Page 92 of Primal Urges

Hunched over on all fours, Lucas tried to regain control of his breathing once again.

You can do this. You need to submit. You need to show him that he’s in control and that you are his to command once again.

Swallowing down his dignity, he whispered, “I’m sorry. I’ll do better next time.”

“Damn right, you will. Now, get up and get me that beer I asked for.”

Lucas struggled to his feet and made his way over to the cooler. He popped open the lid and fished out a cold one for his ex.

“That’s a good boy,” Darryl noted, taking the beer from Lucas once he returned. “Come. Sit.” He patted the log right beside him before cracking open his beer and taking a long swig.

Staring into the fire, the next few hours seemed to pass unnoticed. It was only after Darryl added some more wood to the diminishing flames that Lucas’s mind finally returned to his body.

“Love, I’m starting to get a bit of a headache. Do you mind grabbing the bottle of painkillers out of my knapsack over there?” Lucas asked, knowing that the term of endearment would break through Darryl’s defenses. There was nothing like a compliment to stroke a man’s inflated ego.

Judging by the smile that spread across Darryl’s face, Lucas knew that Darryl’s defenses were down. Plus, the alcohol was a nice added touch.

The man walked over to where their supplies were lying and crouched down in front of Lucas’s knapsack.

“See, babe. I knew that deep down you still loved me,” Darryl said, smiling at Lucas as he pulled open the knapsack without looking.

The man yelped and jumped back as two of the hidden rattlesnakes jumped out at Darryl and bit him.

Shouting, he threw one of the snakes against a rock just as the third snake jumped out and bit him on the neck.

Darryl cried out and shouted, arms flailing as he tried to fend off the attacking snakes. He lost his balance and fell to the ground, trying to scramble away with no success.

Lucas watched as the two snakes attacked his ex, their tails rattling as they continued their ferocious assault against the man who had disturbed their slumber.

A wicked grin spread across Lucas’s face as his ex’s body writhed around on the ground in pain. His face and arms were beginning to swell, and his screams were becoming stifled and hard to understand.

Had his ex been bitten by one snake, his chances of survival—with the right medical treatment—may have been possible. But this poor soul had been bitten by three snakes multiple times and would not be receiving any medical treatment tonight or anytime soon.

Taking a bite of his sandwich, Lucas watched as the two snakes joined their brother and slithered off into the darkness of the desert around them.

“Lu… Lu… hel…p.” Darryl’s voice was nothing more than a wheeze. So different from the powerful beast he had once been.

Swallowing the last of his sandwich, Lucas stood up and walked over to where his monster of an ex lay, swollen, bleeding, and gasping for air.

His face was majorly swollen, and one of his eyes didn’t open at all. Large lumps and red marks peppered his arms, a clear map of the deadly assault he had endured.

Standing over his dying ex, Lucas looked down with coldness in his eyes. He never considered himself an evil man, but tonight’s actions were a clear confirmation that the devil lives inside all of us. Some have the strength to keep him at bay, while others eventually give up and let thePrince of Darknessout to play.

“I’m sorry that it had to come to this. There was no way that I was ever giving you that sort of power over me again. Had it just been me you threatened, I might have let you live. I probably would have framed you for some crime or made sure you had some sort of non-life-threatening accident that punished you but got you out of my life. But when you threatened the lives of Caden and his sweet little girl, that was when I realized a monster like you needs to be put down.”

Lucas walked around Darryl’s body as he continued to struggle to breathe through his swollen throat.

“At some point tomorrow, a police officer will stumble across me and hear about how you kidnapped me and tried to take me home with you. Thankfully, you accidentally stumbled across a nest of rattlesnakes, startling them and causing them to attack. I, being lost in the middle of nowhere with no cell phone or ability to help, watched helplessly as you struggled and died from their poisonous venom. A horrific, tragic way to die.”

Lucas glared down at his ex. He watched as the man struggled to take his last few breaths. Still, he felt nothing. No sorrow. No regret. If anything, he felt a tinge of pleasure that justice had finally been served.

This was a man who had spent so many years causing him fear and pain and doing everything in his power to maintain control over his life and physical being.

Darryl would not be missed. Monsters like him deserved to be slain in the cold darkness of the night—alone and withering in extreme pain.

“Goodbye, Darryl. Thank you for teaching me how to be strong.”

Standing in the glow of the fire, Lucas watched as the last glimmer of life faded from his ex’s eyes.

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