Page 167 of Vile Boys

“I tried to warn you … I am bound to Ares,” he says, cupping my face. “If I could, I would take your place in an instant if it would ease the burden.”

“You were there too, licking me … fucking Caleb.” A blush creeps onto my cheeks from the mere memory, and I can’t shake it off. “I didn’t think you’d actually do it.”

“Ares’s punishments are always debasing. It’s one of the few things he actually enjoys.”

I wince. “That’s messed up.”

He chuckles even though I have a literal knife to his throat rightnow. “You could put it like that … But aren’t we all?”

“You all, not me,” I say.

A coy smile tips up his lips. “Oh, is that why you were so wet for all of us? Because you weren’t just as messed up?”

My eyes widen, and rage takes over as I push the knife farther into his neck, making him bleed, and I lick my lips at the sight of his blood dripping down.

I haven’t come this close to death since my father …

This close to losing control.

And something about that scares me so much that my hand begins to shake.

Because I don’t want to hurthim.

“Is this all I am to you all now? A prisoner?”

He sighs. “That’s whathewants, yes.”

I shake my head. “After I already gave him what he wants, he still takes more and more.”

“Ares will never have enough of you now that he has you.”

“Why?”

“Well, your mother started dating Caleb’s father, and he doesn’t like that, so Ares—”

“I know that. I know he doesn’t want me to become family. But why does Ares care? All he seems to want to do is punish Caleb for touching me.”

He swallows, almost as if he has to restrain himself not to say too much. “Ares … has anger and trust issues. Caleb is the only one he confides in. And now that you’ve beguiled them …”

“I’m a threat,” I mutter, thinking it through. “You’re bound to Ares. So then why did you give me this knife?”

“Because you deserve to be in control of your own fate despite his villainous ways,” he says. His tongue darts out to wet his lips. “But it changes nothing about my feelings for you. I crave you. Madly. Deeply. Beyond any doubt.”

I swallow away the lump in my throat and turn around so I don’t have to look him in the eyes.

But the mirror in front of me forces me to face my own demise.

Those same familiar hands wrap around my shoulders again, making me want to lean into him.

“You are so beautiful, Crystal,” he says. “Like a goddess of vengeance.”

He leans in to plant the softest of kisses on my neck, stealing my breath.

“Would it be so wrong to be loved by someone like me?” he mutters. “To be ours?”

“Do you think I could ever be more than a toy?”

He chuckles softly. “I wouldn’t mind it if you stayed our filthy plaything forever.” His eyes connect with mine through the mirror. “You would have us all on our knees.”

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