Page 43 of Darkness Falls

I press the tissue to the marks on her arm to stop the bleeding. They're not deep cuts, but they’ll leave the perfect scar of the letter 'M' so the whole world knows she belongs to the Monroe brothers.

"Barrett," she whines.

"I fucking love when you beg. You want more? Who am I to deny you?"

I position myself on my knees between her legs and reach down to grab them. They dangle over my arms as I lift her bottom off the bed and slide into her nice and slow. She's soaking wet, so there's no resistance when each one of my bars disappears into her pussy.

When I fully seat myself, I begin moving in and out as the sweet sounds of her pleasure fall from her lips. She clenches while I thrust in and out of her. I let go of her legs, prompting her to wrap them around my waist to hold herself up, and smile down at her.

"Are you ready for the best part?"

Her brow furrows when I lean forward and release both of the nipple clamps. Her pussy immediately pulses around me, and I hear the sounds of the bindings holding her wrists jingle. Her back arches, and I lean forward to wrap my fingers around her throat as I slam into her.

"My perfect greedy girl, aren’t you? Come on my cock, princess." She can't speak, but the most desperate sound I’ve ever heard falls from her chest.

I pump in and out of her a few more times, and I feel the way her pussy flutters around me as she loses herself again. I come with her this time, shooting every last drop of my release inside her and filling her up.

When I let go of her throat, she takes a deep breath and pulls against the bindings on her arms again. I pull myself out of her and lower her bottom half back onto the bed before makingquick work of freeing her from the bindings and pulling her into me to wipe the tears from her face.

"Let's get you cleaned up. I have to tend to the cut on your arm."

"What did you carve?" She looks down at the letter and smiles with approval. "It's perfect."

"I love you, Callie," I whisper in her ear.

"I love you too, Barrett. Thank you for giving me what I needed and not asking questions."

"I'm always here for you. Your needs come before mine or anyone else's in this house. You are our entire world, Callie."

"I don't deserve you guys," she admits, and I know she fully believes that, but the truth is, we don’t deserve her.

I grip her chin and tilt her head so she's able to look me in the eyes. "You're right, you don't deserve us. You deserve much better, but we are all you've got, so you'll just have to learn to manage."

She smiles, and I lean in to give her a kiss before standing up to lead her to the bathroom. I plan on having a nice bath with my girl and then maybe bringing her back to my bedroom to fuck her over and over again. If that's what she needs, of course. Tomorrow is a new day, and hopefully, she can deal with the feelings and work out whatever she has to with her mother.

Chapter 20

Damien

Ihave to deal with Gabriel's funeral today, and I'm still not any closer to having answers than I was three days ago. I've been trying to keep things from completely falling apart, but that's easier said than done.

Everyone keeps pressing me for information, but I don’t have any to give. The council wants to see Callie, and I've been doing my best to keep them preoccupied. They don't know that she isn't on the compound anymore. I've been using the funeral to distract everyone in order to buy myself a little bit more time to think about how to use this all to my advantage.

The people think Callie and Natasha are grieving in peace, but that couldn't be further from the truth. I punch a hole in the wall thinking about the entire ordeal. If I can't come up with something soon, I'm going to be blamed for his death because I was the one to find him. I should have left him in the basement to rot until a member of the guard stumbled on him. I was so close to having it all, and now I'll be the prime suspect.

I pull out my phone to send Soren another text. I've been trying to get in touch with him, but there has been nothing but radio silence. He was supposed to be on the compound, but I haven't been able tofind him. I just need the useless piece of shit to pull the security footage from the basement camera. I can't do it myself.

Me: It's been three days. Where the fuck are you?

Me: Answer your fucking phone, or I'll make sure you regret it.

I grip my phone and consider my options if he doesn't get back to me. There is the possibility that he was involved in Callie's escape. It's the only thing that makes sense, with both him and his wife being unattainable. He was supposed to put a tracker in Callie’s arm, too. I found the stupid fucking hair clip on Gabriel’s desk next to her ring. That crooked ass hacker ruined everything.

I text Austin Roberts, asking him to meet me in Gabriel's office, well, my office now, I suppose. I've been staying at the Ashford house since finding Gabriel in the basement a few days ago. The house I have is fine, but this is the house of the leader. My presence here sends a message that I will be here to pick up the pieces of the crumbling society.

Word of his death spread quickly, and the members who left after my wedding to Callie quickly turned around. Campers fill the entirety of the fields behind the houses again, and it's a bit annoying. The women are upset and crying for him, but they didn't know him, not really. I'll be a better leader than he was. I'll secure the legacy hefailed to.

Austin pops his head into the doorway of my fancy new office and immediately fills one of the seats. "Damien. What's going on?"

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