Page 44 of Emperor of Corruption
“Say it,” Killian requests. “Tell me you’ll be my good girl, Lyra.”
“I’ll be your good girl—please let me come!”
“Come.” He rubs my clit in rapid circles, curling the fingers inside of me. My entire body trembles and ascreamhurtles past my lips. The pain and aches on my body accelerate the pleasure, forcing me higher and higher until I think I might simply die. The orgasm is so intense it makes stars burst behind my eyes.
“Good girl,” Killian purrs. “There’s my good girl.” He slides his hand off my pussy, and I feel a tug at my blindfold before he slips it off. I flinch at the light of my room, blinking several times until I can see straight.
Then, all the pleasure dissipates from my body, fleeing like flowers after a frost. My heart drops down to my toes, and everything inside me shrivels up.
In his hand, Killian’s holding a phone.
The camera light is on, and it’s pointed atmy naked body.
Chapter Seventeen
Lyra
Every corner of my life flashes before my eyes, all at once.
My job. My salary. The prizes I’ve won. The industry friends and connections I’ve made which boost my career prospects. Everything I’ve worked for that has led me to this moment…
I’m frozen with shock and horror. Trembling uncontrollably. Lost in a disastrous spiral of existential dread.
Killian King has a recording of him doing atrocious things to my body. I thanked him for each time he hit me. I begged him for an orgasm. I did everything he asked me to do in hopes that the scene might end.
And it did end—with onehellof a bang.
“I can see you’re understandably afraid,” Killian says, tapping the phone and pocketing it. “So, now, I believe it’s time for us to talk.”
I’ve become mute—I want to say something,screamsomething, but my tongue can’t formulate any words. I think I might be in shock.
“I have a recording of you in extremely compromising positions.” He pauses, letting that sink it. It lodges like a knife between my ribs, surpassing all the other pain he’s inflicted on me tonight.
“I will not use it as long as you’re a good girl and follow my rules. If you try to contact anyone from my past without first asking me, I willedit this recording to take out my voice and hands, and I will send it to your management team and coworkers. If you disobey me repeatedly or refuse to follow through on a task I give you, the same thing will occur. If you try to piece together some sort of ridiculous conspiracy on me, I will ruin you. I held your life in the palm of my hand from the moment you walked into my office; now, I hold yourlivelihoodin the palm of my hand. I can and will destroy you. I don’t want to, but I will. Do you understand me?”
I’m shivering so profusely I barely have any control over my body, but the shivering abates just long enough for me to offer him a single nod.
“Good. Believe it or not, this tape is for your safety. You haven’t just pissedmeoff; you’ve pissed off some of my associates, who are far less interested in keeping you alive.” He rakes a gaze over my body, eyes heating with desire. “I hope you know that the recording is multipurposed. I expect I’ll be using it for personal pleasure for whatever remains of my measly life.”
“I—I—I—”
“Shh,” Killian whispers. He reaches out his hand; I flinch so violently, it rattles me from head to toe. That doesn’t stop him from trailing a finger down my cheek and wrapping it around my neck. “If you’re a good girl, we won’t have any problems. I’ll have no need to use it. My advice is for you to use me during our time together. I’ve made it clear the benefits I can bring to your personal and professional life—use them. And, when I treat you like a woman I’m courting, I expect you to start acting like one. Are we understood?”
A tear rolls down my cheek, followed by another. Killian possesses a level of cruelty that’s both profound and unhinged. If he has emotions, he certainly doesn’t adhere to them. I’ve seen no evidence of genuine empathy from him.
He truly is a beast. A brilliant, heinous beast.
“I will see you Saturday afternoon. We will be interviewing over lunch at Le Bronte. I expect you to bring with you a five-thousand-word sample of writing on a topic of your choosing, written in a manner of your choosing. If you do well, the piece will be passed onto several high-level individuals in your fields. Do you understand me?”
I’m so confused, stuck in such an endless sea of turmoil, that I barely register his words. He wants me to write something for him before Saturday. Something he might use to advance my career. But his offer is wrapped in unbelievable cruelty and tied with a bow of destruction.
I nod mutely, wondering how I’ll ever press my fingers to a keyboard again. How I’ll navigate the shitstorm that my life has turned into—how I’ll live with myself, let alone sleep in my bed at night.
My bed—a sacred space that Killian has effectively ruined.
“Very good. I do appreciate your cooperation tonight, Lyra. You’ve been such a beautiful mess for me. If I though you could take it, I would be fucking you into complete incoherency right now.” He leans down and brushes a kiss over my cheek, then lifts my upper body and unlocks my hands. They fall limply to my sides. He takes my ankles from the spreader bar next, and exits the room. Leaving me here, with all the toys to taunt me with my degradation and impending demise. He simply… leaves me, and for some reason, that makes the aches in my body intensify.
I don’t wanthimhere, but I don’t think I should be alone, either. I need someone to cling to, someone to get comfort from. Right now, I’m so lost I might take that from anyone—even the man who put me in this position.
