Aurora
Every girl dreams of Prince Charming as a child.
As I grew older, I stopped believing in that fairy tale, but then, in Alistair’s basement, its echoes came to life in my heart.
After I was rescued, Prince Harming-Charming disappeared.
And though Zack tried to wear his mask, he wasn’t him.
I thought the gray life would swallow me whole, but my prince returned and unleashed all my wildest fantasies.
For two days, we barely left each other’s arms. No matter how much I begged him to stick to the cowgirl position, Desire fucked me in every position imaginable, all over the house.
It’s a miracle his stitches only opened up once more and he didn’t pass out from the pain.
Apparently, pain only gives this madman strength. The same way it sharpens my desire.
He refused to stay in bed for the five days the doctor ordered. By the third day, we drove to my apartment, where I changed into a sheath dress. Then we went to the courthouse to file the paperwork. I flat out refused to go there in jeans. The official wedding ceremony is in only three days.
My heart is still pounding wildly. I swallow, smoothing my hand over my flowing cream-colored dress, and glance at Desire.
In tailored trousers and a Hugo Boss shirt unbuttoned at the collar, he looks incredible, and he’s smiling slightly.
I can’t believe I’ve just signed the papers and I’ll be Mrs. Sterling this week.
As we exit the building, I break into a wide smile when I spot Steve and Kelsey waiting for us.
“Came to congratulate you on such a decisive step!” My friend squeals, throwing her arms around my neck.
I hug her back, catching the silent exchange of glances between Steve and Desire out of the corner of my eye.
“Don’t even think about it,” Desire says in a flat tone, cutting off his man.
Steve, who had raised his arms for a hug, shrinks away and rubs the back of his neck.
“I didn’t, boss …”
“Wow, that’s a huge rock!” Kelsey grabs my left hand, staring mesmerized at the black diamond.
“To the cars.” Desire nods toward the parking lot.
We arrive at Savannah. Inside, predictably, it’s empty.
The elite nightclub is once again at the exclusive disposal of the four of us.
Looking at the empty couches in the lounge area, I can’t help but wonder how often Desire closes the place down like this, and if this club even makes him any profit?
Either way, the music they’ve put on is killer. After a couple of cocktails, Kelsey and I are letting loose on the empty dance floor while Desire and Steve stand at the bar. They’re talking quietly, their gazes fixed on us.
“You’re happy, aren’t you?” Kelsey asks, putting an arm around my shoulders and looking at my gold choker. I even wore it to the courthouse.
“I am,” I say over the pounding bass. “Are you?”
“You bet. Steve and I have absolutely amazing sex,” Kelsey says, adjusting her paisley choker.
“Doesn’t it bother you that Steve and Desire are …” The word “killers” is on the tip of my tongue, but I swallow it in time. “Gangsters?”
“Was Zack a gangster?”
“Nope …”
“But he was an absolute jerk who never even touched you, while Desire is obsessed with you. Does he want you often?”
“Every single day, more than once,” I admit, unable to hide my smile. Even a hole in his side didn’t stop him.
“Well, there you go. Sounds like you’ve just answered your own question.” Kelsey winks, and we both laugh.
After we’ve danced our fill, we head over to our men and grab our drinks.
“We should go,” Steve says after a while, glancing at his watch.
“Already?” I pout.
“You’ll see Kelsey in just two days,” Desire says. “At the Princess Initiation.”
“Yeah. Just don’t mix up the collar colors.” Steve smirks. “The girls in gray are going to have to please a whole lot of guys.”
My cheeks flush. Steve probably just said it without thinking, not knowing that I’ve already worn a gray collar—right here at Savannah. The memory of that stunt makes me break out in a hot sweat.
Kelsey hugs me goodbye and leaves with Steve. The door closes behind them, and I realize the bartender serving us has also disappeared. We’re alone. Desire steps behind the bar.
“Have you been a good girl, my princess?” His voice vibrates with low, predatory tones.
I swallow the lump in my throat. My legs tense, ready to run. It’s happening now. My nightmare-fantasy is about to come true.
“Not likely,” I exhale, deliberately poking the tiger.
He leans down under the counter. Long chains clatter on the wooden surface, and when he straightens, the white-and-gold mask of Prince Harming is already gleaming on his face.
“Then run.”
The modulator distorts his voice beyond recognition, and I bolt.
There’s a good distance between us, I’m wearing ballet flats, and he has a freshly stitched wound in his side, but he catches up to me with terrifying speed.
I dash toward the doors across the dance floor.
A dark, vibrating laugh comes from behind the mask.
He wraps my hair around his fist, forcing me to double over. A sharp slap on my ass makes me cry out.
“Bad girls deserve to be punished.” Another stinging blow has my lower abdomen clenching. I’m already soaking wet.
Holding me by the hair, he leads me back across the room and makes me climb onto a high barstool, then onto the bar itself.
“Lie on your back.”
“What about buying a lady a drink first?” I freeze on all fours, testing his limits. In that instant, steel flashes in his hand, and the cold blade of a knife presses against my cheek.
“Do I need to repeat myself?” The modulator hums, deceptively soft.
My body tenses like a bowstring, my nipples painfully swelling. I’m scared, and that fear mingles with wild anticipation. Under the pressure of the knife, I lie on my back along the cool countertop. Desire puts the blade away and gathers the chains.
Gasping for breath, I pray his stitches don’t come undone. Because if he makes me lick his warm blood again, I’ll come without even waiting for his cock.
He stays standing and drags me by the hips to the very edge of the bar. Securing my arms above my head, he fastens leather cuffs around my wrists, snapping the carabiners onto the massive metal base of the beer tower. Now I’m stretched taut like a string, defenseless.
Desire looms over me. The plastic of the mask glides through my hair, and I clench my thighs together.
“Your legs,” he whispers, his breath burning my ear. “I’ll spread them myself.”
I’m ready to come from that mechanical modulator voice alone, but I grit my teeth and hold back. He moves in close. This white-and-gold mask and the perfectly fitted Hugo Boss shirt create a combination that drives me crazy.
“Don’t move.”
My chest turns to stone as I inhale. He slides the blade of the knife between my breasts, mercilessly ripping open the dress to the hem, and reveals me in front of him like a pearl shell.
Scraps of expensive fabric fly by the sides.
My tits, with their taut, protruding nipples, tremble under his gaze.
How are we going to live in a marriage? I’ll always have to go naked!
He throws my knees apart and tosses my legs over his hips. After a sharp click of the belt buckle, his hard cock enters my desperately wet pussy. Desire looms over me, setting a frenzied rhythm.
“Fuck the mask,” he growls.
He rips the plastic off his face and throws it somewhere into the darkness of the hall.
His real face is distorted by wild thirst. He bends down low, grabs my nipple with his lips, and sucks greedily while fucking me furiously.
I whine, writhing on the hard tabletop, pulling the chains over my head until they ring.
“Are you going to be a good girl now?” he croaks between thrusts.
“Yeah …” I groan.
“For whom?”
“Only … for you …”
“For me.”
He straightens, resting my hands on the wood of the countertop on either side of my hips. His eyes are glued to the way his cock slides inside me covered with my essence. I bite my lip until it hurts and squeeze my eyes shut from the incoming orgasm.
“You ordered a cocktail, Princess,” he says, his lips curling into a wicked grin.
I burst into a dazzling orgasm, arching on the counter, and Desire pours deep into me with a hoarse growl.