Chapter 22
22
R ex
She stands before me, looking serious but unsettled. With her dark hair floating on the water, she looks like a siren. A silent one who doesn’t need to sing to lure a victim. The water laps at her breastbone, and the slanted underwater lights give me a skewed view of her golden curves. If I die now, I’d die a happy man.
Her brows crease. She’s here to work.
“I asked you where you were the night Gregory Martin lost his life,” she says in her detective voice. If she knew it made me hard, made me want to kiss her soft, solemn mouth, she’d never use it again around me.
I let her prompt me. “I was here with you. But after you went home, I paid a call to Martin Shipping. Gregory was working late, as usual.”
“Gregory?”
“He and I ran in the same circles. My companies have contracts with his. Still do.”
“So you knew he’d be working late.”
“I keep tabs on all of my future victims. I’d watched him for a while.” Long enough to gather evidence that he deserved death.
She blows out a breath, perhaps thinking of how long I’ve watched her. “You wore a suit.”
“Body armor. A prototype from Knight Corp. Not available on the market.”
“The security video I found?”
“Was of me. I own the building next door and had management release it.”
Her eyes flash with excitement or anger. The slanted light makes her irises look sea green. “The only evidence I have is what you allowed me to have.”
“I wanted you to know me. You and only you.”
She licks her lips, glancing away.
I take a small step forward. “Inara?—”
Her features harden, and I stop my advance. “How did you break in?”
“The door to the fire escape was locked. I have a tool that unlocks things.”
“Another prototype.”
I incline my head. Most of the hunting supplies I use come from Knight Corp or another secret branch of Roy Industries. I invest heavily in R&D, and I get first dibs.
She shakes her head. “Why didn’t he fight or cry out? You stabbed him.”
“I incapacitated him first.”
How? They tested all the liquids and found nothing.
“A gas. Unscented. Untraceable. Developed in Roy Laboratories. There’s nothing like it. As soon as the team of researchers discovered the compound, I pulled the project and destroyed all official records of it. I have it developed in small batches in my own private lab.” I take another step forward. “Now, ask me why I killed him.”
For the first time since I’ve met her, fear flickers over her face. It takes her a moment before she moves her lips. “Why?”
“He wasn’t a random target. I’d met him several times at charitable events and been across the table from him in negotiations. It wasn’t until I took interest in buying his company that I dug deeper, and I found it.”
“What?”
“The testimony of a young woman. Iona Stipanov. She told a story about how she was tricked into leaving her home to travel to New Rome. A fake modeling agency promised her a job. Instead, Serbian gang members took her money and identification, drugged her and thirteen other women, and locked them in a shipping container for a dangerous trip across the ocean.”
Inara has her hand over her mouth. I hate telling her this, but she has to know.
“There was little water or food. One woman died. Iona and the others barely survived. I was on the docks when they were herded from the ship into a van. I was able to intercept it and free them. Iona was brave enough to want to testify. She came forward, but there was a jurisdictional scuffle between the Feds and the city, and in the end, the DA declined to press charges. You can guess the company who owned the shipping containers.”
“Martin Shipping.”
“Even if the case had gone forward, the only ones implicated would be the leaders of a Serbian gang. Not Gregory.”
“Was he responsible?”
“More than that. He collaborated with this gang for decades. Iona’s story was just one thread. I kept pulling and eventually unraveled a whole human trafficking operation. All made possible by Martin Shipping.”
“So you killed him.”
“He was careful. None of the evidence pointed directly to him. If I could, I would’ve brought proof of his crimes to the authorities. But you know there are limits to what the police can do. Innocents suffer. Criminals go free. Justice isn’t as blind to money and power as you want to believe. So, I tip the scales.”
She’s quiet, absorbed in her thoughts. I wish there were a way to monitor her mind. But I have to wait for her to share herself with me.
“That night. . . did he know what was going to happen? When you came into his office?”
She’s imagining the details of my hunt. I don’t know the extent of her gifts and abilities, but I do know she feels things deeply. She can sense the darkness in the world around her. It’s a testament to her goodness that she can descend into it and still remain pure.
“When the gas took hold and I appeared? I imagine he did. I didn’t pause to read him a litany of his sins, but he knew the consequences had come for him at last.”
“How could you do it? You were with me just hours before, and then you went and killed someone?”
“You hunt monsters. So do I.”
“No, I hunt monsters like you.”
“The only one who can stalk and kill a monster is. . . a bigger monster.”
“Do you think you’re the hero in this situation?” She shakes her head.
“Am I not? You clean up the streets in your own way. I do it in mine.”
“This is murder. You kill people without remorse.”
I reach for her shoulders but stop myself from touching her. I let my hands hover in the air and clench my fists instead. “Gregory Martin deserved to die. So did the thugs who assaulted you. It wasn’t the first time they’d assaulted a woman. They both had rap sheets as long as my arm.”
“You can’t just?—”
“I donate heavily to the police department. If the system is going to work, I am simply greasing the wheels. But it doesn’t, and someone has to do something about it. There’s evil out there. You know that as well as I do.”
Under the water, her chest rises and falls with her accelerated breathing. “You’re evil.”
“Do you really think that?”
She closes her eyes instead of answering me.
“I’ve never killed anyone who didn’t deserve it.”
“Murder is wrong. You, of all people, should know that.” She flinches as she says it. She doesn’t like bringing up my parents. She doesn’t want to hurt me.
Even fighting with her, I want to hold her in my arms.
“Sometimes taking a life isn’t murder. It’s justice.”
“You call it justice, but it’s an excuse. You like killing. You like playing vigilante. Admit it.”
I bare my teeth. “I do enjoy it. I never said I didn’t. I rid the world of filth. Ask their victims if what I’m doing is wrong.”
“You’re not doing it for them. It’s all for you. You’ve isolated yourself from everyone and put yourself on this path, calling it justice.”
“Are you profiling me? Or are you profiling yourself?”
She sucks in a breath like I’ve struck her.
“I know you, Inara. I know how alone you are. I’ve been watching you, and I know. . . you’re like me. We need the cause. This higher calling. Because what else do we live for?”
“No. . . I’m not. You’re just a broken boy who grew up to be a broken man.”
“Once again, I’ll ask, are you profiling me or yourself?”
“Stop it,” she whispers.
“I am the man I need to be. I hunt only those who deserve it. And if I had hunted the man who killed your family, he’d be behind bars. Or dead.”
Her skin goes ashy. “He is dead.”
“I would’ve gotten him before he killed the second time.” I don’t say before he killed your family. I don’t have to say it. “The system is broken. It failed us. It failed me. It failed you. And yet you defend it.”
“Stop talking. Please.” Her eyes are wide, pupils black.
I’ve gone too far. She’s going to be sick.
“Little bird.” I reach for her, but she hunches her shoulders, avoiding my touch.
“Don’t call me that. Not now. Not after you’ve admitted to all of this.”
“I told you I’d tell you the truth. I don’t want any lies between us. What else do you want to know?”
“How many people have you killed?”
“I don’t know. I’ve lost count.”
She stares above my head, looking into the abyss. I wonder what it’s like to look through her eyes. What horrors she sees in me.
If I could, I’d spare her. But the darkness is part of me.
“They all deserved it,” I tell her. “I can list their sins. Murder, rape, abuse?—”
Her lips move, but nothing comes out. She’s overwhelmed.
I stop talking and call her name to bring her back. “Inara.”
She blinks slowly. This is not unlike a power exchange scene, where I give her pain and take her to a higher plane of consciousness. Only this time, she’s being devoured by the darkness. Subsumed into an underworld that I’ve never wanted her to visit. She’s sensitive to evil. It affects her.
She’s the reason I go hunting. To make the world safe so innocents like her don’t ever suffer.
“I’m sorry,” I say. “I’m not sorry for killing them. They deserved it. But I am sorry it hurts you.”
Before my eyes, she steels herself. And I know this is why she is the woman for me. She’s the only one who can face who I am head-on. She’s strong enough to withstand me.
“You should be sorry for the victims.”
“I am.” The victims of crime. The victims of the monsters I hunt. Families like hers and like mine.
She shakes her head as if she knows what I’m thinking. I’ll never feel remorse for hurting people who hurt others.
“Any more questions?”
“Just one,” she whispers. Her tone is low and sluggish like the words weigh her down.
“Ask.”
“Who are you planning to kill next?”
“No one at the moment.” I dip my head as if sharing a secret. “I’ve been too busy hunting a little bird who amuses me.”
Her tiny scoff tells me she’s back.
I straighten so she can see me grin. “Did you hope I’d confess now so you could stop me?”
She rolls her eyes. “I’m sure you won’t make it so easy.”
“You don’t like it easy. You like it to hurt.”
“Oh yes, because you know me so well.” She folds her arms over her chest, but all it does is draw my attention to her breasts. My cock is stiff, straining toward her. “Because you’ve been hunting me. Like you hunt the rest.”
“No. Not like them. I’ve never hunted anyone like you.”
“What does that mean?”
“I hunted them to bring them to justice.”
“To kill.”
“Yes.”
“And how is that different from how you’re hunting me?”
“You think I want to kill you?”
She touches her tongue to her top lip, thinking. “I know you’re dangerous. But I don’t think you’re going to kill me. Not tonight.”
“Are you so sure?” I taunt, just to test her. “You came here tonight to tempt me. You like toying with danger. Do you know how easy it would be for me to reach out and take hold of you?” I lift a hand, letting it hover an inch away from her throat. It’s so large it could collar her. “Cut off your airway. Snap your neck.”
She stares up at me, her eyes clear. “I don’t think you will.”
“How do you know?”
“I just know.”
A thrill runs through me. Victory is in sight. “You trust me, little bird?”
“I shouldn’t. But I do.”
I touch her then, cupping the back of her neck and pulling her close. She lets me, sighing, and her eyelids droop. Her skin is silky perfection. I want to bite it, bruise it, and make the marks last.
Soon. It’s over. I’ve confessed my darkest sins. And she’s still here. “I will kill anyone who hurts you. I might kill St. James just for meeting with you.”
“He’s your business partner.”
“I don’t care. Nothing comes between me and you.” I knead the vulnerable nape of her neck. “You don’t fear me, do you?”
“No.”
“No. You fear yourself. Your attraction to me.”
Her breath catches. “I shouldn’t be here.”
“You’re right where you need to be. With me.”
“I shouldn’t be with you.” She rests her hands on my bare chest but doesn’t push me away. “This is wrong.”
“Tell me.” I’ll be her confessor if she needs one.
“I let you in.” Her face twists, showing her internal struggle. “I let you touch me. Of all the people in the world, why would I choose someone like you?”
“It had to be me.”
“I could’ve chosen anyone.”
“No.” I grip the back of her neck, holding her so she can’t escape. “It had to be me. I wouldn’t allow it to be anyone else.” If she’s so torn up over this, let me be the villain. “You’re it for me. I knew that the first time I laid eyes on you, and I know it now. There’s no one for you but me.” I dip my head so our foreheads touch. “You don’t have a choice. You never did.”
The tiniest bit of tension melts out of her shoulders.
“We belong together. I just have to prove it to you, little bird, and I will. Let me prove it to you.”
She shuts her eyes. Whispers, “Okay.”
“See? That wasn’t so hard.” I lower my head and let my lips brush hers. Under the water, my dick jumps. She tilts her head, ready to accept my kiss.
She’s clay in my hands, molded, ready for the fire.
“You’re my good girl, aren’t you?” I murmur against her mouth. “You want to please me.”
“Yes.”
My body aches like I’ve been beaten. I need to claim her. Plunder her depths and consume her. “Admitting it is the first step. Proving it won’t be so easy.” And I push her head under the water.
* * *
Inara
The water closes over my head. Rex’s hand is hard, locking around my throat. It’s huge and heavy, an anchor guiding me and holding me down.
He dunked me so quickly that I didn’t have time to draw breath. I strike his hard stomach and thighs, fighting as best I can. He stares down at me, still as a statue, his face distorted by ripples.
I realize two things: He’s not going to let me go. But he won’t let me drown.
I let the rest of my air flow out of my mouth in a stream of bubbles and force myself to relax.
He won’t hurt me. He won’t hurt me. He won’t ? —
He pulls me up. I suck in air as soon as my head breaches the water. He steadies me, studying my face like I’m a netted fish. I gasp and sputter and lean against him. He’s solid as a boulder and a lighthouse built on the rocks. Danger and protection all in one.
I quiet and let my forehead lean against the stone slab of his chest. He tucks a strand of wet hair behind my ear, his fingers gentle.
“Were you afraid that I would kill you?”
“No. Never.”
“You’re right, little bird. I’m not going to kill you. I’m going to keep you.”
I shake my head, not in denial but from overwhelm. His hand slides lower, spanning my breastbone, and I shudder. I need his hand to continue its descent.
“You belong to me. This heart beats for me. Every breath you take from this moment on will be because I allow it.”
He’s loving this. He’s got a god delusion. He enjoys playing with deadly power, deciding who lives and who dies. “You don’t?—”
He pushes me under again. This time, I take a bigger breath and keep it. I seal my mouth shut as the pool swallows me whole.
I let myself go limp in his grip. My lungs are full and buoyant, so I can enjoy floating in the liminal space between light and shadow, with my hair a dark cloud swirling above my head. The spike of fear is followed by acceptance.
I reach out and place my hands on the front of his thighs. I’m not clawing for air but seeking connection. His muscles are so large I can’t grip them. I rest my palms and let the contact calm me. I could stay here forever, suspended with his firm hand collaring my neck.
He lets me up before my air runs out. I let myself sway, passive in his arms.
“Good girl. I love how you submit to me.” He hoists me up, steadying me against him with his hands under my buttocks. I tighten my legs around his waist. “You okay?”
I nod, and he presses his forehead against mine, peering into my eyes.
“Oh yeah, you are. You’re already at peace.” He rocks me a little. “You did a bad thing, coming here to meet St. James. But you can make it up to me. Okay?”
“Okay.” It’s so easy, giving into him. And wonderful. Why would I fight?
“Good.” He sets me down and offers his hand to me. “Dig your nails into my palm.” I do it, confused. My nails leave red marks on his skin. “That’s it. That’s your safe word for this, understand?” He sets my hands on top of my head, keeping my fingers tucked in his palm. “On your knees and open your mouth for me.”
* * *
Rex
I don’t push her down this time. I don’t have to. She folds her legs and slides under the water herself. I exert the slightest pressure on her head to keep her under. Her fingers remain lax in my palm.
With one hand on her head and the other on my cock, I guide her face to my groin.
We’ve never done this before. I was looking forward to training her to suck me the way I like, but the mere brush of her lips was enough to make sensations shoot up my spine. Her lips latch onto the head, tightening with delicious suction. I rock my hips forward, seeking more of her mouth. Her tongue swirls along the underside of my dick, and my knees almost buckle.
All too soon, I have to pull her up to take a breath. She gasps, mouth open. Her mascara streams in black trails down her cheeks. I take my hand off her head to swipe my thumb through the proof of her submission. She keeps her hands where I put them.
“You like that?” I ask, and she nods. “You’re doing so well. No hands, now, remember.”
She sinks down and seeks out my dick herself. I give myself over to pleasure, letting her explore me with her tongue.
Every so often, I tug her up to check on her. She resists at first as if she doesn’t want to take a break for air.
I let her choose how deep to take me until my balls tighten, and I know I’m close.
I pull her up one last time, noting her blown pupils. The puffiness of her lips. The water droplets clinging to the tips of her black lashes and the way they sparkle like diamonds.
“Last time. Relax your throat.” I wait for her assent and shove her down. I take control, maneuvering her head onto my cock, and forcing her up and down. She grips my hand, and I pause to make sure she’s not invoking her safe word. But she thrusts her head forward on her own and swallows me down like a pro.
My orgasm sparks. My muscles tighten until I feel like I’m going to shatter. At the last second, I grit my teeth and pull her off me.
“Did I do it?” She’s shaking, gasping. “Did I do good?”
“You did so good.” I claim her lips, and she kisses me back so sweetly, panting into my mouth. My dick throbs, the pain so perfect it feels good. “You please me.”
I scoop her up and carry her out of the pool, laying her out on a lounge chair. There’s a white robe hanging off the end, and I rip off the sash and use it to tie her arms above her head.
The sight of her tied up like a sacrifice almost brings me to my knees. It’s beautiful how she allows me to wreck her. She takes what I give her and still desires more. Her chest surges. She stares at my cock, her lips parted.
I fist myself, giving myself a few strokes until tingles spread through me.
“I’m going to mark you,” I tell her as I stroke myself closer toward my climax. “And I want you to wear my possession on your skin.”
I left my clothes piled nearby. I snatch up my belt. I keep the buckle in my palm and loop the rest a few times until it’s the right length.
Her stomach tenses as I get closer.
I stop and let her breathing steady. “Tell me to stop and I will.”
She bites her lip.
I let the first strike fall, slashing the top of her thighs. Next, a blow to her breasts that makes her back arc and tears stream from her eyes.
I pause between each strike, giving her the chance to call out. She never does. The belt bites her belly and her inner thighs. She writhes enough for the sash around her wrists to loosen and fall away, but she keeps her arms up.
When I toss the belt aside, she’s marked from knee to nipple. I’m floating high above her in dom space where I see and control everything. I am a god, and she is my single perfect creation.
“You don’t get to come,” I tell her. “Not tonight. Not until I’m sure you won’t betray me.”
Her brows twitch. She looks unhappy, but I know it’s because she hates disappointing me.
“Don’t worry. You’ll take your punishment tonight, and I’ll make it so you never displease me again.”
I prop a foot on the chair, jacking my cock as I loom over her. She gazes up at me, full of trust, and I let my toes graze her pussy. My big toe brushes her tender folds, and she shivers. She tilts her hips, seeking more stimulation. I cover her pussy with the ball of my foot and press down lightly. In no time, she’s rocking against my foot, straining to find her own pleasure.
“Do not come.” I wait until she stills before I let myself go. Cum spurts onto her reddened chest and belly. I coat her poor, neglected pussy, and save one final flick for her face.
I scoop it off her chest and hold it to her lips. “Open.” She does, and I feed her my essence. Then I use the rope of her wet hair to guide her to my softening member so she can lick it clean, telling her, “This is how you atone.”