27
NEVER ENOUGH
ENZO
T his is not how I planned for this moment to go.
Adriana screams and cries, clawing at my fucking priceless collar adorning her neck as she does everything she can think of to remove it. Her skin reddens as her scratches mark it and her face turns the same color as tears stream down it.
My hand reaches for her, and she slaps it away.
I reach again and she dares to scream at me, unleashing all her vitriol in a single sound as her anger consumes the sound she makes. My girl snatches a breath of air before pouring more of her rage into a second scream and the perfect dream my magic conjured for her threatens to fall apart as dark clouds gather on the horizon.
My magic counters it, keeping her dream alive for her as mine shatters into too many to repair.
She’s trying to reject my gift and my dominance. She’s refusing to submit. After everything I’ve done for her, my girl still fights me and it’s beyond my comprehension. I’ve been patient with her this week. I’ve shown her a level of compassion I didn’t know I had. I’ve even been empathetic.
It’s been a revelation.
And now she’s acting like I’ve deceived her and forced her into doing something repulsive. Adriana’s crying harder than I’ve ever seen her cry and her tears are fucking pretty, but they’re not what I want. I want her joy, her excitement. I want her to revel in this moment and appreciate the gift I’ve given her.
Instead, she’s acting like a fucking brat.
And I want to take her over my knee and tan her hide until she sees sense. Or I'm no longer livid. Or whatever this disgusting ache that claws its way through my chest is.
The girl yanks the collar back and it crushes her windpipe, causing her to choke. She coughs, splutters and yanks it again, still rebelling against the collar.
My collar .
A collar the Queen of Hell asked me to gift her and I refused to give away.
Lilith would look spectacular in it, but Adriana looks divine. She’s so damn stunning I can’t take my eyes off her and she’s never been more beautiful. Or more ugly.
She thrashes on the floor, and she’s starting to hyperventilate. Her little heart is beating so frantically that I hear the beats merge as her blood races faster than she can handle. Adriana’s not absorbing enough oxygen and when her limbs start to flail, I know she’s going to hurt herself.
And I cannot allow it.
Even now, amidst the hurt and anguish at Adriana’s fucking betrayal, I want to protect her. She’s clawed her tiny human nails into me and she’s underneath my skin, in a way I haven’t experienced in the eons I’ve lived through.
My fingers move and I lift her body off the ground and the girl keeps thrashing against the air. Her back arches as she reaches for the ground, cursing as she screams to be released. She should be screaming because my cock’s pounding her pretty little cunt, but instead she’s rebelling against me and my collar.
Adriana is more determined than I believed, and I’ll make use of her endurance at another time. Damn good use of it and I’ll ensure it pleases me.
I plant her feet on the ground, and she stiffens. Those innocent blue irises of hers brim with enough fury to make Valkyries envious and then she closes them. My girl takes a breath and I feed off her anger, containing it for her own fucking good.
“Take. It. Off.”
Adriana’s eyes snap open and they’re cold. A cold that’s so damn hot it’ll burn through Hell to get what it wants. My girl is stunning and I’ve never been prouder, not in all my years of existence. She’s mine and she’s a force to be reckoned with, and she will not slip into this or any night. She’s decided to resist and at least she’s committed to it. I admire her for it, even if this is utterly futile and deeply hurtful.
“No.”
“I want it off.”
“Not happening, baby.” My teeth grind and it takes every ounce of control I have not to show her my demonic form. “You accepted this, sweet girl. I didn’t have to give you a choice, but I did, and you chose this. I won’t let you go back on this now.”
Adriana takes a step toward me and I’m surprised. Both by her sheer damn nerve and the fact she’s been able to do it. My magic should have held her still and she’s managed to slip its hold. With fuck all effort. It’s astounding and it makes me want her more.
“You never said it was permanent.”
That’s the fucking problem .
Wearing my collar hasn’t upset Adriana in and of itself. She’s willing to accept it. Temporarily. When she has some control over when it comes off. It’s the permanency of it that she dislikes. The finality. The complete surrender and acceptance of her place beneath me. Her eternal submission.
“I want it off.”
“I’ve been clear about our deal, Adriana. You’re mine for all eternity. Most mortals would be thrilled to be granted immortality. You’re being ungrateful.” I ignore the eye roll and decide to press my point. “The collar—my collar—is my promise to protect and worship you, and your promise to obey and worship me until the end of this world and beyond. It stays on.”
Adriana tosses her head and wipes the tears from her face as she pulls herself together.
“I want it off, Enzo. The choice wasn’t fair. It wasn’t clear.”
“And I want it to stay on, Adriana.”
Her heel literally digs into the ground, and I won’t alter my course. She’s hurt me and the new experience she’s given me isn’t one I’m enjoying. My pride is wounded, my ego bruised. I’m sore and smarting from the blow, which her beauty has cushioned but not ameliorated.
Adriana’s ungratefulness grates, but her rejection stings. I’m only suppressing the urge to lash out at her because I’m clinging to the thought that she doesn’t understand what she’s doing. Not exactly. Not in the way a true immortal would. She’s still na?ve enough for this misunderstanding to be genuine and for her to be unaware of the consequences of her actions.
“You always do this,” she hisses. “You take and take and take, and you lie and cheat your way to getting what you want.”
Maybe not.
“You’re despicable. You’re a fucking piece of shit and I hate you. Do you understand me?”
She’s ranting and it’s going to land her in trouble. Fast.
“I fucking hate you and I’d give all of it back—every-fucking-thing you’ve given me—to be rid of you. You disgust me and I will never wear this willingly.”
“It suits you,” I smirk and instantly regret it. “You look beautiful in it, Adriana. It’s like it was made for you. Lilith will be jealous.”
“Lilith?”
There’s envy in her tone and it’s pulsing through her like lightning striking a rod. Adriana thinks she has competition and her jealousy gives me a kick. It could work to my advantage if I can harness her emotions against her. It’s blatant manipulation, but I’m so far past giving a fuck I no longer care.
Except I do. For whatever reason, and as impossible as it is for a demon to give a shit about anything other than itself, I care about Adriana. About her feelings and what she thinks of me. I give a damn and I want her to like me. I want her to more than like me.
It hurts too damn much for her not to.
And I refuse to allow the world to continue unless she cares for me.
“You don’t have to worry, baby.”
Adriana’s mouth twitches despite her supposed hatred of me—and I love it. She’s given herself away again and her words are a sharp contrast to the feelings she’s trying to deny. My girl wouldn’t be this territorial if she didn’t care, and if the hue of her green is any indication of her feelings, they run deep.
“Lilith is the Queen of Hell and that collar—my collar, your collar now—was made by archangels and many have lusted after it. Few have worn it, and you are the only girl I’ve ever given it to.” I pause and Adriana likes that idea.
She nods, unconsciously.
“The only girl I’ll ever give it to.”
My collar was meant to bind her to me and it's made her fearful, less trusting, and more uncertain. I'm sure as fuck not lying to her, and Adriana stares up at me like she knows it.
It's a ray of light in an infinity of darkness and Adriana gifts me with another new emotion. One I should not feel in its pure state. It's a beacon in a storm. The star chart to navigate home. It's the starlight and its dust, the snow-topped mountain peaks as they shimmer in the sunrise, and the ocean waves reflecting the magnificence of twilight as the Sun dips beneath the horizon. Hope is pure and it's potent, a wonder beyond imagination and it floods through my being and I'll never be the same again.
“You are mine because I chose you. Of all the infinite possibilities, I choose you, Adriana. Only you. There will never be another, in any time or plane. I chose you to be mine, and I will worship you alone. Only you. Until my days are done and even then I will not let us be parted. I do not have a soul to give you, but if I did, you would have mine.”
Adriana doesn't flinch. She doesn't move. She doesn't even shift her weight or bite her lip in the way that drives me crazy.
She isn't moved. She isn't reciprocating. I've offered her a commitment and bared my inner demon and she's doing nothing.
Seconds turn to minutes and I wonder if she's broken. Maybe my declaration is too much for her to process and she's caught in a whirl of confusion, paralyzed by the magnitude of it all. But she doesn't seem dazed. Or upset. Or happy. She's indifferent, and it's the deepest cut I've ever borne.
“I know,” she mumbles.
“You know?”
I'm too fucking stunned to know what to do and when her eyes lock on mine, I'm certain this is going to get worse.
“I've always known, Enzo. And it makes no difference.”
Adriana turns as my mouth falls open and I'm left staring as she walks away. She doesn't look back as she heads deeper into her dream and the paradise I've created for her wraps around her, shielding her from her reality.
It doesn't protect me from mine. Adriana destroyed me, eviscerating me as surely as if she'd unleashed the fires from the infernoes of Hell. I'm devastated and bleeding in every way that matters, rejected, as if everything I'm offering her is meaningless.
I've given her all I am and all my gifts, laying wonders at her feet. And she's thrown them back in my face, refusing to give me the only thing I want in return.
She gave me hope and then she extinguished it, torturing me with more venom than even I could suffer. This is agony. This is pain. This is hell, and I want it to stop.
I fucking need it to end and my feet betray me—just as she has—racing after her before I can stop them.
“Tell me how to make this right, Adriana. I'll give you anything. I'll do anything.”
My perfect girl stops and turns around, more beautiful than the paradise surrounding her. The flowers frame her in a backdrop that's pure magic and she's still the most enchanting, bewitching thing here.
“Take this collar off and end our bargain.”
I shake my head as she asks for the one thing I will not do.
“You'll leave, sweet girl. And I cannot lose you. I'll give you anything but that. Anything, baby.”
She smiles sadly. “It'll never be enough, Enzo.”
The heart I didn't know I had shatters as she walks away. I've lost her in every way that counts and the dream I dared to dream turns into a nightmare as the only thing I want becomes the one thing I can't have.