Page 3 of Sinister Games

Was this just another one of his games?

He the puppet master and me the helpless doll, dancing with every pull of my strings.

Was I once again a helpless player in a sick, macabre fantasy of his choosing?

This game… his game… our game… had gone too far.

It needed to end.

Now. Tonight.

These violent delights have violent ends…

Desperately trying not to drop it, I switched the gun to my right hand and raised it chest high. It felt as if the blood had drained from my body. A chill crept over my skin as I watched him, feeling like trapped prey just waiting for its predator’s pounce.

Without saying a word, Richard kept his eyes trained on me as he carefully rose from the bed. I watched in horrified fascination as the sheet slid across his muscled abdomen only to drop away, exposing his thick hard shaft, unmistakable evidence the arrogantly confident man who stood before me wasn’t the least bit cowed by the sight of the gun.

He knew all along.I was now sure of it. My secret deadly plan had never been a secret from him. My heart felt heavy as I realized there wasn’t a corner of my mind he didn’t know intimately. He saw me too completely, knew me too well.

Stretching his arm out, he said calmly, “Give me the gun, Elizabeth.”

Hating myself for it, I took a hesitant step backward as I shook my head no.

“Baby, you don’t want to do this.”

My vision blurred as hot tears filled my eyes. My voice wobbled as I whispered, “I have no choice.”

Not giving a damn about his nakedness, Richard took a determined step toward me.

“Stop! Please, don’t come any closer,” I cried out desperately. I could now taste my own salty tears as they slid down my cheeks and over my lips.

“Trust me, Elizabeth. You don’t want to start this game with me,” he growled in warning as he took another menacing step in my direction.

Once more I backed up. I could feel the plush edge of the chaise press against the back of my knees. The gun began to shake as my arm tired. I tried to steady it with my other hand. “I never wanted this game! Any of this!”

“Liar,” he snapped back. “You needed this, us, as much as I. Your soul is just as dark and twisted as my own. Don’t insult us both by pretending otherwise. Stop playing the innocent. It doesn’t suit you.” As always, his hard voice reverberated with calm authority.

Raising my hands up to cover my ears, the cold metal of the gun pressed against my hot cheek as I tried to block out the truth of his words. “No! I don’t believe you! You forced me to play this game!”

His hands curled into fists. “Forced you?” he bit out through clenched teeth. “Did I force those moans of pleasure that slipped past your lips earlier? Did I force you to wrap your legs around my shoulders, drawing my mouth closer to your heat? Tell me. Was it I who forced you to scream ‘harder, make it hurt’ tonight?”

My whole body shook with the impact of his words. I began to plead with him. “Stop! Please, stop! Can’t you see we have to end this? It’s too much! Too toxic. Too dangerous for us both. You have to let me go!” I screamed as I once more trained the gun on him.

His obsidian eyes shone with dark fire. His jaw clenched so hard there was a small throbbing tic on his upper right cheek. I watched him fight to maintain control, knowing how badly he wanted to just rip the gun from my hand and teach me a brutal lesson at the end of his leather belt for even daring to threaten him like this.

The silence shredded my nerves.

Would he let me go?

A traitorous voice in my head asked, do you truly want him to?

“Never,” he finally ground out. “You’re mine. Mine in life. Mine even in death. You will never be free of me, Elizabeth. I own you; mind, body, and soul and I will never give you up.”

He took another step toward me. Our naked bodies now so close, I could feel the angry heat radiating off him.

Lifting the gun with a determination I didn’t feel, I pulled back the hammer.

“That’s where you’re wrong, Richard.” My voice sounded high and unnatural to my strained ears. The keen edge of desperation gave me false courage.

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