Blood And Roses (Tainted Hearts)

by Lylah James

  “I’m sorry, Master,” I whispered.

  You don’t speak unless I fucking command you, dirty slut. Keep that fucking mouth closed until it’s time I shove my dick down your throat.

  Slaves were never allowed to speak. It was the rule. An important one. If broken, we were punished—and the punishment would hurt. We would bleed. We would be starved—until our masters were satisfied we’d learned our lessons.

  My legs weakened, and I started sinking down to my knees. Always beg for forgiveness on your knees.

  I heard a growl. Low, dangerous, and angry. Lyov. It dragged me out of the darkness clouding my head.

  I was jerked upright before my knees could touch the hard floor. “Open your fucking eyes, Maria.”

  He was angry. I made him angry.

  I whimpered in response. I was supposed to make him happy. Not angry.

  Lyov pulled me into his arms. I was pressed into his hard body, and his hand gripped the back of my neck. A firm command. A soft touch. “Open your eyes and look at me.”

  My eyes opened, and a single tear slipped down, leaving a wet trail on my cheek. His eyes were hard and angry, but his touch was soft and gentle.

  Lyov’s lips were pressed together in frustration. I could see him battling with his fury, but when his forehead dropped to mine, and he breathed out through his nose, as if my touch soothed him…I realized that he wasn’t angry at me.

  “Angel, tell me. What is my rule about you being on your knees?” he said to me.

  I desperately hung on to him. My sniffles filled the vast room, and my chin wobbled with the effort to keep my tears at bay. “I should never kneel. Not unless…”

  The words were stuck in my throat. Lyov nodded and continued. “Not unless I ask you to. And all the reasons why you will kneel for me—they will never cause you tears, pain, or fear. It will be because you want to kneel for me. Because you need it as much as me. It will be for both of us. Not because you think you need to do it so I won’t be angry with you.”

  I remained silent. “Do you understand?” he asked. Lyov’s thumb was brushing up and down on the back of my neck now, while he still held me in place.

  I nodded. But Lyov pushed the slightest bit. He knew my limits, and he never crossed them. “Your words, Angel. I need your words.”

  “I understand, Lyov.”

  “Good girl.”

  My lips parted, and I sucked in a deep breath. My heart raced. Those words made my body tingle. It liked the way Lyov said it. The clenching feeling in my stomach didn’t ease. Actually, it tightened, and I found myself wanting to hear those words again.

  Oh, how I wanted to please him.

  I had to forget my past…the other rules. The other masters. I had to remember Lyov’s rules because I belonged to him now.

  His hand wrapped around mine again, and the back of his thumb grazed my knuckles. The touch was so tender that my heart ached. I never thought a man like him could hold so much gentleness.

  There was so much more behind the cold, hard exterior he showed everyone.

  We faced the woman again, but I couldn’t meet her eyes. I almost felt embarrassed. Ashamed.

  “Maria, this is Lena. Lena, as you already know, this is Maria.” Lyov’s smooth voice calmed me, and I finally found the courage to look up.

  Lena didn’t stare at me weirdly. Instead, her kind eyes were glassy, and she gave me a wobbly smile. Her eyes met Lyov, and I saw her give him a brief nod before turning to me again.

  “It is nice to finally meet you, Maria,” she said sweetly. “I can’t say I have heard a lot about you, but it doesn’t matter. We’ll be hanging out a lot, so we’ll get to know each other then.”

  I guessed she was a friend of Lyov. Her shoulders were straight, and the way she stared at Lyov, without any fear, it told me she had some kind of power. She was respected. She would never cower underneath someone’s feet.

  Swallowing nervously, I gave her a smile of my own. “Thank you.”

  I didn’t know what else to say or how much I could say. Lyov gave me freedom, but I was scared to venture too far.

  Lyov cleared his throat, and he tugged me more into his body. This time, I couldn’t help the smile that spread across my cheeks. Every other worry…all the fear that consumed me moments ago, everything disappeared.

  It seemed Lyov liked me close to him. And my attention on him.

  I peeked up at him, suddenly feeling shy. He glanced down, as if he knew I was looking at him. We stared at each other, and I forgot everyone else. The world ceased to exist, and it was just us.

  Eventually, he broke our connection and looked back at Lena, who was grinning from ear to ear and practically bouncing on her toes with excitement.

  “I will be showing Maria around. She’s had a long night and will be resting today. You can have her tomorrow,” Lyov spoke. His voice was hard and held no place for arguments.

  Lena rolled her eyes in an act of exasperation but nodded in agreement. Lyov pulled me away, and she waved.

  I found myself lifting my hand up and waving back, feeling strangely happy at her excitement. It was contagious.

  Lyov and I climbed up the majestic staircase, our steps unhurried, as if we had all the time in the world. As if we owned everything.

  “It’s time to show you around. I hope you like it. My father built this when he started his business. And then it was handed over to me when he passed away. Everything that was his, I own now. You are mine. So this is your home. Our home,” Lyov explained in his rough, deep voice.

  Lyov wasn’t really a man of words. He spoke a few, but each time, it held so many unsaid words. Every word spoken, they meant something. They held something deep within them.

  You are mine.

  This is your home.

  Our home.

  Our. Me and him. Us. We were one.

  I was his. And he was mine.

  I guessed it was as simple as that. Until one of us stopped breathing.

  Chapter 10

  Lyov

  Her breathing was soft and even, a breathy sigh against the skin of my neck. Maria’s head was buried in the curve of my shoulder, her legs thrown over mine as she burrowed deeper into my warmth.

  I didn’t have to see it…I could just feel it. Sense it, that my little pretty Angel was happy and smiling.

  “Good morning,” I muttered. My fingers traced random patterns on her bare arms, and I felt the goosebumps rising at my whispered touch. Maria shivered the slightest bit, clearly affected and loving my hands on her.

  She hummed and then looked up. Her doe eyes, framed with thick long lashes, were laced with sleep. “Good morning.”

  A soft whisper with simple words, yet my cock woke up instantly, as if this little Angel had turned in a seductress with sultry words. My morning wood was now raging and desperate for some attention.

  Little fucker had a mind of his own. Fuck my whole fucking life.

  Holding back a groan, I slightly shifted away from Maria. “So what do you want to do today? The estate is yours. You can roam around, do whatever you want. There are plenty of things to see and do,” I said, diverting my mind somewhere else. Anything else except the thought of her wet virgin pu—

  Maria smiled and shrugged. “You showed me around yesterday. This place is so big. If I explore alone, I will get lost.”

  “You won’t be exploring alone. Lena will be with you. I had you for myself yesterday. Today, she will steal you.” I chuckled at the thought. She was probably getting impatient downstairs, waiting for Maria to wake up.

  “She’s sweet.” I rolled over to my side, so we were facing each other.

  “She is. I think she’s just excited that I have finally brought a woman home,” I agreed.

  Maria’s cheeks tinted with a hint of color, and she bit on her lips unconsciously. She fluttered her eyelashes up at me, in the most innocent way that had me wanting to corrupt her in the most dangerous way.

  “I am your first?” she aske
d, her voice small and childlike. It was the sweetness in my Angel that had drawn me to her. The idea of devouring her in the most savage way, tasting and taking that sweetness for my own, had me maniac.

  “You are the only woman I have brought home with me,” I explained. And probably the last, Angel.

  Maria’s eyes lit up like a fucking Christmas tree. “I like it. I like being the only one.”

  She bit on her lips harder, and I could see Maria struggling not to smile at my words. My fingers touched her soft lips, and they parted in surprise, her teeth releasing their tight hold.

  “Don’t bite on your lips like that,” I mumbled, thumbing the plump softness. I wanted to be the one biting on them.

  Maria stared at me silently but with so much adoration that it took my breath away. I liked this look on her. The lazy, happy look, and the way she was staring at me. Adoring. Loving. As if I were the center of her whole universe.

  I didn’t think she realized she was giving me everything I needed. My Angel was feeding my fucked-up soul, and I wanted more of what she could give.

  “I should get up.” Maria’s voice snapped me out of my thoughts, and I nodded.

  Her fingers wrapped around my wrist, and she gently brought my hand up. Her lips grazed the inside of my palm in the softest kiss. A kiss of devotion.

  So fucking beautiful in the middle of all the ugliness surrounding us. A strange lightness traveled its way into my body. My heart thudded with a strange beat. It was weird, but I liked it.

  Maria smiled and then went to get up. The distance between us grew, and I instantly hated it. My hand snaked out fast, catching her wrist and pulling her back. She tumbled on the bed, her head hitting my chest.

  My eyes went to our clasped hands. I watched as my fingers entwined with hers. When ours eyes met, I found myself speechless, like a lovesick puppy.

  Fuck me. I was falling down the rabbit hole. There was no way out. And stupidly, I was inviting it with open arms.

  “Tell me something…” I started, my voice a little rough to my own ears. Maria shivered at my voice, but she waited.

  I cleared my throat and started again. “Tell me something you like. Something you want.”

  She grew confused, and her eyebrows furrowed in question. “What do you mean?”

  “What is something that you really want…something that you love but you don’t have?” I explained.

  I didn’t even make any fucking sense to my own ears. I just wanted to give her something…something I knew she would love and appreciate. But I knew nothing about my sweet Angel.

  Maria was silent for a second. I could see her brain running a mile a minute. Her lips twisted thoughtfully, and she cocked her head to the side, staring at me—debating if I were worthy enough to know her deepest secrets and desires.

  She blinked and then looked down at my chest, breaking our eye contact. Her cheeks blushed beautifully. “I like to play…the piano.”

  “The piano?” I questioned, completely surprised that out of everything she could ask for…she asked to play the piano. Something so simple.

  But if a piano she wanted…then my Angel was going to get her fucking piano.

  Maria nodded almost excitedly. “I used to play it a lot at the abbey. Everyone liked it when I played the piano. They said I played it best. Sister Grace was the one who taught me.”

  Her words caused me to freeze. Maria must have noticed the change because her lips snapped closed and she stopped talking. I saw worry clouding her eyes, and she chewed on her lips nervously again.

  “Did I say something wrong?” she whispered.

  “The abbey? You mean a convent?” I asked slowly. My lungs squeezed, and I found it hard to breathe.

  Maria nodded. “Yes. My aunt took me there after my parents died when I was fifteen. She brought me to Russia with her, where she was one of the respected sisters at the convent. I was in training to become one.”

  Fate had a nice way to play us all in the most fucked-up ways.

  Well, fuck me. Like I had told Maria, I was the Devil in a pretty expensive suit, charming his way around to get what he wanted. And Maria…she was white purity wrapped in innocence.

  Little did I know…she was more than that. I coughed back the laughter rising in the back of my throat.

  My pretty Angel turned out to be a practicing nun. And little did she know, I was going to defile her in the most devilish way.

  The idea of taking something that was mine alone, something she considered forbidden. A fruit that was perfectly preserved for many years…it made me want to beat my chest like a caveman. And just like a fucking wild beast, I wanted to spread those creamy thighs open and show her exactly what I could do to her sweet little pussy.

  I was a lucky bastard.

  “Is that bad? That I am from a convent?” Her voice snapped me out of my thoughts, and I stared into her worried eyes. I shook my head, but she didn’t look convinced.

  “You fell silent,” Maria pointed out. Her fingers now clenched mine tightly, as if she were scared I would disappear in thin air.

  With my other hand, I gripped her chin and brought her head up while slowly lowering mine. Our lips were inches apart, and I felt her suck in a deep breath before she swallowed hard.

  “Do you know what I’m going to do right now?” I asked softly. My thumb caressed her jaw and slowly moved to the thrumming vein in her neck.

  She was nervous. Self-conscious. Worried. Maybe slightly scared. But she didn’t pull away.

  Instead her body moved more into mine, a puzzle molding together perfectly. I wove my fingers into her long hair that hung down her back. The soft black strands were soothing. When my hand touched her neck again, Maria shivered.

  My fingers grazed her, testing the satiny skin at the base of her nape. Her lips parted at the touch, and her eyes fluttered closed when I continued with my gentle caress. A slow dance of seduction.

  Maria nodded. The redness on her cheeks had me smirking. “Tell me,” I demanded, needing her words.

  “You are going to…kiss me,” she whispered. I felt the vibration of her sweetened voice all the way down to my toes. Fuck me. My Angel was going to kill me, and I would gladly hand her the knife to do the deed.

  I responded, “Do you want me to?”

  She bit on her lips, blushing even harder before answering. “Yes.”

  Her word was all the affirmation I needed. The moment that yes slipped past those ripe, pink lips, my head was already descending toward her.

  Our lips whispered against each other, a feathered touch. Her lips moved against mine, revealing her inexperience, and I let her explore. I stayed still, caught in her magical trap.

  I liked the feel of her kiss. I liked the way she was testing her boundaries and trying more…wanting more…needing more.

  I felt that strange fluttery feeling in my chest again and sighed. My lips pressed harder into hers, deepening our sweet kiss. My tongue demanded access, parting the seams of her lips before her tongue met mine shyly.

  I took her breath away, until she was breathless.

  She took my breath away, until I was breathless.

  Our kiss was a breathy sigh of sweetness, with a mix of wild.

  Maria let out a small moan, and when I pulled away, her eyes were closed, her breathing accelerated.

  She was so fucking beautiful.

  I cupped the back of her head and urged her to look at me. When she opened her eyes, her blue ones so bright in the sunlight…my heart stuttered.

  I didn’t know that souls could catch on fire with only eye contact. Because right now, mine was burning with bright flames around my darkened soul.

  “You are perfect, Angel. There’s nothing wrong with you,” I assured her when sensing her previous question still lingering in her mind.

  Maria blushed harder, and she brought her hand up, her fingers touching her swollen lips. “Do you like kissing? You like being kissed?” I asked, already knowing the answer, yet I wanted t
o hear her to say it.

  “I didn’t like it before,” she said. At her words, my hold tightened around her.

  “When they would kiss me, I hated it. But with you, I like it very much. I want…more,” she finished quietly, as if whispering a secret for my ears only.

  A small, serene smile was on her lips, and I let go of the rage rolling furiously inside of me.

  “A vast array of pleasure awaits us, Angel. That I can assure you.”

  I heard her hum in response, and I couldn’t help but smile too. There was just something about her, something I couldn’t wrap my finger around, but something that made me almost feel…human. She made me feel something deep within the vast emptiness of my heart.

  Maria laid her head on my shoulder again. The thought of leaving to see Lena was long gone as she settled against me. Her hand laid on my chest, right over my beating heart.

  She liked touching me…holding me, knowing I was there. Not just a fragment of her imagination. I was the piece that held her feet to the ground, the missing piece that she was searching for yet didn’t know.

  Those few months as a slave had done a number on her. They took her fucking heart, driven a blade through it, and watched it bleed red. But her soul was intact. I could see it.

  Maria just needed a little push for her to realize that her wings hadn’t been clipped. Just wounded. But with enough care, she could fly again.

  But I was the devil incarnated. I was fucked in the head because I wanted to both watch her fly and tie her down.

  I wanted her to see there was freedom in having ropes tied around her body. I wanted to show her that pain could turn into pleasure. Pain could both break and mend your soul.

  The fucked-up part was that I wanted my Angel to cry. I needed…craved her tears. But I needed her to know that those tears I would cause, they would soothe her. They would liberate her trapped soul. Her body would sing for those tears to be cried.

  Tears of pain. Tears of pleasure. Tears of love.

  She would learn how to crave it…everything…me.