Page 20 of Cruel God

“Yes, it’s me.” I let my hand glide over her shoulder and down her arm. “I need you to wake up, my beautiful angel.”

Those mesmerizing chocolate swirl eyes fluttered open; her cheeks slightly flushed.

“Is there something wrong?” Worry flashed across her expression.

“No. Nothing is wrong.”

I took the black sheet and slowly pulled it down and off her body. “Come with me.”

Her eyes widened. “Where to, master?”

“No questions. Just, come with me.”

I took her hand in mine and gently helped her off the bed. My gaze drifted down her beautiful naked body. Her skin was ivory white from the lack of being in the sun. I wondered if she missed it, being able to walk in the sun, feeling its heat seep through her pores.

No matter how many times I had seen her naked before, touched her and fucked her—she always took my breath away. Those pretty and pert nipples. The perfect swell of her palm-sized breasts. The sensual curve of her hips and the enticing strip of dark hair that adorned her cunt. Hope was the kind of beauty money could never buy. All those rich fuckers who thought buying women gave them the perfect pet had it all damn wrong. Because I had her. I had the perfect pet. The flawless slave. And the most beautiful queen. She was all mine, and no other man would ever have the honor of owning her. Not while I still breathed.

With her hand still in mine, I started to lead her out of the room. I could feel her hesitancy and uncertainty in every reluctant step she took behind me.

“What time is it, master?” Her voice was soft, shaky.

“It’s two in the morning.”

As I stepped out of her room, she pulled back slightly.

I turned to find her biting her lower lip worryingly, her dark eyes filled with apprehension. It was to be expected considering the past. Victor Cain tended to come for his victims in the middle of the night, taking them to his personal torture chamber. It was like Victor’s demons were at their most vicious in the early hours of the morning—starving for pain. Even though I had done my best back then to protect Hope from my father, she still saw what happened to the girls that came back after Victor had sent for them. Some girls never returned.

Letting go of her hand, I stepped closer, took her face in my palms and placed a gentle kiss on her forehead. I could feel her body tremble and hear the fear in every rapid breath that left her lips.

“Don’t be afraid, Butterfly. I’m not going to hurt you. Not tonight. I promise.” I took her hand and tugged lightly. “I want to show you something. Come on.”

She kept about two steps behind me as we walked down the hall. It was cool tonight, but central heating ensured that my butterfly never needed to cover up and ward off the cold. Up here and around me, she never had to wear anything. In fact, I demanded it.

My thoughts screamed at me as we neared the window.What the fuck are you doing? This is not how we do things. We use, destroy, and devour. We don’t give. We take.

I had no idea why my chest ached for me to do this—to just give her this one little thing. Something lovers promised to give each other. Something they wrote about in poems and said out loud while holding the hands of the ones they loved. Something millions of people took for granted every goddamn night.

The moon.

We approached the window, and I stopped about three steps away. It was a full moon, and its glow was resplendent, shining down on the earth below it. Just like that bedside light, it kept the darkness at bay—but it couldn’t stop the shadows from reaching out, wanting just a piece of its splendor. I knew exactly what those shadows were feeling, how painful that craving was for the light.

From where Hope stood behind me, she couldn’t see the beauty I was staring at. To satisfy the malignant and malicious motherfucker I was, I decided she needed to earn this reward first. Only then would I give it to her.

“Hope, close your eyes.”

“Yes, master.”

I didn’t have to look to know that her eyes were closed. She obeyed my every command just like she had been taught.

I guided her to stand between me and the window; her beautiful face turned toward me and away from the moon.

The soft light gleamed through the window and kissed the one side of her face. It almost took my goddamn breath away. She indeed was my most prized possession, a diamond in the rough who could retain her beauty while surrounded by so much ugliness.

I was a powerful man who had the world at his feet. A man who wanted for nothing. A man who could hold the fate of so many in the palms of his hands. Yet nothing compared to the feeling of knowing that I owned her. My Holy Grail and my cross—priceless and godly, yet keeping her was the heaviest burden I ever had to carry.

“You do want to please me, don’t you, Butterfly?” I placed a palm against her cheek.

She answered with a simple nod, her eyes remaining closed, and I gently rubbed my thumb over her bottom lip.

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