Page 153 of Monsters Wear Crowns
I sucked in a sharp breath, my body rigid.Fuck. Fear gnawed at the edges of my mind.
Rafe’s nostrils flared, his jaw ticking. “Tell me,” hedemanded, his voice dropping lower. “How did he touch you?”
I thought about it for a moment but decided against lying. He was a wild animal on the edge. “You fucking saw the extent of it, asshole.”
His grip tightened, and I whimpered. “He touched you,” he murmured darkly, bloody fingers tracing up my thigh. “Here?”
I didn’t even have time to nod before he suddenly grabbing between my thighs.
“And here?”
My chest heaved, and I could only nod weakly. A muscle jumped in his jaw, his eyes flashing with something feral. “He didn’t touch me there. I left!”
Then, suddenly, he crushed his mouth to mine. I gasped against his lips as his teeth caught my bottom lip, his tongue sliding deep,taking–branding me with the taste of whiskey and something else that was purelyhim. His fingers swirled around my clit on the outside of my leggings, and I arched away from it. A desperate, broken groan tore from my throat.What the fuck was he doing to me? I was trapped. I was cuffed. What was–
And then he ripped away just as fast, spinning back toward the man in the chair.
And with a sickeningcrack, it was over.
I flinched violently as the dreadful sound echoed through the basement. A choked noise crawled up my throat. My wrist twisted against the cuff, my eyes darting up to the ceiling as I yelled, “Kieran!” My voice was panicked and desperate.
Rafe onlylaughed. A mad, untamed sound as he wiped his mouth with the back of his bloodstained hand. His chest rose and fell, his body taut with leftover adrenaline as he turned back to me.
We stared at one another before he rushed me. I gasped as his bloody hand seized my chin, forcing my gaze to his. “Look at me,” he ordered.
I had no choice but to obey.
His eyes burned into mine, so fucking wild, so completelyhis, and then he kissed me again, harder this time. My body shuddered, my mind warring with itself. Fear and want and madness tangled into one.
And then–click.
The cuff snapped open.
He paused, his lips pulling away just an inch. His breath was heavy as if he were restraining himself from doing anything more to me. I didn’t know if he wanted to hurt me or fuck me. Probably both. But finally, he took a step back.
I staggered forward as Rafe straightened, calling up the stairs, “Kieran.”
Heavy boots descended, and within seconds, Kieran stepped into view, his face a mask of indifference. He barely spared a glance at the body.
“Take her wherever she wants to be,” Rafe said, exhaling heavily, like he’d finally burned through every ounce of energy left in him.
I swallowed hard, throat dry. “My apartment.”
Rafe sighed again, dragging a hand down his face, smearing more blood across his jaw. He looked absolutely unstable.
But his voice was steady as he said, “Fine.” Then his dark gaze flicked to me once more, and his next words sent a chill down my spine. “That’s what happens to men who threaten you. To men who want you like I do.”
And just like that, he turned, his broad frame brushing past me without another word. I stood frozen, my pulse still hammering, my gaze flickering to the lifeless body slumped in the chair.
Then Kieran’s fingers curled around my wrist–not forceful, but firm.I let him lead me out. But my body still buzzed with adrenaline, with his touch, with his fucking words. And in that moment, I knew that no matter how far I ran, no matter how much distance I put between us, Rafe Vaughan wouldneverlet me go.
Chapter 29
Days had passed since the basement. Sincehim.
Since the blood. The screams. The way he forced me towatch.My heart ached, my mind a battleground of warring logic and unbearabletruth. I had betrayed Rafe that night with Moreau and seen the flicker of rage and devastation in his eyes before hesnapped.
I didn’t know what the hell came over me. Maybe it was the hunger that cursed me, the insatiable need forsomething–power, control, destruction. Things had beengood, and I fucked it all up.
