My fingers twitched at the edge of the fucking cast I was still cursed to keep on and I shifted against the confines of the sling. I was so sick of wearing the damn thing. So fucking sick of it. With a growl, I reached up with my good hand and ripped the knot loose before tearing it off.
My bullet wound no longer needed dressing anyway and I was done with this too. Now all that was left was the infernal cast. Three weeks, six days and fourteen hours remaining until I could banish that as well. And then I could get back to my routine in its fullness.
I stood still in the utter silence of the catacombs and forced myself to count down five full minutes as I got my rage under control.
It was freezing down here, the ice cold air making the bare skin of my chest pebble, but I couldn't bring myself to ask for help pulling on shirts, so this was the standard I lived by aside from when I attended classes.
When the allotted time had finally passed, I headed back through the gym and upstairs where Tatum was working on a school assignment at the dining table.
My teeth clenched at the sound of drilling and I had to force myself not to respond to the incessant noise and remind myself of why it was necessary. Monroe, Blake and Kyan were outside acting like a bunch of hillbilly laymen as they bolted bars over every opening window in The Temple to make sure that there was no chance of anyone breaking in via them again. Since the so-called Justice Ninja had broken into Blake’s room to steal his trophies, we had decided that the only sure fire way to protect our home required this aesthetic sacrifice.
It had taken a fucking week for the bars to be sent which was too fucking close to unacceptable for my liking but with the news of Tatum’s father’s alleged suicide breaking, this last week had gone to shit anyway. So for one, final day I was going to suck it up and try to ignore the incessant noise of the three of them playing the handyman role with the hopes that after this weekend we could return to our regular routine and the world would be set right once again. I couldn't bear to look at them using tools and doing manual labour though, so I was just trying to pretend it wasn't happening. And it had to be done. There was no way that we could leave this place vulnerable like that, especially now that some fucking little upstart had decided to aim attacks our way.
I already had more than enough plans for how I was going to deal with the Justice Ninja just as soon as I got hold of them and they'd better believe that their life wouldn’t be worth living when I did.
I crossed the room silently, moving to stand directly behind Tatum as she worked and leaning down carefully until my lips were right beside her ear.
"I know what you've done," I growled and a shriek of alarm escaped her as she leapt up, knocking her glass of water flying as she whirled around to glare at me.
"Saint! What the fuck are you doing creeping up on me like a fucking ghost?"
I lurched forward and spun her around to face the table before pushing her to bend over it with her chest pressing down into the puddle she'd created. My ribs flared with pain at the movement but I gritted my teeth against the agony in favour of fixing this problem.
"This is for making a mess, Tatum," I explained as I reached around her waist with my good hand and fumbled with the fly on her jeans.
Before I could lose my shit over struggling with it, her hands moved over mine and she quickly unbuttoned them before sliding them down over her hips so that her ass was exposed to me in the silky blue panties I'd picked out for her this morning.
"Good girl," I breathed as that act of submission made something in my chest loosen and I rubbed my palm around the curve of her ass.
My dick was rock hard and not for the first time, I found myself imagining what it would be like to take my obsession with this girl further than I had. Not that I would. Unlike Blake and Kyan, I actually respected the fucking rules she'd laid out for us. But sometimes, I was almost certain she would have liked me to break them for her all the same.
My hand clapped down on her ass and a spike of pain burst through my ribs, but the moan that escaped her made it worth it. I was aware that this didn't exactly seem to be much of a punishment for her with the way she lifted her ass and moaned encouragement, but I didn't care. It didn't matter to me if she liked it, because the point was that I was in control of her. I was the one giving her that pleasure or denying her it and she was surrendering the power over her body to me for that purpose. It was probably a fucked up thing for the two of us to enjoy but I didn't care. For some reason, we both needed it and I wasn't strong enough to even attempt to stop this shift in dynamic between us.
I spanked her four more times, sweat breaking out across my brow as the pain in my ribs flared to a burn at the effort and finally stumbling away from her, gripping onto the back of the chair she'd been sitting in as I took a moment to let the agony pass.
"Saint," Tatum gasped as she stood upright, tugging her jeans back up and found me there probably looking like death warmed up. "You shouldn’t have done that if you're not strong enough to-"
"I'm more than strong enough to spank you, Tatum, don't go telling me I'm not or I'll be forced to prove it again," I hissed between clenched teeth. I wouldn't admit that the reason I was speaking so quietly was because inhaling any deeper would cause spots of light to blossom across my vision from the pain.
"You need to take it easy," she insisted, reaching out to cup my cheek in her palm and though I'd never admit it, I liked that. I liked having her undivided attention on me. It was the one thing about this insufferable recovery that made it bearable. "It's almost two, you need to take your pills."
"They're due at two not at almost two and I'm still not done with punishing you," I said, my voice low even as I allowed her to tow me towards the stairs which led up to my room.
Tatum fell still as she made it onto the bottom step and the boost to her height almost put her on eye level with me. That minute shift in the power between us made me want to punish her even more. I wanted her kneeling at my feet, not looking me in the eye.
"What else do you have to punish me for?" she breathed, her eyes flickering with a mixture of fear and what I could have sworn was excitement.
I moved closer to her, so close that our lips were almost touching and the sweet scent of her skin enveloped me. Barely a breath divided us and my treacherous mind went to her rules which were still stuck to the fridge - even though it seemed like I was the only one who took them seriously these days. But I knew them by heart. And I knew that she'd gotten rid of the rule which stopped me from closing this distance between us, from tasting those lips of hers and testing out how far she was willing to dive into this unhealthy obsession of mine.
Because it was unhealthy. Not for me, but certainly for her. If she had any comprehension of the way I felt about her, I had no doubt she'd run screaming for the hills. Her stalker had nothing on me. I watched her every move, dissected every comment. I wanted to peel apart her skin and slip inside it and feel every inch of what it was to be her.
That was why I watched her with the others and forced myself to endure the torture of it. Though it ripped me apart with jealousy, I hungered to experience the pleasure she got from them. I needed to see the way her pupils dilated and her breaths grew shallow, I needed to study the arch of her spine and the pitch of her moans. I needed to experience all of her in every moment from her lowest to the highest. I needed to taste her grief and bathe in her joy, suffer in her pain and come apart in her pleasure.
If I ever crossed this line that had been drawn between us, I knew I'd lose control. I'd take every human experience from her, mind, body and soul and devour each and every one of them until she was consumed by me. It was how I was made. To dominate, control, destroy. And I didn't want to destroy her. I wanted to watch her bloom.
"Where are the missing rolls of toilet paper?" I asked her in a low and dangerous voice, my desire for her making me angry, the hard press of my cock growing in my sweatpants at the mere thought of her submitting to whatever I wanted to do to her.
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Tatum sucked in a sharp breath and I waited to see if she would lie to me. Heaven help her if she did. But the fucked up, monstrous part of me was hoping for it so that I could punish her even more.
The war in her eyes didn't take long to play out and as that defiance in her blazed through her gaze, I found myself equally thrilled and enraged.
"I gave some to Mila," she said in a strong voice. "And I gave some to the Unspeakables too before I understood about them – clearly I regret that now. The rest I snuck into the school restrooms."
My hands curled into fists, tightening and loosening as I fought against the urge to flip the fuck out.
"Do you understand the concept of power, Tatum?" I asked her. "The man who owns the power rules the world. Do you know why I'm hoarding toilet paper as if I have the demand of it equal to an elephant with the shits?"
"So that you can maintain control with it by being the only one handing out vital resources?" she guessed with a tone to her voice which suggested that I was an asshole for that move.
"Wrong. Withholding something that someone desperately needs is where the real power lies. You take it, place it in your possession and then get them to behave in the way you require while keeping the reward they most crave close to your heart. That way, you gain true control."
"Like the way you're holding my letters hostage?" she asked with a bitterness to her tone which set the flames of anger in me flaring.
"Well apparently that isn't enough of a hold to have over you. So I think it's time I had you really begging at my mercy to drive the point home." I moved past her on the stairs and caught her hand to make her walk up them at my side.
The clock ticked onto two o'clock as we made it to the top of them and I pointed her towards my nightstand so that she could fetch the pain pills she was so desperate to force upon me.
While she got them, I headed into the closet and selected a set of white lace underwear complete with garter belt and suspenders for her and then chose one of the velvet pouches from the hidden drawer beneath my tie rail.
Tatum was waiting for me as I emerged and I laid the underwear on the bed for her before placing the pouch on the nightstand with a heavy thump so that her attention fell on it.
I beckoned her closer and opened my mouth obligingly so that she could place the pills on my tongue one at a time. Between each, she lifted a glass of water to my lips so that I could wash them down and throughout the entire exchange, I just kept my gaze fixed on hers.
When she finished, she placed the empty glass on the nightstand and looked at me expectantly.
I reached out and brushed my fingertips over her shoulder, slowly skating them down her skin and watching as goosebumps chased the movement until I found the small, silver scar on her forearm. It was no bigger than the pad of my thumb, the swirl of smooth skin looking strangely like a rose. It frustrated me that I hadn't realised what it was sooner. The Hades Virus left marks just like this and with her father's involvement in its creation, it should have been blindingly obvious to me.
I lifted her arm and slowly lowered my mouth to the scar, placing a kiss down on it, running my tongue over it too. I should have hated this blemish on her perfect flesh, but I didn't. This protected her just as thoroughly as I or any of the other Night Keepers were willing to. It was a barrier between her and death.
"I've decided it's time to forward your father's research to my father," I said as I looked up at her, pleased to find her breathing heavier, her teeth sinking into that full bottom lip of hers.
"You...have?" she asked, clearly scrambling to make her mind function on that topic instead of the reaction her body was having to mine.
"I've been over it all. Every last word. And I even read between the lines too. You're immune, aren't you, Tatum?"
"I...how...I know it doesn't mention anything about him testing a vaccine on me in those files," she said, moving to tug her arm out of my grip, but I tightened my fingers on her and refused to let go.
"Of course he didn't. But he detailed the trials he'd been doing and included analysis of the test subjects. There’s clear accounts of the successful cases alongside the unsuccessful ones who died." I watched the flash of grief spill through her eyes at the mention of her sister's fate and drank it in. I'd never felt anything as powerful as that emotion which I saw in her. The closest I'd come had been my grandmother's death, but that had left me empty and alone. Not filled with pain and a sense of injustice. I could only imagine ever truly understanding it if I were to lose one of the other Night Keepers...or her.
"So now you want to tell your father about me?" she guessed, giving up any pretence.
"No," I replied firmly. "I won't have that man near you. There is nothing in those documents to give away that you are one of the few successful test subjects. Nothing to give away your part in it at all aside from this scar. And there's no way he will ever find out about that. I believe that the research here will be sufficient to allow the right people to create a vaccine without them ever learning of your existence."
"So, we're just going to keep my immunity secret?" she asked, looking like she was hoping I'd agree.
"We tell the other Night Keepers," I said because I wouldn't keep a secret that big from them. "But it doesn't go beyond our ring of confidence."
"Okay." A smile touched her lips and she moved an inch closer like she thought she might embrace me and I tutted at her.
"Get changed, siren, you have a punishment to endure."
Tatum's eyebrows rose and her gaze strayed to that velvet bag again before she bit into her lip once more and my cock twitched with ideas I wouldn't allow it to fulfil.
I moved across the room, taking hold of the large, cream armchair in the corner and tugging it closer to the bed. A blaze of pain tore across my ribs, but I just gritted my teeth against it and kept going until I had it where I wanted it.
Tatum tried to come and help me, but I shot her a glare to warn her off and she quickly started shedding her clothes instead.
I watched hungrily as she revealed her body to me and I slowly moved to take the velvet bag from the nightstand.
Watching her dress herself in the white lingerie was almost as alluring as watching her strip and when she finally stood before me like a picture of innocence, my heart had shifted to a thundering beat.
I closed in on her, gently brushing her long hair back over her shoulders and skimming my thumbs down her sides in a slow move which had her sucking in a breath as her spine arched beautifully.
"Tell me who owns you," I breathed, hooking a finger beneath one of her suspender straps at the top of her thigh and pulling it away from her bronzed flesh.
"The Night Keepers," she replied and though I'd been looking for her to say my name, I found I liked that answer even better. She was ours. The Night Bound. Sworn to us forever. Which was good, because that was exactly as long as I intended to keep her.
I released the suspender strap with a flick of my finger and it snapped against her skin, making her flinch.
"On the bed, on your back, knees bent, thighs apart," I commanded and I almost groaned aloud as she instantly did as I’d said. I knew I should have questioned my need for control more, worried about what it said about me, but at this point, I’d just accepted that I was my own brand of monster and I wasn’t going to make any effort to change it. Especially now that I’d found her so willing to comply to my needs.
The sight of her laid out for me like that had the ache in my throbbing cock consuming my every thought as I watched her, and it took me a moment to remember the bag in my hands.
"You have a choice," I said to her slowly as I drew the strings open and she watched me with a feral hunger in her big blue eyes. "If you would rather I punish you with some menial task then say it now."
"I want this," she replied instantly, still not knowing what I had in mind, but fisting her hands in the sheets in anticipation of it.
"Good. Hold onto the headboard. If at any point you let
go, I won't let you come. Understood?"
"Yes," she panted, reaching above her head and curling her fingers around the wrought iron bed frame.
"Tell me how wet you are," I commanded as I drew the thick, egg shaped vibrator from the bag. It had a curved end to it so that once it was inside her, it would stimulate her clit and her g-spot at once and the hungry look she gave it said she wanted that a whole lot. "Do I need to lubricate this?"
"No," she panted. "I'm wet. Fuck, Saint.”
I should have told her off for saying more than just the answer to my question but the way she panted my name like that had me so fucking hard that I was almost sure I could come in my pants, so I let it slide.
"Good." I moved onto the bed, eyeing the crotch of her panties and seeing that she hadn't been lying about that with a surge of satisfaction. "Now stay perfectly still. I'm not breaking any of your rules and I won't be touching you while you're in this bed."
"The...rules? I don't think the rules really apply anym-"
"The rules will always apply to me," I growled, ignoring the twinge of pain that gripped me as I climbed up to stand on the bed. I refused to ever get injured again in my motherfucking life after this. It was utterly unbearable.
I walked towards her until I was standing between her parted thighs, looking down at her panting for me as her gaze raked over my bare chest. I couldn't help but get a serious kick from the power I felt standing over her like that and it certainly seemed like she enjoyed being at my mercy this way too.
I lowered onto my knees slowly, my grip firm on the vibrator as I switched it on and ran it over her panties so that it throbbed against her clit.
Tatum cried out, bucking against it and I snatched it back with a growl, switching it off again.
"What did I say about staying still?" I warned and her eyes widened as her grip on the bed frame tightened.
"Sorry," she breathed and I clucked my tongue at her.
I slowly reached out with my bad hand, using my fingers to pinch the fabric of her panties in my grasp before tugging them back and baring her pussy to me. Fuck, I'd never wanted to slide my cock into anything so much in all my life. It was torture to deny myself. But I lived for the pain of testing my own control, so it was the sweetest kind of ache.
Kings of Anarchy Page 15
