Page 60 of A King So Savage

How foolish she’d been, thinking a man as cruel and heartless as Kingston would show mercy. Her hands shook as the reality of her situation truly and completely sunk in. She gripped the stones of the wall, digging her fingers into the nooks and crannies of the rocks.

She would indeed be sacrificed for Carson’s debt. There was no escaping it.

Nausea boiled inside Ava, despair mingling with white-hot rage. Never before in her life had she experienced such raw anger. It was all-consuming and foreign. And she didn’t like it. Didn’t like the ugliness soaking through her. Didn’t like that she could justify hurting someone and likely revel in their pain.

A choked sob escaped the tightness of her throat. She could not become a monster like the man holding her captive. She must escape here before she lost herself in rage and despair and vengeance. Fighting off the urge to bite her nails, she instead dug them into the stones, welcoming how the rough surface was tearing them up.

Waking her up.

She couldn’t sleepwalk through life any longer. She had to fight back. Against Carson and his years of cruelty. Against life as it smothered her. Against Kingston Winter and his desire to own her.

That one would be the hardest to fight. Because some twisted, deviant sliver of her darkest soul wanted to belong to the Devil. She’d never wanted anything so badly than to be Kingston’s good girl. His wicked lamb.His.

God, what is wrong with me?

“Ava.”

His voice startled her, but she wasn’t surprised by his presence. He stalked her as a lion would its prey. Silent. Merciless. Fatal.

“Get away from me.” Ava’s hands dropped from the stone wall, curling into fists at her sides. Like a steel rod, her back straightened. Staring out into the night’s darkness, she wished for the ability to melt into its stars. Away from him. Away from this ugly world and its array of painful deceptions and betrayals.

Kingston’s voice was steely, and yet, somewhere below its surface, just as tormented. “The fuck I will.”

Ava took a deep, shuddering breath. She teetered on the high heels, unsteady with emotions and the effects of the wine. “Can’t you understand what this is doing to me?”

“I don’t care.”

She tried another approach. “This is wrong. It’s heartless and cruel.”

“Playing on my sympathies won’t work.” Kingston huffed out a laugh. “I have no heart, Ava. Don’t bother looking for one.”

“Just let me go…” Ava whispered in despair. She didn’t mean the words, but her soul depended on him showing mercy. “Please…”

His reply was gruff and instant.

“I cannot. Not when the sound of you begging makes my cock so hard, I think it might burst.”

He was on her then, arms wrapping like steel bands around her waist while yanking her back against him. His head dipped to the curve between her neck and shoulder, his mouth marking her with fiercely gentle kisses and tiny bites from sharp teeth. Then he soothed it and the faint bruising from his previous bite with soft, persuasive lips.

“The reality is you are only safe within the walls of The Den, Ava. Here with me. At my side.”

“Where you will eventually tear me apart?” Ava demanded, digging her fingernails into Kingston’s forearm to no avail. “I’ll take my chances out in the real world.”

“Fuck me, lamb. I’m trying to protect you—”

“But who will protect me from you, Kingston Winter?” Ava cried out. “Who will stand between me and what you have planned for my fate?”

“Your fate,” he scoffed, “it appears, is tied to my own.” His words were clipped and brutally direct. “I won’t forgo the claim to my pound of flesh. Any mercy I show comes with a price.”

“When my brother pays up, will you let me go unharmed?”

“Perhaps. If I believe it’s safe, yes. Although it will be a mistake of a magnitude you obviously do not comprehend. Carson will place you in this same situation again.” Kingston released her until there was just enough room that she could rotate within the circle of his arms. “And the next man who takes you as payment for your brother’s debts might be far worse than me.”

“I doubt such a man exists.”

Kingston smiled, the gesture failing to reach his eyes. “You’d be surprised at the depth of depravity existing in the real world, Ava. For the moment, I’m the only barrier between your sheltered sensibilities and everything wicked.”

“You don’t have to be the bad guy, Kingston,” Ava flung at him, her voice trembling and low-pitched. “You can do the right thing and find reward in being a decent person.”

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