had no choice but to look at him once more.

“I killed a man for you today, Ava. And I won’t hesitate to do it again if it keeps you safe.” His voice was a gravelly, low growl that sent shivers of terror and belonging cascading through Ava. “But don’t ever mistake who I am. And who I am not. I am not a nice man. I’m not a prince in a fairytale. Nor am I a knight in shining armor. I took great delight in carving him up. I whispered your name in his ear so he would carry the reason for his death straight to hell.”

His eyes bored into hers, the black pupils swallowing up the sapphire blue irises. “My men watched as I slit him from stem to stern. Now, they understand the consequences if they follow Malcolm’s path. They know his death was for you. Because he touched what is mine. Because he hurt you, and only I am allowed that exquisite privilege. I removed him from this planet, and I enjoyed hearing his screams for mercy before he bled out.”

Ava’s eyes widened as the depths of Kingston’s dark possessiveness clicked into precise, heart-pounding focus.

He would consume everything there was of her, and she would allow it. There would be no escape. No reprieve or last-minute pardon. She was his untilhedecided otherwise.

Ava wanted that as much as she feared and hated the man. Despite his cruelty, he possessed the unique ability to make her fit in as though she truly belonged somewhere. To someone. Even if it was nothing more than a glittery illusion filled with deception and painful truths about herself and her own insecurities.

Kingston had saved her. Protected her. Eliminated a true threat.

For her.

Her.

With the slightest movement, Kingston snaked his arm around her waist and lifted Ava until she was on her knees. Yanking her against his body, he fully claimed her mouth until she surrendered to his savagery with a helpless cry.

It hurt to be held so tight, but her body didn’t care. She pressed closer to him, breathing him into her lungs. Breathing in the metallic tang of newly spilled blood. The salty ocean and Earl Grey tea of his cologne. The sharpness of his lust. Her hands clutched frantically at his suit coat. Pushing him away and yet, somehow holding on, too.

Holdinghim.

Kingston kissed her with tender brutality, his tongue stroking along hers, biting her bottom lip, imperiously demanding a response, and receiving it as Ava sank fully into the darkness that was Kingston Vaughn Winter.

Sealing her fate and abandoning all hope of recovering her former self. She’d never be the same girl as the one who’d arrived at The Den and found herself thrown at a king’s feet.

I’m his for now.

Somehow, she would survive this. Survive him.

And maybe even find a way to ruin him, too.

To be continued…

* * *

---