Page 125 of Black Castle

Another strike.

Her head snaps backward as another cry breaks past her lips. But the fire between her thighs intensifies.

“Think hard,” he murmurs, his voice low and dark as his finger traces the fresh marks forming on her skin. “Or I will keep going until your ass is all red and you can’t sit for hours.”

Tears burn in her eyes, her breath ragged. She squeezes her eyes shut, forcing herself to remember.

“Four minutes,” she whimpers, definitely not accurate.

“My bad,” he says, his tone cynical and filled with mischief. “I should have probably warned you that you get extra whips if you lie to me.”

Her heart pounds in her chest at the revelation. Yes, she is currently aroused by being whipped like some stubborn cattle. But that doesn’t mean her body can take that much either. And she definitely doesn’t want to not be able to sit in class tomorrow.

“He held your hands for two minutes while I stood there.” He sounds irritated and agitated. “So, how about you stop dreaming about my cock and give the damn numbers.”

Tears roll down her cheeks.

“It wasn’t for long.” She tightens her hold on the edge of the desk. “Like four to five minutes?”

“Four or five minutes?” His authoritative voice commands her surrender, the huskiness in it lighting her on fire from the inside, painting fantasies in her head. Like how to get dominated and fucked with that voice whispering things to her.

“Four.”

“Start counting.”

The next slash steals her breath. And as each strike lands, sending her into a haze of pain and unbreakable pleasure, only one question consumes her.

What is this darkness inside her?

Chapter Thirty-eight

Vivienne

“Tell me,” Vivienne shivers as Zev’s finger trails phantom lines on her spine, connecting the jagged, crooked lines on her back. “What else do I need to know about your little boyfriend other than what I have gathered so far?”

“Nothing.” The response is too quick, betraying the whole idea of getting him to believe it.”

He knows too much. And if he knows this much, he must have gone digging around about him. And you don’t go digging for information about someone unless you are interested, one way or another, in the person. And that is the problem. Zev is not supposed to have any interest in Ian.

Fear weaves into her spine at the thought of it. He can’t hurt Ian. He can absolutely not touch a hair on his head.

“Nothing?” His weight presses into her from behind, and then a shiver rolls through her as his finger glides along her cheek, combing hair away from her face. “Did you say nothing?”

“Nothing.”

She yelps when he suddenly fists her hair, yanking her head backward so his lips are just inches away from her left ear, her green eyes staring at his soulless one.

“What did I say about lying to me some minutes ago?” His hold on her hair tightens, his free hand wrapping possessively around her throat.

“H-he liked me,” she whimpers, tears brimming at the corners of her eyes. “I liked him too. So um, we started dating.”

“Is that all?” His hip presses against her, and for a split second, she forgets the burn in her ass, the hand locked around her throat, as her mind races to the thick, hard length prodding her from behind. If he moves just a little, if she raises her hips just a fraction more, his cock will be flushed against her throbbing core.

Focus, Vivienne. Stop being a cheap whore for once and fucking focus.

“We broke up a couple of months ago,” she exhales, but her body betrays her as she arches slightly against him.

“So, in the two months with him, he has never shoved his dick inside you, huh?” He slides a finger between her lips, his breath feathering against her jaw. “He has never fucked this pussy, right?”

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