Page 42 of Cruel God

“Eventually.” He smiled with glee. “But first, you need to teach her who her new master is.”

“By doing what?” I asked, even though I already knew the answer.

Victor walked across the room, and I watched as he reached for a whip that hung with all the other toys against the wall. His eyes met mine. “By beating your authority into her.”

I stopped breathing. My thoughts went completely blank, and for a second, I was rendered incapable of uttering a single word as panic squeezed the air from my lungs.

I tore my gaze from Victor and looked into Hope’s eyes. God, if there ever was a defining moment in time that had the power to pull my world from its axis, it was now. This moment. This second. Right fucking now.

A fresh tear slipped down her cheek, and it was clear to me that she knew as well as I did that this needed to be done. It was a single moment between us, our silence speaking louder than any words ever could. It was the most amazing thing, how we could interpret what the other was feeling simply by looking at each other. How we could feel the connection pulse between us without speaking a single word. How we had somehow developed a kinship out of stolen glances and clandestine smiles.

This was torture. The worst I had ever endured. After everything my father had put me through, forcing me to watch while women got raped and humiliated, beaten and murdered, this was by far the cruelest thing he could ever do to me. Forcing me to hurt the one thing that had brought light into the dark world he had pulled me in.

“Now, let’s get started.” He tossed the whip my way, and I caught it mid-air.

I frowned at him. “You’re staying to watch?”

“Of course, I am,” he answered as if I had just asked the world’s dumbest question. “And so is X.”

I turned around to find X standing by the door, his large frame blocking almost all the light shining in from the hall.

Anger surged as I looked back at my father. “I don’t think it’s necessary for you to watch.”

“Yes, it is. I need to know that you’ve taken to heart everything I have taught you over the years.”

I gave a step forward. “This is between my submissive and me.”

“She’s not your submissive yet.”

I balked, and Victor approached me.

“See this as your final test. The final step you need to take to graduate in the world of a master.”

My pulse raced impossibly fast, and I had to start pacing to get rid of the raging energy that threatened my resolve and self-control. This was such bullshit.

“Son.” Victor crossed his arms. “It either happens the way I dictate it, or you don’t get the girl. It’s as simple as that.”

Oh, my fucking God. He loved this. He loved every goddamn second of torturing me, seeing me squirm and unravel. Victor Cain was the king of mindfucks, and this was his way of fucking with my head.

My nostrils flared, and I braved a look in Hope’s direction, her eyes still focused on me. Not once since I walked in here did she look anywhere else but at me. Like I was her savior. As if she trusted me.

Fuck!

I closed my eyes and inhaled deeply, feeling the air travel filling my lungs little by little. There was no other way. This had to happen the way Victor dictated; otherwise, I risked losing her forever.

My choices were to do as my father demanded, and in return get the girl…or defy my father and lose Hope forever. And no matter how many scenarios played out inside my head, losing Hope was the worst fucking outcome for me.

It had. To happen.

Squaring my shoulders, I took another deep breath, steeling myself against every emotion that had the power to stop me from doing what needed to be done. I had to shed the skin of the man who felt affection toward this girl and slip into my role as her new master. I had to forget the man who would do anything to protect her and become the snake that would slither around her body to squeeze the soul from her existence.

As I opened my eyes, I locked my gaze with Hope’s for the final time before Hell would descend on both of us. There was a slight nod of her head, something only I noticed because it was only intended for me.

Her silent permission.

While keeping her gaze, I slipped off my shoes and pulled the shirt over my head, causing my neatly styled hair to fall in disarray.

X closed the door, and my father slipped in next to him, and they both stood there like two perverted vampires in the dark while the light shined down over Hope, the chains holding her arms in place glinting with evil intent.

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