Chapter 13

I was wrong. The innocent facade was a lie. As she lunged, a dangerous smile spread across her lips.

I wasn’t prepared for her to attack. But the second she did, I knew I could never let her go. Her sudden lunge caught me off guard, but my reflexes kicked in instantly. I wrestled her to the ground, my heart pounding in my chest like a war drum. She was far stronger than her lithe frame suggested, all lean muscle and blazing fire. Her eyes were wild, feral even, as she fought me with a ferocity I’d rarely encountered. But when I finally had her pinned beneath me, her wrists trapped in my iron grasp, she did something I never expected. Something that made my blood run hot and cold all at once.

She kissed me.

Her lips were softer than silk and seared my flesh like a brand, sending electricity jolting through my veins. For one intoxicating, disorienting moment, my mind went blank, thoughts scattering like ashes. That split second was all she needed to sink her teeth into my lower lip, biting down hard enough to draw blood. The burst of bright, stinging pain snapped me out of my stupor, a switch flipping inside me.

Suddenly, I couldn’t get close enough to her, couldn’t crush her tightly enough against me. I lifted her lithe frame easily, slamming her back against the nearest tree with the full force of my body weight. The air left her lungs in a gasp as I claimed her mouth again in a searing, dominating kiss that left no question as to who was in control. She’d thrown down an irresistible challenge, waved a red cape in front of the raging bull. It was one I couldn’t back down from, no matter the cost.

My lips crushed against hers, stealing her breath and replacing it with my own. This wasn’t a gentle caress or a tender expression of affection. No, this kiss was feral, frenzied, a clash of tongues and teeth as I devoured her mouth with a hunger that bordered on violence. My head pounded, a throbbing ache that only intensified with each fevered second our lips remained locked. But the pain was insignificant, drowned out by the intoxicating taste of her, the searing heat of her body pressed against mine. In that moment, nothing else existed. The reasons, the doubts, the walls I’d so carefully constructed – all of it crumbled to dust. There was only her, this maddening, irresistible woman who consumed me, body and soul. Rational thought fled, replaced by a primal need that roared through my veins. I was lost, adrift in a sea of raw sensation, and I never wanted to be found.

The return of rationality hit me like a sledgehammer, a brutal reminder that I had crossed a line from which there was no return. But even as that realization sank in, I knew it was too late. Cora had me teetering on the edge of a precipice, my control fraying, my desire for her burning with the same wild intensity she’d poured into that searing kiss. Every fiber of my being craved her, yearned to lose myself in her intoxicating embrace, and never surface again. She had awakened a hunger in me, a desperate need that threatened to consume me whole. And my Gods, I wanted to let it.

The moment my teeth sank into her neck, Cora let out a low moan that nearly drove me to madness. My control, already hanging by a thread, threatened to snap completely at the sound. I kept my grip on her wrists, holding them above her head, as I trailed brutal kisses along the column of her throat. She tasted like wildflowers and the sweetest sin, a deadly combination that went straight to my head like the finest ambrosia.

My lips found hers again, and I drank deeply from her, a starving man finally given sustenance. She responded with a fervor that matched my own, her tongue dueling with mine in a dance as old as time. I could feel her heart pounding against my chest, the rhythm echoing the frenetic drumming of my own.

I moved my hand from her wrist, letting it slide down her body, tracing the contours of her curves. Her breath hitched as I cupped her breast through the fabric of her shirt, teasing the hardened peak with my thumb. But it wasn’t enough. I needed more. I needed all of her, every inch, every secret.

My fingers traveled lower, slipping beneath the waistband of her pants. I found her wet and wanting, her body arching into my touch as I explored her with ruthless precision. She was slick heat and silken perfection, and I couldn’t resist the urge to claim every inch of her.

As I played with her viciously, her body tightened beneath me, her nails digging into my shoulders. The pain only fueled my desire, my need to possess her fully, completely. I slipped a finger inside her, then another, working her into a frenzy with each ruthless thrust. Her whimpers of pleasure were music to my ears, a symphony of lust and longing that I wished to never end.

I broke the kiss, pulling back just enough to watch the expressions flit across her face as I drove her closer and closer to the edge. Her eyes were wide, dark pools of need, and when she came undone, it was with my name on her lips. The sound of it was a triumphant cry in the stillness of the forest, a claim that resonated deep within my soul.

The intensity of her climax shocked me, a visceral reminder of just how combustible our connection was. For a moment, we were both lost in the aftermath, our ragged breaths mingling in the cool morning air. Before the sweet scent of her breath drew me to her once again and I was quick to rid her of her pants as I hiked her legs up around my waist and entered with a brutal thrust.

“Oh fuck!” Cora gasped out, her pussy throbbed tightly around my cock.

The scent of her arousal mingled with the earthy aroma of the forest, a heady perfume that intoxicated me, pushing me closer to the brink of madness. I was a man possessed, driven by a desperate need to dominate, to claim what was mine. Every thrust of my hips was a testament to the fury and fear that raged within me, a storm that threatened to tear me apart. She was a threat to my very existence, yet I couldn’t resist the siren call of her body, the way she writhed and moaned beneath me.

My fingers tightened around her throat, the delicate column pulsing under my palm as I restricted her airflow. Her eyes were wide, fixed on mine with a wild desperation that mirrored the chaos inside me. She knew what was coming, yet she didn’t fight it. Instead, she pressed her throat closer to my hand, surrendering to the inevitable, to the darkness that promised a release from the tumultuous tempest of our twisted dance.

The feel of her tightening around me as she reached the peak of her pleasure was my undoing. A guttural roar tore from my chest as I drove into her one final time, the world around us fading into nothingness as I found my own release. It was a moment of pure, unadulterated bliss, a fleeting respite from the reality that threatened to destroy us both.

But as my climax ripped through me, the tree at our backs, a silent witness to our savage coupling, snapped under the force of our passion. Cora’s body slipped from my grasp, her sudden absence leaving me cold and bereft. She fell backward, her head striking a protruding branch with a sickening thud that echoed through the stillness of the forest.

I reared back in horror, my heart pounding in my chest as I took in the sight of her lifeless form sprawled on the forest floor. The world seemed to hold its breath, the only sound the ragged panting of my own breath as I struggled to comprehend what had just occurred. She lay there, her eyes staring blankly up at the canopy of leaves above us, a single trickle of blood trailing down her temple.

For a moment, I felt a pang of sorrow, a twinge of regret for the beautiful, maddening creature whose life had been extinguished so abruptly. But the sentiment was fleeting, overshadowed by the harsh reality of my situation. Cora had been a liability, a loose end that needed to be tied up. And now, fate had intervened, sparing me from having to soil my hands with her blood.

I knelt beside her, my movements mechanical as I positioned her limp body for the camera. The flash of my phone illuminated her pale features, capturing the finality of her demise. It was a morbid trophy, a testament to the power I wielded in the shadows of the red rooms.

With the photo sent and my followers duly notified, I rose to my feet, leaving Cora’s body behind for the scavengers and the creeping tendrils of nature to reclaim. There was no time for sentiment, no room for error. I had a kingdom to govern, a legacy of pain and fear to uphold. And as I disappeared into the depths of the forest, I knew that the legend of the Lord of Pain would live on, undiminished by the loss of the woman who had dared to write about my life.