Page 20 of Silverproof Damsel

An icy breeze drifted through the cathedral as the moon vanished behind the clouds, obscuring the chamber in murkiness. His palm collared my throat, tightening on it until I whimpered from both shock and arousal.

Closing my eyes against the monster before me, I waited for his harshly worded retort to bite my ears. Fingers and his thumb bit into my jaw, causing a pinch of pain and fear to ignite as he vibrated with fury.

“I assure you, no one in this town is dumb enough to trespass against me, Love. No one is suicidal enough to touch what belongs to me. You are mine regardless of what I announced. Everyone is fully aware of whom you belong to. If you want to get off, you’ll do it with me or by yourself. No one else is fucking you. I won’t allow it.” The venom saturated each word he issued, promising to leave me poisoned, clinging to life.

I wasn’t listening to the little voice inside my head that made sense. “I assure you that I could find a dick if I so wanted to. I’m not afraid of your big dick energy persona, Rhys. Not everyone here fears you or your knights. The other alphas all respect you. That’s entirely different from being afraid of repercussions.” Rhys’ shoulders rose and fell with each angry, labored breath his lungs issued. His hands had fisted at his sides, clenching as he oozed anger from his pores.

“Careful, Love. I’d hate to prove you wrong. Your sweet, tight cunt wouldn’t survive me or how badly I want to destroy you right now.”

“You don’t own me. Do you hear me? You.Don’t.Own. Me! Not in a way that fucking matters. Not anymore. I’m sure your tiny caveman brain does not grasp that. Let mesimplifyit for you. It doesn’t matter if you own my silver. Not to me or anyone else. If I want to get fucked, I’ll get it from someone who isn’trepulsed by the blood running through my veins. Blood I never asked for, nor had a say in. Honestly?” I noted the tic in his jaw hammering in perfect harmony with the one below his right eye. “Would I enjoy a few orgasms? I sofuckingwould.” Stepping close to him, I ran my fingers over his sharply cut jawline.

“I just wouldn’t want them from you. That’s something I can manage by myself. Sure, when you were around, it was merely convenient to let you give them to me. That was all, though.” I was goading him on, but common sense was a thing of the past around him. “The same as me, right? Conveniently there and accessible to fuck.”

Rhys slid his fingers through my hair, wrapping it tightly around his fist. He spun me around, pressing me against the wall. It left me trembling in both anticipation and fear. Resisting his grasp, I whimpered, feeling the hard, heavy erection pressing against my ass. Using his larger frame, he caged me against his hard, sinewy muscles and the unmoving wall.

The heat of his body drifted against the chill of my flesh, warming me. How easy it would be to forget he was my enemy now. My body didn’t understand the change in our dynamics. It didn’t care. It merely needed release. Something Rhys excelled at delivering.

“All you want is dick. Then I canuseyou just as easily as the next asshole would. You want to be fucked, then discarded like easy pussy? I can fucking use you and ensure you know what it feels like to be used, then thrown away.” The sound of fabric ripping echoed through the church as he tore the gown from my body.

Tears pricked my eyes as everything he’d said crashed down on me at once. A strangled scream escaped my throat as he kicked my feet, forcing my legs to spread painfully apart. His elbow shoved against my shoulder blades, and the other snaked around, gripping my throat to force my head to the side.

“Is this what you want?” he snarled in a layered tone, exposing that his demon was currently raising its head.

Without warning, I threw my head back with more force than I knew I had. Pain jolted through the back of my head, producing a howl of agony from him. A jab to his ribs preceded the sound of air rushing from his throat as I turned and struck him in the groin.

“Don’teverthink you can force me to fuck you! Fuck you! Get out of my fucking head!” The power in my voice vibrated as the entire cathedral began to shake.

Cold, emotionless eyes thinned as he surveyed me, then scanned the shimmering landscape he’d created tonight. I wasn’t sure how I was destroying the dreamscape, but I also didn’t care. I was leaving with or without his permission. He had a homefield advantage over me. I’d be damned if I stayed where he held all the power.

“You’re the one saying you can find someone to use. Use me. I’m right fucking here and willing to let you. What’s the matter? Am I not good enough for your messy cunt anymore? Or do you need something more these days? One cock not enough to get your pretty pink flesh off on?” Rhys’ tone removed the cap on my temper. His lips curled into a smug grin, as if he’d aimed to do just that. “Come on, Love. Use my cock to get your needy, desperate cunt off on.”

“You’d like that. Wouldn’t you? Is it you or me who needs fucked? Is that it? Do you need to fuck me, Rhys? Do you miss my pussy? That’s it, isn’t it?” I barely concealed the shock my own words caused from appearing on my face. “I don’t have crayons to draw instructions for you, but I’m sure you could remember how to use me as you did last time. After all, that’s all it was, right? I was merely something you used to get off with.”

When had I become so damn bold?

Maybe because it was a dream, meaning he couldn’t kill me.

His eyes thinned even more, forming angry slits. “I’d be careful baiting a beast you’re ill-equipped to handle right now.” Rhys’ gravelly timbre escaped like sex over silk, seeking to assuage my temper.

“Answer the question.”

“And if I say yes, what then? Do you get on your knees and suck my cock down your greedy throat like a good girl would?” he questioned, desire churning in his stare.

“No. I’d merely point out that you have a hand. I suggest you use it to get off. Though, I doubt even your hand would willingly want to play with you. Go home and slake your hunger on worthless, meaningless feeder pussy, Van Helsing. They’re the only ones who can’t say no to you or your bullshit moods.”

“Withholding the one thing I truly want from you? The rotten apple didn’t fall far from the tree. Did it?”

“Is that the problem? Are you upset I killed her before you could fuck her again, Rhys?” I swallowed past the fire, currently burning against the back of my throat at the way his head tilted as if he were considering his reply carefully.

“I neverfuckedyour mother, Remington. Never. Unlike you, she never found me worthy of touching her. She must’ve had higher standards than her pathetically naïve daughter.”

A strange sensation washed through me, threatening to send me falling to my knees in relief. I’d been horrified at thinking we’d both been with the same man. It wasn’t as if I’d been able to forget it, either.

“Roslyn didn’t give that until it was earned. You, on the other hand, couldn’t give it up fast enough.”

Sure, I’d told myself a million times over that I didn’t mind knowing he’d been Roslyn’s knight. I’d honestly been sick to my stomach thinking he’d slept with both of us. Rhys saying that they’d never been together caused my head to spin.

“It wasn’t from lack of trying. I assure you. Roslyn promised me the world if I would abide by her demands. If I’d played a dutiful knight and was her good boy and conducted every sick request she issued, then I’d have my chance with her.” He snorted, studying my pained expression. Running his hand over his face, he laughed coldly.

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