Page 16 of Only in the Dark
“Calm down, Olivia. I know I’m a cop, and the last person you expected, but I promise my intentions aren’t to turn you in. I would kill myself before betraying you, Little Serpent.” He leaned forward and ran his finger along my cheek and down my neck. “Like I said, I got you a present. I’m going to uncuff you to show you. Don’t run, or else I’ll chase you and you won’t like what I do to you,” he threatened.
I nodded. He slowly reached behind me and grabbed a key from under my pillow, then uncuffed me. He brought my wrist to his lips, kissing the red marks left behind before I pulled them away and rubbed at them, glaring at him. My mind told me to run from him, but I was curious what his surprise would be. “I may get rough during sex, but I’ll always kiss it better, baby.”
Before I could respond, he stood from the bed and walked to the door, and I covered myself under the comforter. If someone were going to walk in here, I didn’t want them to see me partially naked. Who would he possibly bring into the room, and why?
“Hey boss,” a man’s voice said from the other side.
“Bring him in,” Kieran directed. I didn’t like the idea ofanyonecoming into the room. I especially didn’t like the idea of being alone with two men—one of them being a man who had stalked me for weeks. A security guard appeared in the room seconds later, dragging Matthew into the room with his mouth taped shut, but he was attempting to scream something. I couldn’t see his mouth, but his eyes looked at me with nothing short of hatred.
While he couldn’t have seen what happened between us, it wasn’t hard to guess, not that it was his business now.I lowered my comforter to expose my lace top, wanting Matthew to know exactly what happened. The security guard shut the door, locking the three of us in here. Kieran fisted the back of Matthew’s head, shoving him down onto the bed until he was seated at the edge of the bed while I remained near the top.
“What the fuck is my ex, aka your brother, doing here?” I asked, looking Matthew up and down and realizing his hands were also tied with rope. There was something poetic about seeing him weak and controlled. I had been working on a plan to steal proof from his computer and turn him in, but maybe Kieran had something else in mind. Just seeing him vulnerable like this made my inner darkness bubble to the surface.
“I think it’s time we killed him for what he did to you,” Kieran answered, shrugging as if what he said wasn’t a big deal. Like he didn’t just suggest murdering his brother.
“What he did tome?” I questioned. There was no way he knew what had happened weeks ago; he wasn’t there. We were alone at my place, and I hadn’t had a known stalker at the time. I would’ve known if he was there before from the scent of his cologne filling my senses every time I woke up.
Remembering what happened the night I discovered the truth about Matthew made the bile rise in my throat. Knowing I had willingly slept with a man who preferred young girls brought a new level of hatred to my core—for myself and him. I owed Kieran for showing me the truth, but part of me was angry he couldn’t tell mehimself.
“And what he did to you. It was his first offense—forcing you that night. I followed him to your place, wanting to see what your dynamic was like. I was drawn to you immediately. It was how I knew you didn’t want it before you asked him to stop. He didn’t, and I saw the lights go out when you gave in. Just because you stopped fighting doesn’t mean it was consensual.”
My heart hammered in my chest at his explanation. I hadn’t thought about it that way until an outside eye gave me the perspective I needed. My muscles clenched at the anger filling my bones.
Kieran grabbed a knife from the nightstand, brandishing it for a moment before handing it to me. “You could poison him and let him go. Or, we could stab him and make him watch us again. He could die knowing we’re going to grow old together, and you’re going to havemybaby.” Kieran was getting a little overboard with his future demands, but I let him have it for the moment. I wanted Matthew to die believing these things, and I wanted to be the one to kill him.
“Again?” I questioned. I hadn’t known we were being watched before.
Kieran looked at the dark window across the room. “Steven, the security guard in this hallway, placed him in there and forced him to watch us. Even if he tried to close his eyes, he could hear us.”
I thought about it for a moment. “Get him on the hooks first,” I demanded, getting off the bed so Kieran could handle him.
There was something incredibly fucking hot about watching Kieran manhandle his whiny little brother, handcuffing him to the wall like I had been several minutes prior. It was more satisfying watching it be him, because I hated losing control and being tied up in any way. I’d get my revenge on Kieran one day, except he’d probably enjoy it.
I approached from Matthew’s right side, knowing exactly where I planned to stab him to keep him alive while he watched us. He wouldn’t bleed enough to die before we were done…I didn’t think. Suddenly, I felt Kieran’s muscular arms wrap around my waist, and he pulled my body against his. “Stab him, baby. I can’t wait to watch you make him bleed,” Kieran whispered near my ear, the warmth of his breath sending chills down my spine.
I stepped out of Kieran’s arms, walking to Matthew with the most sinister smile I could muster. “I hope it hurts,” I said before jabbing the knife into his side, intentionally missing any vital organs. He screamed into the tape, tears falling from his eyes. I didn’t leave it in there because I needed it to keep him in line. He wouldn’t bleed out though. If he thought he could look away from us, he was wrong. I placed the knife at his throat. “If you scream, I’ll slit your throat. Don’t test me, Matthew. I’ve killed people before. After all, I believe the media named me the Cocktail Killer.”
Matthew’s eyes widened, and he nodded his understanding. I removed the tape from his mouth. I wanted to hear him beg and plead, knowing it wouldn’t change my mind. “I loved you. I took care of you. And this is how you repay me? You fucked my brother while we’re together?”
A wild laugh burst out of me. To the outside eye, I probably looked and sounded deranged. “We’re not together. We haven’t been since I caught you with a sixteen-year-old girl, Matthew. I just stabbed you and promised to kill you. It took me fucking your brother to have my first orgasm by a Harlowe man,” I taunted. His arms went crazy in the handcuffs like he wanted to reach me, but he wasn’t moving anywhere. Even if he did, I had the knife. I’d keep it nearby in case I needed to reach it.
I reached forward and ran my finger along the stab wound I created, soaking it in blood and running it down the front of my chest, leaving blood marks on my body. I turned to face Kieran, watching as he looked at me with hooded eyes, his mouth parted. The look in his eyes was unhinged, borderline primal. I ran my blood-soaked finger down his cheek, leaving a small streak. I loved blood more than Mother could’ve ever expected. She would’ve hated seeing me this way, which made me crave it even more.
“I’m in charge now, Kieran. I own you just as much as you own me,” I told him, my voice more sinister than I had ever heard before. I gripped his shoulders and switched positions so his back faced the bed, pushing him down so he lay on his back.
“Oh, Christ,” he groaned. “This is the single hottest thing to ever happen to me.”
I reached down and slid my fingers in the waistband of his boxers, pulling them down and throwing them to the ground.
“You won’t need these anymore.” I grabbed the bottom of my lace lingerie top and pulled it off, throwing it into the messy pile of clothes. Kieran still had his shirt left, so I climbed on the bed, placing my knees on either side of his thighs. “Or this,” I said, tugging at his top until he lifted his head to help me pull it off.
I wanted him naked this time. I didn’t want him to think he was in control anymore. I wasn’t used to giving up control often, and I wasn’t about to just because I felt a strong connection to Kieran, or because I believed he’d kill for me. I needed to show him what it was really like to be with me. It was the only way to know if he could actually handle being mine, or if he was living a delusion in his head that he couldn’t handle in real life.
“I guess you don’t take much after all,” I remarked, looking down at his hard cock. I shifted my hips to rub my wet, dripping pussy over his length. He’d be able to slip inside easily, but I wanted to tease him first and get him worked up. I loved the idea that he’d desperately want to take control, but couldn’t, because I wouldn’t allow it.
“You can’t keep me cuffed here while you fuck my brother, Olivia. Didn’t we have something special?” Matthew’s question caused another burst of laughter. I retaliated by leaning down and pressing my lips against Kieran’s, the kiss immediately hot and heavy as our tongues fought for dominance in his mouth. Kieran moaned into the kiss—the hottest sound ever. I loved how eager and desperate I made him. It gave me a great sense of power. We hadn’t kissed before because of his mask, so this brought out a new feeling in me. He was a fantastic kisser, and kissing him felt like home.
“I believe I already fucked your brother once, and you’re not going to stop me now,” I responded once we came up for air. I licked a stripe up Kieran’s cheek, taking in the taste of his sweat mixed with the metallic taste of Matthew’sblood.
