Page 57 of Soul Of A Villain

Oliver leaned closer, his eyes gleaming as cold and bright blue as the diamond on her finger. “Yousaidyes, Londyn. Driving down the Las Vegas strip, you were so excited to say yes that I couldn’t keep you off my dick.” His voice lowered in heated remembrance. “You were so insistent that I happily let you do whatever you wanted. Take whatever you wanted. I leaned back against the leather seat of that limo while you climbed onto my lap. Then you straddled me with those beautiful long legs of yours, and I watched while you fucked me. With the limo sitting in the driveway of the judge’s home, while he waited to hear us exchange vows. My driver was snickering because he knew exactly what was going on in the backseat; you came all over my cock and screamed my name. So, yeah, you said yes. Several times, as a matter of fact.”

“There-there were other people there?” Londyn bit back a sob, covering her mouth as nausea rose in her throat. To know there were possible witnesses to her behavior, even if she could not remember it, filled her with shame.

His eyes hardened, his features growing tight. “One of my Las Vegas crew driving the limo and the judge who performed the ceremony. Don’t worry about them. The judge would never betray us, and as for the driver… I cut his tongue out.”

Londyn stared at Oliver, not sure if she heard him correctly. “You-you cut out his tongue.”

“Stupid bastard asked if I intended to pass you around. Now, in all fairness, he can’t be blamed for thinking I’d share a woman I had just fucked with my men. I’ve done it many times, tossing them my scraps to use however they wanted. But to think...toinsinuatethat I would share mywife? That I would ever consider such a thing?” Oliver shook his head, reaching out to tuck a tendril of Londyn’s hair behind her ear, his touch tender despite the brutality of his words. “I made sure he understood the gravity of his error. Word will quickly spread just how seriously I take such transgressions.”

“This is crazy… You took me to Nevada, married me in a ceremony I don’t recall, and afterward, you cut out of the tongue of one of your men. Do you not see how insane this sounds? It’s something you’ve created to make me think I’m crazy. Because I don’t remember any of that. I don’t remember anything since… since we had dinner at your cabin. When you put a collar around my neck… made me crawl to you…” Londyn’s eyes widened in horror as she shakily touched her throat. Feeling the choker still locked around the slim column of her neck, she could no longer hold back her tears, realizing what he had done. “You monster… you drugged me? That’s why I cannot remember what happened.” Her voice climbed higher and higher until it was almost a shrill shriek. “You drugged me!”

“I couldn’t take the chance that you would try escaping or fight me when we exchanged vows.” Taking her hand with the wedding ring on it, Oliver pressed a soft kiss to it. He ignored her hysterical reaction. “I used the lowest dose possible to mitigate any effects. The GHB made you compliant, but you were still functional. Mostly. You could walk. Talk. Sign your name on our marriage license and recite your vows.”

Londyn snatched her hand from his grasp, frantically tearing at the ring to remove it before he took her elbow in a painfully tight grip.

“Take that ring off, and I’ll have it permanently attached, Londyn,” Oliver warned ominously. “Believe me, you don’t want to know how I will accomplish that,”

Londyn did not think. She slapped him with all her strength. Fumbling with the belt cinched tightly around her waist, she got the latch undone and scrambled out of her seat.

Oliver sighed heavily as she fell in a heap, her legs numb from a combination of the GHB and from sitting in one spot for so long. “Where do you think you are going, Londyn? There’snowhereto go.” Releasing his own seatbelt, he rose from his seat, following her as she got to her feet and darted toward the rear of the jet. “If you just calm down, you’ll see that this is not the end of the world you think it is.”

“Calm down? Are you crazy?” Londyn flattened herself against the wall as he stalked toward her. The sky was pitch black outside the small window across from her. It was nighttime. How long had she been drugged? How long had it been since the dinner they shared in his dining room? Hours or days? How long had she been his wife?

He drew closer, and Londyn whimpered at the sight of the reddened imprint of her hand on his lightly tanned cheek.

“Why are you doing this to me? Is it not enough that you’ve tormented me for weeks? Stolen my life? You’ve takeneverythingfrom me.”

“That’s true.” A strange look crossed Oliver’s features as he caged her in, his hand coming up to caress the collar around her throat. He traced the outline of the diamond pendant nestled in the hollow of her throat. “But now, I’m giving you a new life, little dove. This is the only way I know how to accomplish that while also keeping you safe. Being my wife is youronlyoption if you want to stay alive.”

“A life spent in captivity, in servitude, is not a life,” Londyn whispered. “A lifetime as your plaything does not mean safety, Oliver. You’re killing me. Slowly. Surely. I’m dying every minute that you keep me as your prisoner.”

Oliver’s hand slid into her loose hair, tilting her tear-streaked face until there was no choice but to look up at him. He was so gentle it was almost disarming; so tender that Londyn questioned herself and what she knew of him. The tattooed hands holding her so carefully had inflicted unimaginable cruelty on God only knew how many people. Those hands had murdered. Tortured. Maimed. How could she feel even a flicker of safety while in his embrace?

“I know that, Londyn. Believe me, I know. But you must realize that every minute I am without you, I am dying as well. I-I want things with you that I cannot explain. I want to feel things I’ve never felt before. Things that scare the fuck out of me. Things I never wanted before you. And I want to feel it all withyou, Londyn. I want to feeleverythingbecause of you. Most of all, I want to keep you safe.”

Oliver sighed, pressing closer until Londyn’s hands braced themselves against his chest. Just touching him, feeling his muscles flexing beneath the black button-down shirt he wore, made her melt inside. She fought against that irrational feeling, determined not to give in. Giving in to him would be her ultimate demise. She was sure of that.

“Is it to keep me safe or is this just your fucked-up way of keeping me for yourself, Oliver?” she spat bitterly, wishing she had the bravery to slap him again. It was deadly foolish to believe he would allow such a direct attack a second time.

“Both,” Oliver replied, leaning so close that their foreheads touched. He huffed out a rueful chuckle. “I’m a selfish bastard when it comes to you, but you already know that, too. You’ve been my wife for almost three hours, and word will spread quickly. No one, certainly not my enemies, will dare try taking you from me.” He dropped tiny kisses down the side of her throat. They burned like lit matches on her skin, lighting little fires and igniting her from the inside out.

“What will you do with me now?” She was holding in her screams, fear of the unknown stretching her nerves until they trembled like fragile strings on the verge of snapping. She wondered what the future held for her. Was it easier to get rid of one’s legal wife when you tired of her? Would she be tossed aside one day, left to live her own life once he had used her? Or would he simply arrange for her disappearance?

A sad smile tilted the corners of his firm mouth as he pushed his hand against the door to the jet’s private bedroom. “I won’t hide you from the world. I want everyone to know that you are trulymine. This marriage guarantees your safety. I’m taking you to see your sister.”

Londyn fell backinto the room with a gasp, Oliver following with a heavy hand on her hip. She could not appreciate the luxurious beauty of the room, not with him prowling after her. She did not stop retreating until the back of her knees hit the king-sized bed.

“My sister?” She latched onto his cryptic statement, wondering if she’d heard him correctly.

Oliver took her hand, entwining his fingers with hers. “Yes. You do want to see her, don’t you?”

Londyn nodded, gratitude welling inside her. Was he really taking her to Paris? Or was it a cruel trick designed to build her trust in him?

“We’ll be landing soon.” Oliver stroked a thumb over her slender fingers. He hesitated, then said softly, “I need to check the bandage on your back. Then you can pick out some more comfortable clothes to wear.”

Her head tilted in confusion. “Bandage?”

A muscle ticked in his jaw. “Let me help you. Put your arms up.”

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