Page 26 of Broken Queen
“I want to see him,” I said, a giddy elation running through me. My ears drummed, pushing me forward. “Show me his body.”
Like two kids at a birthday party, Hazard dragged me through the house. We ran down the hallway, blood trailing the walls, drips marking the floor, until we came to the master bedroom.
His body lay on the bed, his eyes vacant. That familiar blond hair was still styled with wax, fixing to the shape of the mattress. His knees were flattened as if Hazard had shattered them with a baseball bat. A hole the size of a small plate exposed the center of his chest. Those pink lungs smeared with fluid, the edges of his rib cage beginning to dry from the exposure. White bone sticking out like twigs in a wreath.
I dropped the heart and grabbed my dead husband’s chin, leering down into his face, thinking of the ways he had suggested that being his wife would be good enough for me. That nothing would ever harm me, when he was just like the rest of them. All he wanted was power over me.
But I wanted that power too, goddamn it.
“Being in the Marked Blooms Syndicate is too dangerous for you too, isn’t that right, babe?” I said, mocking Logan’s words from the last Masquerade. “You’re too high profile now. Board members keep getting murdered. Now you can relax and enjoy life for once.” I laughed, smacking myself in the chest. “Or not.”
I sat up next to the corpse, stroking a hand down his body. It was still warm, almost like he was alive. Hazard gleamed back at me, his crooked canine like a jagged wolf’s smile.
I was supposed to be sad when my husband died. Our union had been a part of my life since I was born, but even now, sitting next to his body, I was so giddy, I could barely think straight. Blood danced in my veins as if I was spinning. I didn’t think of the years of sticking together, or when he was still my fiancé and stood loyally by my side as the Dentist ripped out my teeth. I felt nothing for the memories of when he picked me up from the dental implant appointments, like a good fiancé, only to run off afterward, claiming he had business to take care of. Maybe ‘business’ had always had brown hair and big tits.
Instead, I was overjoyed. A bullet wound to the head was all I needed, but Hazard had been so elaborate; it was hard not to see the beauty in the act. He had carved out his heart for me, and put it on a platter. Even if Hazard was only doing it to get something out of me, he went above and beyond. I admired that.
“And what do you think of it all, my queen?” Hazard asked. “Tell me everything. Seeing their dead bodies. Knowing that your humble servant killed them for you.” He winked as those words came out. There was nothing humble or subservient about Hazard; he liked pretending to be a peasant in front of a queen, but I knew better. He had ulterior motives, like I did.
And I respected that. I might not have been as impulsive as he was, but I knew what it was like to do anything to get what you wanted. Even if that meant that people would die.
An ax was on the nightstand, blood painting the edge like water washing on a shore. A chunk of peach flesh clung to the handle.
“Did you use that?” I asked.
“I’ve always got an array of tools ready, love. Want to play with them?”
I shook my head. Mutilating a corpse wasn’t as exciting as a living being, and right then, I wanted something else. Hazard stepped toward me. A tension tingled through me like a spider crawling up the leg of a tree, finding that perfect branch to perch to build a fortress. Hazard was like a home for me, giving me shelter for once.
Hazard wanted something from me, but for now, he was on my side.
“So then, what do we do, my queen?” he asked. His dick was hard, pressing against the fabric of his pants, taunting me. I licked my lips.
“There are a few things we could do,” I murmured.
Another step closer, and I straightened my shoulders, waiting until he was standing over me. Those brown eyes blazed as he focused on me, his red hair like a fire surrounding his head, his bottom lip puckered. Sweat permeated the air, mixed with blood. I parted my legs, bracing myself for whatever came next.
“Tell me our options,” he said.
Our. It wasn’t just about him, or me. Our, our, our.
“We could hire someone to clean up the body,” I said. He curled a hand around the base of my neck, yanking me closer to him, bringing me to my feet. His tongue licked the column of my neck until a shiver ran down my spine. “We could clean him up ourselves,” I said, my voice hoarse with desire. His teeth sunk into my neck, a shot of pain surging through me as I moaned. He shoved me against the wall, then let his breath blow against my wet skin, tickling me.
“Tell me more,” he murmured.
“We could bask in this success.” His hands traveled down my sides, finding my hips. He clutched the fabric in his hands like he could rip it off through sheer force of will.
“Do you feel what you do to me?” he asked. His hard cock stabbed into my stomach as he towered over me. “Teasing me. Making me watch you. You make sure I’m always there when you’re swimming. When you’re parading yourself around in nothing but a thin little sundress. You know exactly what you’re doing, don’t you?”
“I do,” I whispered. “But you’ve been so good, Hazard. Is that what you want me to say? That I’m so happy you respected me?” I laughed, but he smirked, putting a hand around my throat. I stilled.
“I’d say my ‘respectful behavior’ was purely for you, my love, to prove that you’re the only queen in this world for me. But let’s be honest. You’d never get on your knees for me when that piece of shit was still in the picture. And I don’t like waiting, Zira. I’ve wanted my cock deep inside of your cunt since the first time I laid eyes on you.”
My lower stomach hardened, that anticipatory energy rushing down between my legs. This was better than I expected. He hadn’t killed Logan to get information or to impress me. He had killed my husband because he wanted me.
“You want me to bow down to you?” I asked, flirtation lilting my voice. “On my knees? Like a loyal servant?”
“I just killed a man for you. Carved out his heart and put it on a platter. For you. Only you, my love.” He squeezed his grip on my neck, and as he spoke, his words vibrated through his fingers to my throat: “Now, you will get on your fucking knees for me.”
