Page 4 of A Heart So Savage

“You know me too well, King,” Oliver confirmed with a quick draining of his scotch. His gaze contained hot glints of resentment, but he remained on the opposite side of the room, the glass held loosely in his hand.

Ava’s breath ratcheted higher. Would Kingston really punish her while Oliver watched?

“You are toying with me. Playing with my head. You won’t let him near me like that. I know you won’t.” She sucked in a quick breath when Kingston nipped her earlobe.

“You don’t know what I will and won’t allow, Ava.” He chuckled, a dark sound that spiked Ava’s heart rate. “I can do anything I wish with you. Anything. And youwillobey.”

Ava’s mouth clamped shut, her grip on the pool table tightening with the truth of Kingston’s statement.

“Isn’t that right, lamb?” The words were a low purr. “If I tell you to drop to your knees for another man’s pleasure, you will obey. If I let him fuck you, use you however he desires, you will obey. Because I own you now. And my word is law while I own you.”

“Are you fucking with me right now, King?” Oliver grunted. “Don’t flash her at me like a shiny toy if you have no intention of letting me play. It’s a shitty thing to do, and you know it.”

A tidal wave of fear washed over Ava. Would Kingston give her to Oliver? Let him touch her? Abuse her? Would he let other men do unspeakable things? He couldn’t… he wouldn’t. She had to believe his lust demanded she served only his own depraved needs.

“What do you wish me to do, sir?”

Ava’s bold question surprised Kingston. He hesitated, fingers loosening on her hips as he absorbed it. She sensed the struggle within him. The need to control and dominate her fighting against his possessive nature.

“Bend your ass over this table.” His reply was silky smooth. “Now.”

Ava complied, heart pounding with trepidation. She could not say why she obeyed his husky command. Why she bent at the waist and remained perfectly still as Kingston encircled her wrists within his much larger hands.

When he anchored them in the small of her back, Ava moaned. There was a terrible darkness inside her that relished the way he handled her. It was wicked and twisted, silently begging for more. That darkness encompassed her rational nature, leaving Ava horribly off-balance and adrift with confusion.

How can I like this? How can I want his roughness? His domination. I must be going insane.

Kingston simply waited until Ava’s panicked breathing slowly leveled out. A strange calmness seeped into her bones. Hadn’t he taken care of her so far during this ordeal? Admittedly, her situation could be so much worse. She could be drugged into submission. Beaten. Raped repeatedly by multiple men.

Tortured.

She would have been shattered into a million pieces by now in the hands of someone else. Someone like Oliver. Instead, she’d been kept relatively safe.

Now, she must trust Kingston to keep his word that no one else would hurt her.

No one other than Kingston himself.

“Turn your head, Ava. Place your cheek flush against the table.”

Ava obeyed, the wool of the table’s surface surprisingly cool against her flushed skin. The folder containing God only knew what sat within her line of eyesight.

He won’t hurt me. He won’t.

“Impressive,” Oliver drawled. Ava could not see him from this angle, but she heard ice tinkle and the sound of liquid as he poured another drink. “Does she sit up and beg for treats, too? More importantly, will she be so obedient when we take her at the same time? Will she snap at me when I fuck her? I hope so. God, I hope she bites me. I can’t wait to sink my teeth into her. To taste her. Have her blood on my tongue. Her pussy caught between my teeth.”

Ava jerked in response to the filthy ugliness of Oliver’s words, but Kingston’s grip tightened on her wrists. Moving closer, his body pinned her hips to the table until she was immobile. The carved wood railing pressed painfully into her belly.

She focused on the warmth of Kingston’s hips against her bottom. The implied violence of his strength was all that kept her from falling into a heap of hysterics.

She focused onhim.

“Shhh,” Kingston soothed. “Steady, lamb.”

Ava experienced a swirling moment of déjà vu. He’d said those same words once before. The day she arrived in this house of madness. The day her life turned upside down in a jumble of lust and fear.

Steady, lamb.

“Make no mistake, Oliver,” Kingston said in a deadly soft tone. When Ava shifted slightly on her feet, she was held in place with an even heavier hand. “I’ll not share her. I’ll not allow anyone to touch her. And I’ll be damned if I let anyone else fuck her. I’m telling you this, and proving her obedience, so you do not make the mistake of thinking otherwise. This one is not available for your enjoyment.”

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