Page 150 of Spark

“Wrap your legs around me.”

I didn’t think I even had the strength to lift my knees, but I somehow managed to lock them around his waist and tighten my grip around his neck, my chin pressing into his meaty, bloody shoulder. He didn’t say a word as he carried my trembling body up the stairs, abandoning the gruesome and bloody scene behind us. I closed my eyes to avoid having to see it again.

For the first time ever, I’d actually witnessed Darren murder someone. I knew he had killed others, heard about it and listened to it, but I’d never actually seen him do it, and it was fucking horrifying. The joy displayed on his face as he took that life was sickening and disturbing, the blood dripping from his face a clear reminder of what he was capable of.

The conversation we’d had in the car when we first came back to the estate flashed in my head. How he planned to have me match him in every way. Could I become a killer like him? Find enjoyment in the destruction of others the way he did? I might have a strong vendetta for vengeance, but death was necessary in it and not something to be pleasurable. Would I find pleasure in murdering those who worked for Darren? Anyone who did business with him was an enemy, and I could not afford to be prejudice against anyone. They would all have to go, and I didn’t have the time or the room for remorse in that plan. I would have to be just as brutal as the man holding me. And the fear of what I would become after all of this was over was more terrifying than anything else was.

And I had already begun to see those changes, hadn’t I? I’d already successfully manipulated the death of one and attempted two more without a shred of remorse, but it was entirely different when I finally witnessed the result of such actions. Especially when they were as gruesomely displayed as that.

Darren clearly meant tonight’s display as a punishment. It was a warning for what was to come should I ever betray Darren, but I doubted he would ever subject me to such a beating again. In fact, it was probably a good thing he had shown me such violence. I needed to get used to it; I needed to be able to look past the blood and gore and see the real goal: annihilation.

But holy fuck, it was going to be a long, hard road before I would be able to handle that kind of shit. I didn’t doubt I could put a bullet in someone’s head but to carve them up was something entirely different. The only thing that worried me the most was that next time I was caught in the idea of betrayal, I might recognize Darren’s opponent standing in the ring… because it could be someone I love.

I couldn’t allow that. I couldn’t afford to be so careless again. I couldn’t give voice to those thoughts ever again. To breathe them would be my ruin.

I suddenly felt water hit my back, warm water spraying on my bare skin and torn clothing, and it made me jolt. Where were we?

“Shhh,” Darren cooed, stroking my hair back as he held us under a showerhead.

“How did we…?” I asked, letting the question linger as I tried to remember how we had gotten here. I’d been so lost in my thoughts I didn’t even realize where Darren had taken us.

Setting me on my feet, the sticky blood between us pulling at my clothes and skin, Darren removed my ruined dress as well as his own clothes and moved us deeper under the spray of the shower. I didn’t recognize the shower stall, so we weren’t in his room or mine. I had no idea where we were or why we weren’t in either of our own showers, but the thought didn’t linger long as I watched the blood begin to slide down Darren’s chest and circle around the drain. I felt compelled to help clean him.

Moving my hands to his shoulders, I became determined to help push the crimson away from his skin, pressing it down with the water to make more and more of it disappear. I wanted it gone, and I wanted him clean because then I could pretend he was a little less evil.

“Jaden, stop,” Darren said, but I barely registered the words as I moved to grab a bar of soap.

“I said stop it,” he snapped, grabbing my wrists to prevent me from washing him.

“Let go,” I pleaded, attempting to pull away and getting nowhere.

“Look at me,” he growled, and my eyes instantly snapped up to his. “You’re trying to wash away your fear. I assure you, it’s not going anywhere. This is me, Jaden. This is who I am. My skin is stained with more blood than you could ever hope to wash away. It’s a part of me, and no amount of soap is going to change that.”

I looked away, my eyes falling to the floor to watch little streams of red and pink flow between us, swirling around the drain. And then I remembered that very same blood covered me.

Ignoring his words, I moved under the center of the spray, tilting my head back, so the water fell over my face and coated my hair. But then I was abruptly yanked away from it.

“It coats you, too,” he said into my ear, his lips teasing my skin as he spoke to me. “There’s no running from that. One day, you’ll be inside that ring destroying my enemies, and I have a feeling you’re going to enjoy it just as much as I do.”

I tried to jerk myself away from him, seething anger from his words. Because he was right; I probably would enjoy it but not in the same way he did. He would enjoy the bloodshed, whereas I would only enjoy the fact one less person would be on his side. Yes, I would have to kill, but that did not mean I had to maim and mutilate to accomplish anything. I would not become a heartless monster like him. I was better than that, goddammit.

“I will not become like you.”

Darren’s face turned sinister, his lips forming into a dark smile as his eyes narrowed in on me. “You’re already closer than you think.”

I jerked again. “You’re wrong. I’m not like you because I’m better than you are. I see right past your manipulative bullshit. You’ll shower me with hearts and flowers and then bathe me in blood. I will not let you ruin me.”

A soft chuckle left Darren’s throat, and it had me seething with anger and fear. I wanted to shrink away and punch him in the face at the same time. How could he make me feel this way so systematically?

“Oh, my sweet little Jaden. You have no idea how much I plan to ruin you.”

Before I knew what was happening, my back hit the wall of the shower, my hips suddenly lifted, only to be impaled right onto Darren’s rigid cock. I cried out from pain and pleasure, my walls sealing around him in anguished welcome. My nails dug into his shoulders as he pumped into me, his hands digging into my hair to pull my head back and expose my neck. His teeth found my sensitive flesh, biting and sucking until I was moaning for more.

“And I’ve got news for you, princess. You will not be leaving this room until you’re good and ruined to my satisfaction.”

A harsh gasp tore from my throat as Darren gripped my neck and held tight, too tightly as he thrust even harder into me. The reality of what he was planning had me panicking inside, and as my oxygen supply faded, so did my grip on his shoulders. I tried to push away from him, but with my back against the wall and the wall of a man fucking me in front of me, I had nowhere to go. I fought against him, gasping for air when none would come while he fucked me ruthlessly. He was going to choke me out for real this time, and there wasn’t shit I could do about it.

“Darren… please,” I groaned, and just when I thought I was about to pass out, he released my throat. The first gasp of air I took had nothing on the orgasm that swiftly followed. It was the most unreal thing I had ever experienced, my entire body melting with pleasure so strong it flowed through every vein, creating a moan from my lips even I didn’t recognize. I could feel Darren’s cum coating my walls as he finished, his satisfied grunts confirming as much. I felt myself go limp in his arms, my chin resting on his shoulder while my arms hung lifelessly down his back. And then it was lights out.

---