Page 41 of Promise of Destruction
"Nothing left to lose?" He sneers. "I very much doubt that."
My chest heaves as he raises a hand, fear coiling inside the pit of my stomach. He may be a killer, but he's apparently not the type to hit a woman. Instead, his hand cups my jaw, lifting my chin so that he can appraise me like an item he's going to buy secondhand. My heart begins to beat harder in my chest, a strange mix of fear and something else lighting through my veins, the adrenaline setting my blood on fire.
I just stare at him as he appraises me, his thumb stroking the column of my throat reverently. "Your pupils are dilated. Your heart is racing. Your palms are sweaty." He strokes the pulseon my neck a second, debating, and then licks his lips. "You're either terrified or you're incredibly turned on."
I don't even get a chance to express my indignation at that because he shakes his head, laughing as his lips come to just barely brush against mine. His hard body blocks me off entirely, pressing me into the wall. I can feel the bulge in his pants nestled against my stomach... and I can feel my nipples tight under my bra. My chest doesn’t seem capable of expanding enough to fill my lungs, because there’s no oxygen in the air now. There’s only him.
"Probably both." He chuckles. "You say you have nothing left to lose, but what about your pride? What if I pin you to this wall and shove a hand up your dress?"
His thumb toys with the hem, making my stomach somersault. "What if I shoved my cock between those creamy thighs and fucked your cunt until you cried for me to stop? Would you still say you have nothing left to lose?"
I don't know whether I'd put it past him to take what he wants, consequences be damned. I'm sure he's done it before.
My voice cracks when I try to speak, so I swallow before saying, "I'll scream if you touch me."
"I'malreadytouching you." He smirks, his eyes flitting to where his hand is resting just above my kneecap, a threat of what he could do. "Besides, when Idotouch you like that, you'll only be screaming in pleasure."
"Fuck you." I snap, pushing him square in the chest. "I will never give you anounceof my pleasure."
"Sure about that?" He laughs, his hand traipsing higher and chasing gooseflesh across my skin.
"I mean it." I warn him, though my voice sounds breathy. A fucking betrayal. "I'll scream."
"Go ahead, if you want the whole office to know that you're my whore. We both know it, may as well let the rest of them in on it, too."
Hatred unlike anything I've ever felt swells inside me... and as he slides his hand higher, his thumb brushing the waistband of my panties, it's not all I feel. Humiliation surges through me, but it doesn't override whatever the fuck my body is doing. I can feel how wet I am, and if he just slides his fingers a few inches to the left, he could feel it too.
"Stop."
"Are you sure you want me to?" He cocks his head without removing his touch, his fingers lighting a fire along my bare skin as he dips lower.
My head falls back when his thumb brushes against the lace crotch of my panties, and I'm too late to stop the sound that slips out of my throat, a strangled sound somewhere between a moan and a sigh.
"You dirty little bird." He chuckles, his breath ghosting across my lips as he runs the pad of his thumb back and forth over the sopping wet crotch, stroking me through my clothes. "I knew you were sick, but I didn't know you werethissick."
There’s not enough pressure and I’m desperate for him to give me more even as my brain screams that this is so fucking wrong. His touch is feather light, just enjoying the moisture that coats his thumb as I seep onto him, my body betraying rational thought.
I can't stop the moan of frustration that slips out of me when his touch leaves me.
"Like I said, Miss Palmer," he smirks, stepping away and straightening his collar. "You're my toy. And I'm going to play with you until you break."
twenty-eight
Declan
SorenPalmermaybemy toy, but she's got the advantage of having wrapped herself around me like some sort of pit viper. She's consumed my every fucking thought since that article came out, a mystery that kept getting sweeter by the moment when she turned out to be not only a brass-balled brunette, but also somehow tied up with Tony D'Anerio, a man I've despised pretty much my entire life.
Growing up outside the city limits, I had to walk past him pedaling his shit on the corner to get to school. He was easy enough to ignore when he was just an overweight teenage bully selling candy he'd stolen from the corner store. But when he got in with the wrong people and started pushing drugs, he went from a bully to a fucking criminal.
I got the shit beat out of me once in all my life, and that was enough for me. When his little gang came after me claiming I'd grabbed his girlfriend's ass, I tried to fight them off with my fists. But I was twelve, pre-puberty, and they were grown men... or at least, cretins in the bodies of fully grown men. I knew Sadie from school— we were in the same year, despite the fact she didn'tshow up to class all that much. I'd quietly shared my sandwich with her every day she did appear in the 4th grade when I found her taking lunches in homeroom.
She screamed at them to stop when they went after me, told them that nothing had happened. The thug who'd had his arm around her threw the first punch, claiming she was his sister. Tony was the one who delivered the final kick before I lost consciousness and Sadie's screams faded into silence.
I got the pistol from one of mom’s washed-up boyfriends when he was arrested for beating my mother the same night Tony's little gang beatme. With injuries I couldn't hide, I told my mom I'd accidentally walked in front of a car. Unlike how I didn't believe her when she claimed to have walked into a door, she bought my story and insisted on driving me for a month until her boss threatened to fire her if she was late again.
When Tony took the first step toward me, I whipped out the pistol and clicked the safety off, making sure he saw me do it. He backed off quickly, because even though he was stupid, he wasn't stupid enough to want to capture police attention. He's also a big enough pussy that just the sight of the gun was enough to convince him not to fuck with me. He didn't even doubt whether I had the balls to pull it, which is good for him, because I did.
Tony's sister was the best thing about him. Valyria D'Anerio was my first crush. The first person I emptied my balls to the image of, if we're being honest. She was a substitute teacher, so I only ever saw her completely at random. A small and quiet woman, Valyria was far different than the other teachers. She was on the young side, more relatable, and not as strict as the rest. When she walked into a classroom, we knew it would be a good lesson, because derailing the plan was so easy when you simply had to pull at all the right strings. The minute someone would talk about music, she'd be lost to another world, happy to debate the greatest musicians of the last decade. Apparently,she'd given up on her dream of being a singer to keep a roof over Tony's head when their mother passed unexpectedly. She never mentioned having a kid, but why would she have?
