Page 14 of The Devils of Saint City

Jaw tense, he spins around to disappear into his room just as Ash finally exits mine.

He stays in the doorway though, leaning against the frame as he regards me, but I refuse to show any sign of weakness. “Was it fun for you, at least?” I ask. “Did it feel the way you always hoped it would?”

“Better,” he surprisingly admits. “You’re so much nicer when you’re asleep. So... pliant.”

“Good. You always struck me as the type who would rather fuck a dead girl than a live one, so I guess this is as close as you can get. I love that for you.”

The giant asshole grins. “I love that for you,” he mocks, stepping in slowly to back me against the wall, and when he presses his wide palm against my chest I don’t know what the fuck to do. We stand there for a solid thirty seconds staring at one another until finally he lets it drift lower to squeeze the hell out of my tit, making me gasp. “Feel alive to me.”

I’d hit him if I weren’t almost positive he’d kill me for it. “Alive, sure. But coherent? Willing? Excited? Not so much. Didn’t the vacant look in my eyes turn you off?”

“Surprisingly no.” Leaning in, he whispers, “You looked less like her,” into my ear, but as that sentence goes on, his whisper becomes a growl.

So this is still punishment, then. All because I look like a woman who screwed us both over. “She hurt me too, Asher.”

“Did she?” He braces both of his hands on the wall behind my head, keeping me caged there like the pet he sees me as. “How so?”

“The same way she hurt you. She killed my dad, too. Then she dragged me into a new family where I wasn’t even wanted and killed my new dad just for fun. Then she got caught and left me with nothing and no one but the legacy of being the Black Widow’s daughter. I understand that’s not enough for you, and that you’re far from done punishing me, but just know things could’ve been different between us if you’d have opened your eyes and noticed you weren’t the only victim she left alive.”

“You’re right. But things aren’t different and now you’re ours. At least now pain isn’t the only thing we bring each other.” He holds up his phone and presses play on something I can’t see, but the whimpers and moans I hear are undoubtedly mine.

When I hear myself plead “I need it! I... need you,” I think that’ll be the thing that does me in — but I don’t waver.

“I didn’t feel a thing,” I remind him. “None of the pleasure, none of the pain.”

“Your cum on my cock says otherwise.“

How cute that he thinks I came for him, like it takes more than a slight breeze to get me there when I’m in that state. It doesn’t change the fact that if I can’t remember it, it’s as good as never feeling it at all. “Tell yourself whatever you need to, Asher. We both know you won’t stop anyway.”

Ghosting his finger down my cheek, he finally moves away to let me breathe. “Always been a smart girl.”

Not smart enough to keep myself out of this situation, but here we are. “Can I have the video?”

He looks genuinely pleased with himself when he pulls his phone out to send it over, assuring me he has no idea what I’m actually going to do with it.

Good. Let him think he’s won.

“Thank you. Do you need anything before I go to work?”

The bracelet vibrates against my skin so abruptly I jump, but when I look over at Asher I don’t see the remote in his hands. With a chuckle, he raises them up to show me it wasn’t him and then points at the door. “I think your boyfriend wants something.”

Making sure he’s still watching, I take the bracelet off, drop it on the ground, and stomp on it. “Coming, Manson,” I sing-song, giving him my back as a dark laugh rumbles out of his chest.

Manson is lying on his bed with his legs wide and an expression that tells me he’s about to piss me off. “Can you grab that remote for me, pet?”

My eyes flick right to the nightstand not two inches from the edge of his bed. The nightstand where the remote is sitting. Instead of arguing or flipping him off like I want to, I take a few quick steps forward and slap it onto his hand. “Anything else?”

“Yeah, help me up. I gotta piss. You really took it out of me last night, girl.”

Asher made it clear he was the one that fucked me, but from what he’s saying, it sounds likehedid. I really need to watch this fucking video.

“Sorry to tucker you out. Maybe you two should take it easy tonight and just get some sleep.”

The look he gives me promises that won’t happen, but that’s okay. I’ve got a few tricks up my sleeve.

6

It takes them too long to leave. I’m three full sessions in by the time I hear Asher’s Ford Maverick pull out of the driveway, and only then do I feel safe enough to do the things I need to do. If they catch me in the act... I don’t even want to think about it.

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