Page 42 of Rotten Men

She slaps me with the same venom-filled hate I hold, and I let it wash over me. Sting after sting, I welcome the pain to lessen the anguish I’m so intent on keeping hidden. She scratches me to the point of drawing blood, and I laugh at the feel of her anger pushing through my skin.

“That’s it,tesoro. Mark me with your hate.ThatI can believe,” I taunt, and she rises to my call, releasing hellfire on me.

Her howls are the most beautiful symphony my ears have ever heard, to which her anger-fueled aggressions dance in perfect synchronicity. With eyes shut, I relish each blow, each curse and wail. I feel her teeth sink into my flesh, and I take pleasure in that, too. Her hands crawl up to my hair, painfully pulling each strand in her grip, while her teeth mark my throat. I open my eyes and pull her hair back, wrapping it around my fist. She’s panting like a wild banshee, scorn dancing in her angry, emerald glare.

My skin prickles with excitement and want. Before I have time to distance myself from her entangled web, she goes for the kill and latches her lips onto mine. I become unhinged as I let her overpower my will, and she invades my body, if not my soul. Although at this point, I’m not sure I could deny her that either.

She jumps and fastens her legs around my waist, while cradling my head in her delicate hands, kissing me with the same aggression she had used with her fists. My blood is pumping in my ears voraciously, and I no longer have a grasp on reality. Instead, I am nothing but limbs and bones designed to give her whatever she wants.

“You hate me, Vincent? Prove it to me then,” she cries in my ear, biting the lobe before returning to take my mouth hostage.

She continues to maul away at me, and I moan loudly when I feel her pussy rub itself against my zipper, ordering its demise, too. I hurriedly pull myself free and hike up her skirt. I move her thong to the side, not even bothering to tear the thing away and push myself in.

“AH!” she bellows, and I slump my head to the crook of her neck, making my own crescent moons with my teeth.

One single thrust inside her welcoming walls and I become lost in her. Being inside her is sweet, unbridled surrender. It’s the gift of madness, wrapped up with a pretty bow of passion and desire.

“Vincent,” she moans hungrily, with hooded eyes and lust-drenched lips.

I keep to our fevered pace, fucking like beasts in heat. I can’t stop. Logic and sense have no room inside me when I have my love willingly offering herself as a sacrifice to my disdain.

“Let me hate you,tesoro,” I beg, kissing her, feeling too enraged and powerless. “Please let me hate you.”

“Hate me, Vincent. But love me too,” she supplicates frenziedly, and I groan in defeat when my soul hears her call.

I give her my all.

My hate.

My pain.

My anger.

But my love, too.

It was always hers for the taking. She’s now demanding what’s owed, so I submit to it unremorsefully. I’ve become a volatile mess, yet have never felt more unburden than by being held in her arms; inside her well-fabricated cocoon of love and hate.

My growls become stifled with each new thrust I impale her with, and her wet core clenches around me—a true testament to her desire. I curl up my lips in a distorted smile, with the feel of her breasts rubbing themselves on my chest, begging for their own friction and care. I lower my head and bite through her blouse, giving one of her nipples my affection and scorn.

“Oh, God! Vincent!” she shouts, so close to yielding to her surrender, demanding mine to come and join hers. I punish her further with each pounding thrust while finding her guarded nub with my thumb, and strumming it until all I hear are her loud cries of abandonment.

“Vincent!” she yells as her orgasm takes over, with mine eagerly following suit.

I was being truthful when I confessed that no other woman took her place since the last time I had made love to her. What would be the point in even trying? Nothing could ever come close to this. It would only be a poor shadow to remind me of this precise moment—a heaven filled with promises of a life I will never have; an oasis I will never enjoy to its full extent because this ethereal realm isn’t meant for a man like me. Love and goodness aren’t for the rotten. They’re for the good and pure. And I lack the attributes to be welcomed to such a divine existence.

Mytesorotaught me well enough that only the righteous man deserves happiness.

And I’m not him.

Sixteen

Selene

I shuffle from one side to the other on the balls of my feet, anxious to end this nightmare once and for all. After the last talk I had with Vincent, I knew he’d come through for me. I’m not sure how he was able to pull it off, but when Gio’s attorney dealing with James’ case called to tell me he was being released and I could pick him up at noon the very next day, I didn’t ask too many questions. I just got in my car and drove all night to make sure I was here on time.

The minute I see James being ushered out the jail gate, I run to his side and jump in his arms.

“Missed me that much, huh, Beautiful? I should get locked up more often,” he teases, placing a soft kiss on my temple. My own smile grows wide seeing how he’s still able to find humor in life, even after this whole sordid ordeal of being framed for the murder of his best friend.

---