Page 99 of A Heart So Savage

“Yeah. I did. The first night you were under my roof. Birth control and a tracker. Common tools in the average kidnapper’s toolkit,” Kingston snapped.

Ava stared at him for a long moment, then for no reason that Kingston could see, a wide smile curved her lips. It melted into a giggle before she erupted into full-blown laughter. She held her sides to keep her ribs from hurting too badly. The more she laughed, the more confused Kingston became.

“I don’t understand what you find so amusing. I’ve violated you in the worst possible ways, Ava. Do you have any idea the things I plan on doing with you if you stay with me? I want to tattoo my fucking name across your chest, so you know you belong to me every time you look in the mirror. I’ll loop a chain around that pretty little neck of yours and lead you around, so everyone knows you are mine. And you won’t be able to stop me from fucking you so hard you pass out from the pleasure. Don’t you understand? That tracker was just one example of my obsession. Damnit, this is nothing to laugh about!”

“Oh my God,” Ava gasped, biting her hand to keep from laughing harder. “I seriously thought you had otherworldly powers. That maybe you reallywerethe Devil himself with the ability to find me anywhere, anytime.”

She sobered, biting her bottom lip when she saw his fierce scowl was not easing away, and he really was not amused. “While I’m not happy about it, and I’m hurt that you nevertoldme, I can’t really be that angry. It led you to me when I needed you. And because I understand you, I understandwhyyou did it.” Ava placed both hands on his cheeks, resting her forehead against his. “You’ll have plenty of time to make it up to me, though. A lifetime. Because I’m not going anywhere, Kingston. I am yours. There’s nowhere in this world or the next where that fact changes. Even your flaws and all the red flags that make me question my own sanity aren’t enough to make me leave you. Iwon’tleave you.”

“You’ve not even seen the tip of the iceberg, Ava. Iamthe Devil when it comes to you. A fucking beast. I’m unhinged with the need to protect you. For God’s sake, there’s a man in the dungeon I’ve restrained from carving up for one reason only. I’ve been waiting until you’ve recovered so when I rip his heart out by the roots, I can give it to you on a silver platter. That’s how fucking insane I am when it comes to you.”

“As long as your murderous qualities are focused only on bad guys, I’m okay with that,” Ava replied calmly.

“You have no idea how savage I am.” Kingston’s jaw clenched tight. Couldn’t she understand what he was trying to say? He would never be good enough for an angel like her.

“I know you’ll never hurt me, Kingston.” Ava’s eyes sparkled with determination. For a long moment, they simply stared at one another, neither willing to back down until Kington’s willpower deflated.

“Come with me,” he growled in defeat. “I want to show you something.”

He helped her rise from the bed, leading her to the locked door inside the room. Kingston knew she’d tried opening it that first morning she woke up in his room. Her fingerprints were all over the lock and the keypad. But now he would show Ava the secrets it contained.

When the door swung open, Kingston stepped aside so she could enter ahead of him. The glow of nearly two hundred different monitors reflected on Ava’s features as she took it all in.

There were screens running various financial tickers. Stock market news and updates for the United States and countries around the world. The lobby of LIST and the entrance to the restaurant lit up four of the monitors. But most of the screens displayed images Ava surely recognized from her time spent as his prisoner. It was the camera feed for the entire estate. All the rooms. The grounds. The stables. The woods.

And the cell in the dungeon where he had first imprisoned her.

“No one is allowed inside this room other than me. But you have every right to be here, Ava. This is the pulse of The Den.”

Ava’s gaze darted around the numerous screens before finding the monitor showing Judd’s cell. He was hanging from the ceiling, metal chains wrapped around his body in an intricate pattern. “He’s still alive.”

Kingston came up behind her, wrapping his arms lightly around her waist and steadying her when she began to tremble. “He is. Barely. I have certain contacts I can hand him over to. He would never be free again, and the rest of his life would be nothing but degradation and pain. Or I can end it here. The final decision is yours, Ava. But only if you want it.”

If Judd’s appearance shocked Ava, she did not show it. The man was covered in blood, various cuts and bruises adorning his naked body. His penis hung flaccid between his legs, and a long slash on the top of his left thigh dripped blood onto the dungeon floor. Whenever he screamed or moaned, no intelligible sound emerged. As he’d promised himself once before, Kingston had cut out Judd’s tongue.

When Ava finally looked away from the screen, her eyes were shiny with tears.

Kingston fought down the instant disappointment. Any further opportunity of ensuring Judd Vanderhorn suffered excruciating agony was now over. He would carry out Ava’s wishes even if it meant abandoning his own.

“Whatever future they planned for me should never happen to anyone. Show him mercy, Kingston, although he doesn’t deserve it. Give him a quick death. Not for his sake, but for mine.”

“It will be done, lamb.”

She threw herself into his arms with such force that Kingston worried she might re-injure herself. He felt her tears dripping onto his bare chest. Kissing the top of her head, he vowed he’d always stand between her and the merest hint of danger.

“You’ll do this for me?” she asked, her voice breaking with a sob.

“I will do anything you ask of me, Ava.”

Ava didn’t say anything else. She simply pulled his head down and pressed her lips to his.

ChapterForty

Make me beg for more.

I am yours.

To crush.

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