The Darkest Torment

by Gena Showalter

  Here we go. He would rail at her for her supposed betrayal. And okay, yes, what he’d heard was damning. Still! He should know her better. “If you insult me...”

  “You’ll what?” he asked with no small amount of malevolence.

  “I’ll take the possibility of sex off the table.” Wait. I thought I already had.

  He went hard as stone, and not in the good way. “Sex stays on the table either way.”

  Oh, really? “Are you planning to force me?”

  “Like I’d have to. You look ready to force me.”

  Stupid nipples! They were still beaded, eager for him.

  She perched on the edge of the coffee table. The position put her at a disadvantage, something she would never allow while training a new dog, but Baden was a unique breed. By placing herself in the perceived weaker position, he might stop doing the offensive-defensive parry and start listening to what she had to say.

  “Did you know the coin can buy a royal title in the underworld?” she asked. “Actually, it forces Hades to grant the owner’s wish, whatever it is.”

  He’d been in the process of pouring himself another drink, but slowly turned to meet her gaze. “How do you know that?”

  “Alek, of course.”

  He grazed his tongue over an incisor. “The male can’t be trusted and neither can you.”

  “You are so right. I’m out to destroy you.” She gave her nails a little buff. “Have been from the beginning. It’s why I practically begged you to kidnap me from my own wedding.”

  He continued as if she hadn’t spoken. “In this case, however, you both speak true.”

  She continued as if he hadn’t spoken, fluffing her hair. “Alek has vowed to make me a queen. Every girl dreams of being a queen.”

  Baden stepped toward her...stopped. “Do not say the bastard’s name ever again.”

  “Or?” she prompted, challenging him and the beast. Bring it! This girl was ready to reach the next level.

  As he took another step toward her, his hands fisted. “Why aren’t you begging for my forgiveness? Or mercy?”

  She laughed without humor. “I have nothing to apologize for. I did nothing wrong. And I doubt you’re capable of mercy.”

  “Your betrayal—”

  “Who did I betray? Alek is—”

  Baden roared, “That name.”

  “You had your turn to speak. Now it’s mine.” Provoking this man was a gamble. With her life! This could backfire and get her bitten. Literally!

  But without risk, there was no potential for reward.

  “You aren’t my husband,” she added, “so my loyalty shouldn’t belong to you. It should belong to Alek.” The very idea disgusted her, but she had a point to make. She smiled sweetly. “Don’t you agree?”

  16

  “When I flip you off, run. I’ve just told you how many seconds you have left to live.”

  —Maddox, keeper of Violence

  RAGE MIXED WITH possessiveness and lust, heating Baden from head to toe. Steaming him. He closed in on Katarina at last, dropped to his knees and cupped hers, spreading her legs with a single push. She watched him, wide eyes sparkling, but she didn’t protest as he moved between her thighs. Her breath caught as he leaned in, flattening his palms on the coffee table to cage her with his strength.

  “What are you doing?” she asked softly. Tremors rocked her sweet little body.

  Behind her, sunlight streamed through an oversize oval window, illuminating the dust motes dancing between them.

  She was married. A fact he liked less and less. She had used him. At the moment, he didn’t care. He wanted to mark her. Had to prove she belonged to him, and only to him.

  “Your loyalty is to me,” he said. As he inhaled, she exhaled; as she inhaled, he exhaled; they were breathing each other’s breaths. “You need me to survive in this world. To protect you and our dogs.”

  “I soooo don’t need—”

  “Oh, but you do.” He slowly dragged his tongue between the seam of her lips. Liiiick. Tasting her sweetness, savoring it.

  She gasped his name, jerking as if hit by a bolt of white-lightning. “I’m not doing this. Not with you.”

  “You are. You want more, krásavica, so let me give you more.”

  “You don’t like me anymore.”

  “I don’t think you like me anymore, either. Does it really matter?” He still burned for her. “I want you.”

  She leaned toward him, melting, only to catch herself. She cursed his name and plucked at the collar of his shirt. “You’re too old for me. Way too old.”

  “Age didn’t bother you earlier, when you were grinding on my thighs.” As she sputtered for a response, he added, “You’re too weak for me, but I got over it.”

  “I’m not too— You know what? It doesn’t matter. You were a temporary distraction then and you’re a temporary distraction now. Despite our unsuitability, you can still give me an orgasm. One I deserve after putting up with you.”

  He knew they were temporary, but her blasé attitude was far from appreciated. However, admonishing her would have been counterproductive to his goal: getting her into his arms, achieving the ultimate satisfaction.

  She tangled her fingers in his hair. “No grimace or hiss? Someone is making progress. And it’s me!”

  He loved the way she moved her lips. His mind in a fog of dizzying desire, he couldn’t process her words. “Meaning?”

  “Meaning I think I can desensitize you. Now. You better give me the pleasure you promised me before I change my mind about this.”

  There would be no changing her mind. He scowled even as he traced his tongue over her lips. This time, her tongue emerged to greet him. Flames of arousal spread through him, a blistering wildfire that couldn’t be stopped. There was pain, but it didn’t compare to his need.

  The beast protested. She’s our betrayer. She means to harm...means to...

  She moaned, as if she was delighted by his taste the way he was delighted with hers. Mint and whipped cream. Clean, rich and decadent. Addictive. She’s dessert.

  I—want—more.

  More. Yes. Baden ate at her lips as he anchored her arms behind her back, forcing her spine to arch and her breasts to smash into his chest.

  “Keep your hands like this,” he commanded. To ease his pain, yes, but also to keep her vulnerable and unable to act against him while he was distracted.

  “I will...as long as you make it worth my while.”

  The rasp of her voice awoke an urge he’d never known—take and give everything.

  Her breasts rubbed against him and, despite the shirt he wore, the friction was both a pain and an ever-increasing pleasure. He’d never held such a bounty of femininity.

  Will have her. Finally.

  He wasn’t sure whether the thoughts originated in his mind or the beast’s, wasn’t even sure it mattered anymore. The tether to his control slipped. He deepened the kiss, ravaging her mouth; his tongue plunged in and out, thrusting against hers in a mimic of sex. She released a chorus of delicious moans—sounds of surrender—and he swallowed every single one.

  Mine! Pin her fully—take everything!

  He fought the desires. He would be gentle, or he would leave. When he leaned back far enough to cup and knead her breasts, she followed him, softening against him.

  “I made it clear I’m only using you for an orgasm, yes?” She panted the slightest bit. “As soon as I get it, I’ll be done with you.”

  A denial nearly burst free, but he forced a laugh instead. “Maybe I’ll take my own orgasm and leave you desperate. Or make you beg for yours.”

  She winced and gave him a pitying look. “As if I’d care. This gold digger would simply turn to someone else.”

  There was no stoppin
g his denial this time. “I’ll kill any man foolish enough to touch what belongs to me.” He dove in for another kiss, needing to halt the conversation—needing her. A brutal clash of lips, tongue and teeth, and in that moment, he lived for her. All of her. Only her.

  “Wait. I need better access to you.” She gave him a push then stared at his chest, as if willing his shirt to burn away. “Help me stand.”

  She’d broken his command, but he obeyed her without protest, straightening and drawing her to her feet; the kiss never paused. She backed him into a chair. When he fell into a sitting position, she climbed onto his lap and straddled him. A power play, putting her on top. Only an illusion of control. No matter the position, he would always possess the power—and he would prove it.

  He gripped her hips and ground her core against his throbbing erection, setting a frenzied pace, driving them both to the edge of madness. Want what’s mine...need...now. On their date, she’d been the one to speed things up, and he’d been the one to slow everything down. Now, this moment, he couldn’t move fast enough.

  More! Give me!

  “Feels so good, pekný.” She took him by the wrists and moved his hands to the arms of the chair. A recliner. “But today there’s no reason to hurry.” She bit his lower lip, drawing it through her teeth. With another push, she changed the angle of his body, forcing him to lie back. Then, oh then, she began to rub against him of her own accord, slow, so agonizingly slow. “You can enjoy me while you’ve got me.”

  Another reference to her departure. He squeezed the arms of the chair and the wood cracked. “You need me,” he reminded her. “And not just for this.”

  “I don’t.”

  He offered no other rebuke, his every nerve ending electrified, his desire for her only escalating. Instead, he lunged forward and sank his teeth in the cord that stretched from her neck to shoulder. Finally leaving his mark.

  She shuddered against him, gasping his name with breathless wonder. Then she rotated her hips, gradually increasing the pressure. Press...retreat...press...retreat. Agonizing him.

  “Do you like this?”

  “Love...it.” As his inhalations quickened, he stared up at her face, enraptured. Her features were luminous, her eyelids heavy, her lips soft and pink, slightly swollen from his kisses. A flush brightened her cheeks, and her dark curls tumbled past her shoulders in well-loved tangles.

  He reached up and fisted the strands. “Let me keep and protect you until Hades’s war is over.”

  She stilled, her nails digging into his shoulders. “You keep reminding me how weak I am.”

  “Because you need me.” Within a few short seconds, the lack of pressure and movement proved excruciating. Sweat beaded on his brow. “I’m strong.”

  “You’re also stubborn. But how about this, hmm? I’ll let you pleasure me, and I might even stick around for a while, but you’ll keep your thoughts on strength and weakness to yourself.” She teased him with a featherlight stroke, her core brushing his erection. “Say yes, and we’ll get back to business. I’m wet. Shall I prove it?”

  “Yes. Yes!”

  She stood and pulled her dress over her head. Her bra and panties were blue—and the panties had a definite wet spot in the center. He groaned as he drank in the rest of her. Drank his fill. The long, endless legs so wonderfully dark, her injury hidden by a bandage. The flare of her hips created a heart. The indention of her stomach...the lacy bra couldn’t shield the crest of her nipples.

  She was purely female, and he wanted her all over him.

  He crooked his finger at her. “Return to me.”

  “How about another bargain?” She placed a knee on each side of him, goose bumps erupting over her flesh. “I’ll stay right here...if you’ll put your fingers inside me.”

  Agonizing? No longer. She—was—killing—him. A definite threat to his survival, but he was certain he and Destruction would go with a smile.

  The urge to rip his gloves off with his teeth bombarded him. He would slay an entire army for the chance to feel her silken heat. But he couldn’t risk it. This was only his second encounter with pleasure in centuries. If he spoiled it with a flood of unnecessary pain...

  “I agree to your terms.” A sense of urgency drove him as he tunneled his fingers under her panties. Even with the leather he could feel her slickness—she was soaked—and the sweet burn of her feminine heat. He thrust a single digit in, going deep, her inner walls clamping on him.

  Moaning, she plumped her breasts and pinched her nipples. For his enjoyment, and her own. Such an uninhibited reaction delighted him.

  Slowly, he fed her a second finger, stretching her. So tight! So perfect.

  She groaned a sound of desperate hunger. “Feels good.”

  Good. Yes. But they could do better. “Ride my fingers.” His jaw was clenched so firmly he almost couldn’t get the words out. Somehow, she’d completely stripped him of his humanity, turning him into an animal with only one goal: climax.

  Or a beast.

  “Like this?” Up she rose...down she slid. “Mmm, I hope so. That’s amazing.”

  “Yes, just like that.” He used his thumb to circle the heart of her. “You’re squeezing me, scalding me.” Ruining me for anyone else.

  She tilted his head, giving herself an unobstructed path to his lips; she traced her tongue along the edge of his mouth. “I want my hand around you. Let me?”

  Yes! He still couldn’t risk skin-to-skin, so he would wear a condom. Where were the condoms? No time to search. He’d have to let her go, and he couldn’t let her go. “Keep your hand outside my underwear.”

  “I will...if you’ll kiss me harder.”

  “Always bargain like this.” He slammed his mouth against hers, drawing a moan from her, and she unzipped his pants. “Never stop.”

  He hissed as she wrapped her fingers around his shaft. Up...down...she stroked him while continuing to move on his fingers. Yes, oh yes. This! This made him lose his ever-loving mind. The friction sparked new wildfires, until everything but arousal had burned off him. He pushed his tiptoes into the floor to raise his thighs and force her to lean against his chest to maintain balance.

  He thrust his fingers deep, deep, deeper inside her.

  “Yes! So close,” she rasped, her hips arching to chase his circling thumb.

  He pressed against her bundle of nerves, and she shouted her pleasure to the ceiling, coming, coming so hard, her inner walls clenching on him, as if to ensure he stayed right where he was. She bucked against his fingers, once, twice, three times, her nails cutting into his shoulders.

  When her forehead rested on his shoulder, she gasped out, “Needed that. Thank you.” Panting, she squeezed the base of his shaft. “Now let’s take care of you.”

  He trembled as he arched a brow. “Sweet, Rina. What makes you think I’m done with you?”

  * * *

  Katarina buzzed with satisfaction and anticipation. Baden’s fingers were still inside her, still revving her engine despite her climax. She was hot, and she was achy—one taste had only made her hungrier for this dark and dangerous man.

  She gave the base of his erection another squeeze. He was so big, thick and long, and harder than a police baton. “Am I hurting you?”

  “Hurts good.”

  Desensitizing him already? Or was the condition mental—a manifestation of his detachment from the world?

  Figure it out later. Enjoy! With a moan, she arched her back, presenting him with her cleavage.

  “Does my krásavica want her nipples sucked?”

  His glamour girl? He kept claiming her...

  “I do,” she said. His eyes were almost completely black, his pupils overshadowing his irises. Fine lines bracketed his mouth. How intense was his need to come? “Very badly.”

  With his free hand, he
jerked at the center clasp of her bra, freeing her breasts. Cool air kissed her skin, propelling her need ever higher.

  He licked his lips, as if he could already taste her. “Your little nipples are desperate for me, aren’t they?”

  “Desperate...aching.” She gripped the top of the chair with one hand, still holding on to his shaft with the other—never going to let go. She slanted forward, placing one of her nipples at his mouth. An offering.

  An offering he accepted. His tongue emerged, taunting the needy bud. First hard and fast, then slow and easy. The ache between her legs only worsened. Or got better. She soaked his glove and even her panties. How naughty that was. He was fully dressed while she wore a thin scrap of cloth he’d easily moved aside.

  He suckled on her, incredible, world-shaking pleasure consuming her. Soon, remaining still was no longer an option. She began to ride his fingers all over again, arching forward, back, forward again.

  As he switched his attention to her other nipple, he rasped, “You are made of ambrosia, surely.”

  Always so complimentary. She might never get enough of him.

  She pumped her hand up and down his shaft, his breathing becoming shallow. The faster she moved, the more curses that left him. Soon, a fine sheen of perspiration glossed his skin. He was close.

  She ran his earlobe between her teeth. “Maybe one day, if you behave, I’ll take your cock in my mouth and suck you dry. Would you like that?”

  He grunted a response, his thumb returning to work her feverishly. Pleasure fogged her mind, such intense pleasure; she reached a point of no return for the second time. The house could have crumbled. An army could have marched inside. The world could have ended, and she wouldn’t have cared. Only satisfaction mattered. Hers...and surprisingly enough, his.

  Need more.

  “Take your fingers out of me,” she commanded. For once, she would be the one issuing orders.

  Not that he heeded her. He only surged those fingers deeper.