Page 17 of The Labyrinth

Ten

Icouldn’t believe I had just spoken those words. I wasn’t sure how I had even gotten here. I thought I had just been at my house, drumming my fingers on my knees, trying to focus on anythingotherthan Rissa, and now here she was in front of me, her clothes in tatters around her.

Except, I knew that wasn’t the truth at all. I had been sitting at home, thinking about Rissa. Imagining her getting ready for the day. Honing in on what I remembered of her scent. Thinking about all the eyes that would be on her at breakfast. My blood began to boil when I thought about my men deciding who would get her first, placing bets on how long she’d last. Who could make her scream the loudest. My vision grew dark around the edges when I imagined them taking her to a cell of her own tonight, laying her on the bed, spreading her legs. Before I knew it, I was dressed and out the door, storming down the streets of the Labyrinth.To check on her, I told myself.Just to make sure she’s okay.

Because I had known it the minute Rissa laid those sharp eyes on me, whether or not I had wanted to admit it to myself—Rissa wasmineto break. She was lucky I had come when I did, because Grey was about to use her in ways I was sure she hadn’t imagined. I liked to hurt, too, but I wasrefined. I had amethod. I hadtaste. Grey would fuck her until she died and continue to fuck her corpse after that. But the way she was looking at me didn’t tell me she was grateful for the help. Rissa leaned against the bed, wrapping her arm across her chest to give her some semblance of modesty. She glared at me.

“I’m not yours,” she snapped.

“You are. I own you, or did you forget that?” Obviously Rissa had selective memory, because how could she have forgotten the whole part where she stole from me? “You’re mine, whether you like it or not.”

I couldn’t be certain, but I could’ve sworn Rissadidin fact like being mine. I could smell her arousal in the air, overwhelming my senses. Rissa could lie to me with her words all she wanted, but her body gave her away.

“You probably just made my life here a hell of a lot harder, you know that right?” She struggled to get to her feet without exposing more of her body, but it was a futile attempt. She stumbled, showing herself fully for the first time. My breath caught in my throat.

Rissa was even more stunning in front of me than she had been in my shower dream. Her tanned skin was smooth, lightly freckled all over. The swell of her hips tapered down to the perfectvbetween her legs…the sweet pussy I couldn’t wait to taste. She was everything I hadn’t known I wanted—because she was everything I knew I shouldn’t want.

But I did. I wanted her. Ineededher. I craved her in ways bound to destroy me, body and soul. “I. Don’t.Care.” I took a step closer, the air between us charged, electric,alive.

She could feel it, too, couldn’t she? This energy between us, a push and pull desperately warring with each other. Or maybe I was just mad, my brain lost somewhere in the desert.

Rissa rolled her lip between her teeth. “I don’t want life here to be harder than it needs to be.”

A breath of honesty, which was a rarity I would gladly take. Subconsciously I was storing these truths about Rissa, keeping them close as if I could build an image out of the puzzle that was her soul. I took another step closer. “Don’t you understand? I don’t care because you’re mine, deliciae. Mine to punish. Mine to reward. Mine todestroy.”

I was close enough now to reach out and stroke her sharp jaw with the back of my hand. She was all angles and broken edges. If I wasn’t careful, I’d cut myself and bleed out. Her voice was little more than a whisper when she spoke. “You want to destroy me?”

I laughed, dragging my fingers down to her throat, squeezing gently. “I want to do so much more than that.” My other hand found its way down her skin, her body responding to my touch. My hands were so big on her, covering up so much space. It was a fun contrast for me to see—delicate little Rissa with the strong personality. I liked it. More than I should.

Her eyes widened briefly, realizing what was coming next as my fingers brushed over her belly button on the way down to her clit. Her hips stuttered. “No,” she squeaked out. And then a bit louder, as loud as her squashed throat would allow, “No.”

I stopped, looking down at her. The arousal in the air didn’t lie. Her body’s reaction to me couldn’t lie. But what could lie? Words. Silly little human girls who thought they had more control than they did. “Yes.”

She glared at me, pawing at my hand on her throat. I eased my grip to allow her to speak. “I was just almost…I was almost…” She couldn’t say the word, but I wasn’t about to offer it up for her. “And now you want to do the same thing?”

“No.” She was pretty like this, fighting me. Thinking she hadpower. I’d show her what real power looked like. “This is nothing like that. Because you’re mine. And I think you like beingmine.” I cupped her pussy with my massive hand, feeling its warmth in my grasp as I slipped one long finger into her drenched opening. I knew she was lying. “Is this all for me, deliciae? Or should I call Grey back to finish the job?”

Rissa continued to level me with an angry stare, digging her fingernails into the skin of my arm.

I couldn’t stop myself from sliding another one of my thick fingers inside her tight pussy, and Rissa rewarded me with a resentful moan. “No. I don’t want to do this. Not here.”

She was gripping my fingers so tightly, I could barely move. I pulsed my finger slowly, taking my time stroking inside her. “What did I tell you, Rissa? Don’t fucking lie to me. I’ve let you get away with it until now. But not anymore. No more fucking lies.”

Her fingertips scratching at my forearm turned into her squeezing me for balance, desperately clinging to me to stay upright. “Fuck,” she groaned.

“Oh, sweet Rissa, if you’re this tight around my finger, imagine what my cock is going to do to you.” It was already hard and heavy between my legs, desperate to sink into Rissa’s wet heat. I wanted to have some control over my actions, to pace myself, but I was beginning to see this was a futile attempt. I pumped my fingers into her again, harder this time. “Do you want my cock, deliciae?”

“No.” But her fingertips dug in deeper, and her back arched, and a breathy moan escaped her lips. “I don’t want you.”

I leaned in close, close enough to steal her breath, her moans, every ounce of her essence. “Don’t lie.”

She tipped her head back, eyes flashing with defiance. “I don’t want you.” A blatant lie, so easily seen through with how her body responded to me.

“You’ll pay for lying,” I whispered. I shoved yet another thick finger inside her, enjoying the way her pussy stretched against me. Rissa shrieked, but another gush of wetness told me she enjoyed the stretch, too. “What a good girl,” I cooed. “A good little slut taking my fingers so she can take my cock.”

“You…your cock?” she stammered.

I pumped my fingers inside her slickness again and again, eager to make her desperate for me. “Oh, yes, Rissa. I’m going to fuck you hard on that bed.”

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