Chapter 28
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Diana
My blood runs cold.
“You going to say something?” Dragon says.
I don’t know what to say. I can’t imagine that Dragon—especially as a young boy of thirteen—is capable of taking a life.
What did that kid do to him?
For already I know this was revenge.
Do I ask? Or do I let it lie?
I gulp. “What happened next?”
“I got caught, of course. I couldn’t run. I had nowhere to go. I knew it was a one-way street when I chose to take that walk. I knew what the consequences would be, and I accepted them.”
“And Tully…”
“Dead. Fucking dead at my hand.”
Dragon’s tone lacks remorse. To the contrary, it’s full of rage, as if he’s reliving the thing inside his mind.
But I know this man. He wouldn’t have attacked—tried to kill—someone without a good reason. He’s not a sociopath.
“What did you tell the staff?” I ask.
“I told them Tully attacked me with the knife. That he’d had it out for me since day one, and somehow I got the knife away from him.”
“And you just happened to have a pillow with you?”
“I told them I’d been reading in the lounge with a pillow from my room.”
I gulp. “Dragon…”
“I’m not sorry, Diana. I killed him, and I’m not sorry.”
“So you told them it was self-defense.”
“Yup. And I didn’t expect them to believe me, but they did.”
“Did they call the police?”
“Yeah. They had to. But I was a good kid who studied hard and got good grades. They believed my story. Tully was a troublemaker who didn’t have any family.”
“Did they notify your parents?”
“Diana, don’t you get it? I didn’t have parents. They gave me up. Relinquished their rights as parents. I was a ward of the state.”
I nod. Of course, that’s true. I don’t know why I didn’t think of that.
Except I do know why. Because to me, my parents will always be my parents. I can’t think of any reason why they wouldn’t be. Even when they’re no longer with me, they’ll still be my parents.
“So you were never charged.”
“No. Because no one cared about Tully.” He crosses his arms, casts his gaze to the floor. “I sure as hell didn’t.”
I place my quivering hand on his shoulder. “Dragon…”
“So you see, Diana?” He jumps to his feet. “I am evil. I am sin. My parents knew before I ever did. That’s why they got rid of me.”
“Dragon, you know that’s not true. I’m sure you must’ve had a good reason for what you did to Tully.”
He turns around, leers over me. “Are you making excuses for me? Would you make excuses for your own sister—your own brothers—if they did something so heinous?”
I bite my lip. “If any of my siblings took someone’s life, I would know they had a good reason for it. Because I know my siblings, and I know they’re good people.”
“Well, I’m not your siblings.” He turns his back to me and takes a step toward the door to his room.
He’s right, of course. He’s not. He didn’t grow up like Brianna and I did. Wanting for nothing.
But Dale and Donny? They had a rough start in life, and it could’ve easily led to where Dragon ended up. But they weren’t left in some group home. They were adopted by my parents and raised with love and affection and discipline.
And they grew into good upstanding men.
Dragon wasn’t raised with that kind of love.
I know.
I just know that this Tully must’ve done something to deserve what Dragon did to him.
“You have to tell me, Dragon.”
He stops leaving the room but shakes his head without facing me. “I just told you. I took a life. I’m evil. I’m sin. Those things don’t change.”
“No, Dragon.” I get up out of the bed—shit, my ankle still hurts—and walk around to face him. “You need to tell me what Tully did to you .”
He turns his head away from me, dropping his gaze to the floor.
Just as I thought. Tully did something to Dragon. Something bad enough that Dragon wanted to harm him. And he waited until Tully was almost kicked out of the home so that Tully couldn’t retaliate.
That makes Dragon smart.
“Maybe he didn’t do anything,” Dragon says. “Maybe I didn’t like the way he looked at me.”
“I don’t buy it. You wouldn’t knife a seventeen-year-old in the stomach for looking at you the wrong way.”
He returns his gaze to mine, his eyes fiery. “Wouldn’t I?”
With all my heart and soul, I want to yell at him. I’d continue standing to face him, but my ankle is still smarting.
I slink back over to the bed and sit on the edge, sighing. “No, Dragon. You wouldn’t. No matter what you say, you’ll never convince me that that’s what happened. Now you tell me. You tell me what that piece of shit did to you.”
Then he looks at me. His hazel eyes are still full of fire.
But not the kind of fire from when he looks at me in anger or passion.
The kind of fire he must’ve been looking at Tully with that day.
“I’ve never said those words aloud, Diana. I’m sure as hell not going to say them to you.”
And again, his gaze…
That different kind of fire.
Something I’ve never seen before.
Even that first time, when he told me he was sin. That he was pure evil and all he would do was take me to hell…
Even then, his eyes weren’t this ferocious.
I should be frightened.
But instead? I’m squirming. My whole body has become an inferno, and all I want… All I need… Is this man.
Dragon inside me, taking me to the stars as he’s done before.
So that’s what I tell him.
“I need you. I want you. Now.”
He wrinkles his forehead. “You think that’s really what you want, Diana? You, with your sore ankle? With that scratch on your hand?”
“More than I want to live to see another day,” I grit out.
“I told you what I wanted to do to you. I told you I had visions of tying you up, having you lie down for my pleasure. Laying you out like a fucking feast.”
“I’m not stopping you.”
He draws in a breath. “Damn you. Fuck you. Fuck all of this.”
He turns.
“Hey!” I scramble back to my feet, keeping the bulk of my weight on my uninjured foot. “Don’t you dare walk away from me, Dragon. Not after this. You don’t have to tell me you love me. But you will not walk away.”
“I’m walking away for you, damn it.” He turns, his eyes on fire again. “I can’t touch you when I’m feeling this way. I can’t…”
“But you want to. I see it in your eyes. You want to take me. You want to find your peace inside my body.” I raise my arms. “I’m telling you to do it. Because I want it as much as you do.”
He looks at me for a moment. Then another. His eyes never leave mine. I’m not sure he even blinks.
Then he peels off his clothes until he’s standing before me, his huge cock jutting out, hard and ready.
“Get undressed,” he says.
There’s a touch of malice in his tone.
This is Dragon. He won’t hurt me. Not unless I tell him to. And he’ll be careful around my ankle. Already I know this. He thinks I’m frightened?
I’m so not frightened.
I’m aroused.
More aroused than I’ve been the last several times we were together.
Because now I see him for who he truly is. I know all his secrets. Perhaps not the details of what happened to him, but I know enough about what happened to my brothers and my father to wager a good guess.
I ache for the little boy he was.
But for the man that he is?
I have only desire.
“Go on, Teddy,” I say, nudging him off the bed.
He settles himself on the floor.
Then I take care of my clothes.
I take the boot off my ankle.
“You’re going too slow,” Dragon says.
“Fuck off,” I say.
He widens his eyes slightly. “What did you say to me?”
“I told you to fuck off, Dragon. If I’m not undressing fast enough for you, come do it for me.”
For a moment, I expect him to rip my clothes off me. He doesn’t. He just glares at me. So I take my time. Why not let him suffer a little?
Because right now? All I know is I love him. I want him. Right now my body is so ready to accept him, and I know it will ease his ache as well.
Once my clothes are all off, I lie naked, ready for him. My nipples are hard and puckered, my pussy wet and ready.
And even with my sore ankle, the heat and boiling honey running through my veins makes the pain negligible at best.
“Spread those fucking legs,” he commands.
I give him a semi-smile. “Spread them for me.”
He growls. Seriously growls. I hear it. And I feel it vibrating through my body even though we’re not touching yet.
He crawls onto the bed, hovers on top of me, and then kneels and spreads my legs harshly.
I let out a gasp.
“Did I hurt you?”
“No.” I hitch my breath slightly. “You just surprised me.”
“Oh?” He narrows his eyes. “You really think I can’t hurt you, don’t you, Diana?”
“No, Dragon. I don’t think that. I know you can hurt me.” I look deep into his eyes. “I just don’t think you will .”
I remember the second time we made love in my penthouse—when he tied me to the rungs of my headboard with my own scarves. It was so hot.
This is a luxury hotel, and there are no rungs on the headboard. In fact, the headboard is cushioned. Plus I didn’t bring any scarves with me. The only thing we have to tie somebody up with is Teddy’s leash.
Dragon gets off the bed quickly, and for a moment I fear it’s over, but he’s back in a flash, sheathing himself with a condom.
“I’m going to fuck you.” His gaze is dark—darker than I’ve ever seen it before. It’s almost demonic. “No foreplay. I’m not going to kiss those gorgeous lips of yours. I’m not going to suck on those sweet nipples. I’m not going to eat that delicious pussy, even though I love the taste of you on my tongue. No touching. No kissing. No nothing, Diana. Just me inside you. My cock in that cunt. Taking you.”
Does he expect me to say something?
I don’t.
I’m ready for whatever he can dish out.
In a flash then, he’s on top of me, thrusting inside me.
I gasp. As wet as I am, the initial thrust stretches me not in pain but with a jolt I wasn’t expecting.
“You like that?” he growls. “Like when I just stuff myself in you? You like being used, Diana? You like being the outlet for my anger? For my rage? For my fucking sin?”
Does he expect an answer?
Because the truth of the matter is that I do like being used by him. I like what he’s doing to me right now.
But he’s not looking for an answer. This is Dragon, and in a way, what he’s doing is necessary, I believe.
He’s expelling the evil from his body. Perceived evil, but it’s real to him.
I’m happy to be his receptacle.
A moment later, he pulls out and flips me over like a pancake onto my knees.
My ankle twinges a bit, but I don’t cry out.
Then he shoves his cock into me as he smacks the cheek of my ass.
“Take it, Diana. Take it. Take it. Take it.”
God, the feeling of him inside me. Completing me. I moan, I groan, my voice muffling into the pillow.
“Is this what you want?” Slap. Slap. Slap . “You want to see me sin? You want to see how I can take you into hell?” Slap. Slap. Slap .
The smacks get progressively harder, and though they sting, they add to the pleasure of his thrusts.
And I continue to moan. Groan. Clutch at the sheets.
One more thrust. Then another. And?—
He flips me over again onto my back.
As he thrusts inside me, he looks into my eyes. “Now you see what I’m capable of. How I can hurt you. I am sin. Evil. Hellfire.”
“You’re not,” I grit out. “You’re not. But if it helps you to do this to me? Say these things to me? Bring it on, Dragon. Do it. Do it all.”
With that, he thrusts into me so hard that a gasp escapes my lips.
But then I feel him. The contractions of his cock inside me. And with that, I soar off the cliff and into an orgasm.