Page 55 of Broken Queen
For the first time, my name on his tongue was harsh, like a jagged stone scraping against a wall, leaving a deep valley in the plaster. Hazard must have known that I was hiding something, then. I had always kept my advantage from him, but now he could see who I really was. We were no longer on the same team.
“What do you want?” I asked.
He took a step back, giving us space. His fingertips ran across the wood wallpaper as he walked toward the back of the room, then paced in the other direction. Like a wild animal, not yet used to being kept in a cage, on the verge of throwing himself at the bars, bloodying himself, until he broke free.
“A little birdie told me you actually know everything about Gabby. Don’t you, little bloom? You know exactly what happened to my sister.”
“What did Ernest say?” I snapped. “Tell me, and I’ll tell you if it’s true.”
“That’s the thing, though, isn’t it? I know you, Zira. You can twist the truth into whatever suits you just as well as I can. But I want to hear it from you.”
I groaned, running my hands through my hair, tangles catching on my fingers, anger vibrating through my veins. I had to keep myself under control. That was the only way I could make this work for both of us.
“Where is Ernest?” I asked, enunciating each word while trying to keep my tone sweet. “Just tell me that. Please.”
Hazard tapped his knuckles on the walls. “Ernest could be in a cage. Could be on a vacation. Could even be underneath that bed.”
A sudden tension seized my stomach. We had made a promise to each other. And yes, I had promised that I would give him his sister’s killer, but first, I needed him to do this for me. Kill Ernest, then kill my father.
He was messing up everything.
“Tell me the truth,” I said, my voice snapping with the tension building inside of me. That tone made him stop. He took a few steps forward, then kneeled down so that we were at the same eye level.
“Make me, my queen,” he said.
Without thinking, I threw a fist at his face, my knuckles cracking against his cheekbone. His head swung to the side, and both of us stayed frozen like that. Our harsh breaths filled the air, intensifying each moment. My knuckles stung. A few doors down, a motel guest was singing a mournful country song about a broken heart.
Hazard turned back to me, his teeth pulled into a smile, that crooked canine like a jagged dagger. But there was no pleasure in his expression this time, only a red, tender spot on his cheek.
“That’s how you want to play, huh?” he asked.
I opened my mouth to answer but he pounced, throwing me onto the bed, grabbing a pillow and shoving it over my face. I twisted, trying to get out of his grasp, but my screams were muffled by the pillow’s filling. Hazard used his bodyweight to keep me pinned down, my pulse racing as his grunts vibrated through me. Using his legs, he forced my thighs apart, his jeans rubbing against my exposed flesh. He reached between us for my pussy and I used that moment to shove him off of me. I gasped, letting the air swell into my lungs. I glared at him, and finally, he gave a smile. A genuine one this time.
Any logical person would have been terrified. But I knew what this was.
Hazard wanted to fight me, because it was better this way. Better than us facing the fact that my secrets were tearing us apart.
I wanted this too.
I ran forward, leaping up and straddling his waist, clinging to him like a net. As he pulled off his jeans, I grabbed his neck, squeezing it as tight as I could, his Adam’s apple jutting against my palms. His pale cheeks filled with pressure and blood but between each staggered breath, he choked out a laugh, like this was all a game to him. He kneeled down as I strangled him, then he used his weight to literally crush me against the floor.
“Fuuu—” I started to scream, the air in my lungs expelling out before I could finish.
His hard dick jabbed into my thigh, and my pussy ached to clench around him. He propped himself up on his elbows, using his body to pin me between his arms. I grabbed his shoulders and barrel-rolled us until I was on top of him, leering down like a beast. He bared his teeth in a complex expression, like a leering clown on the walls of a fun house, pleasure and fury warring inside of him.
“What happened to my sister, Zira?” he said, his words slurring with a vicious tone. “You know exactly what happened.”
I rested my knees against his balls, putting enough pressure to get him to shut up, and his eyes rolled into the back of his head. He moaned like I had lowered my pussy onto his dick.
He liked the pain.
“How many times do I have to tell you?” I snapped. With that look on his face, I couldn’t resist adding more pressure. “I don’t know anything!”
He bucked me off of him, then he lunged at me, shoving my dress to the side, and I spread my legs, letting him penetrate me. His cock was like a knife inside of me, but I welcomed each painful thrust.
“It’s not that hard,” he growled. “Just a few words, Bloomy.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
