Page 8 of Crush (Deadly Hearts 1)

“Tell me why you say that,” he demands.

I cannot lie. There’s no reason to. “I had murderous thoughts about a pig who touched my friend without her permission.”

He spins back to me quickly, his head tilted. “Oh?”

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be, Princess. He sounds like he deserves your wrath.”

I look up at him without meaning to. I wasn’t expecting that. I was expecting, hoping for even, a harsh reprimand.

I quickly lower my eyes again and stay silent.

He approaches me again and holds out the riding crop he has in his hand. He rubs it gently against my pussy, pressing down on my clit. I moan as it feels so good, I need more. He pulls it away.

“Bad girls don’t get to come,” he says, but his tone is different. I can’t quite figure it out.

“Please, Daddy,” I beg him. “I need it.”

“You want to be punished first?”

“Yes, I need to be punished for being so bad.”

“No,” he says suddenly and drops to his knees in front of me. I stumble back as this is odd. What is he doing?

His hands skim over the two knives still attached to my thighs before he runs his fingertip over the thin white ribbons of long-ago scars at the tops of my thighs. “You hurt yourself, Princess.”

“I deserved it,” I say carefully. This is treading into a territory I’m unfamiliar with.

“You have a darkness in you. So do I,” he says quietly, then he leans forward and brushes his lips softly over the scars, his tongue flicking out and tasting my skin.

“Stop it,” I cry out. “I’m bad! I’m a bad girl! I need to be punished!” I’m starting to panic. He has stopped the role play, and this has turned into something else entirely. It’s twisted my mind and I don’t know how to deal with this.

“No,” he says again. “You just want to be loved. Let me love you.”

“What?” I spit out and stumble back further. “What are you doing? This isn’t what I came here for.”

“Isn’t it?” he asks, standing up again.

“No!” I yell.

He reaches up to unhook the leash and drops it. “If you don’t want me to love you, you are free to leave,” he says.

I stare at him in horror. He is fucking with me and it’s cruel. Why is he doing this?

“You’re kicking me out, Daddy?” I ask, scrambling to keep up the pretense even though it has crumbled all around me like a cookie castle.

“I want you to stay,” he says steadily. “I know what you are seeking, Princess. Let me give it to you.”

I shake my head. “This is all wrong,” I moan, putting my hands to my head. “All wrong. Be my Daddy! I need my Daddy!” I lunge forward and beat my fists against his chest. He grabs my hands, pulling them away from him.

“Admit what you really want,” he says, the dark tone chilling me to my core.

I stop struggling and yank my arms back. I spin and grab my dress and underwear and aim for the door.

He is there in a split second, his big hand holding it closed as I try to open it. “Tell me what you want. What are your darkest desires?”

“Why are you doing this?”

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