Chapter 24 A Cold and Heartless Bastard
A cold and heartless bastard
KADE
She’s walking behind me, and her eyes are locked on my ass.
Admittedly, it’s very attractive and I’m sure Zara’s half-remembering the things it’s done to her and half-imagining the things it’s yet to make her feel, but this is getting a little much.
Even for me. My cock’s throbbing and it’s making it fucking hard to concentrate on anything other than her and that particularly tight little cunt of hers.
“Zara,” I hiss.
“Kade,” she breathes, trying to sound innocent.
“Now might be the time for you to focus on something other than the thought of me fucking you senseless.”
She pouts.
Fuck. Me. She’s. Pouting.
“Zara,” I growl.
“Yes, Kade.”
There’s nothing innocent about her tone now.
She’s asking for a damn good screwing and it’ll be a lesson she won’t forget in a hurry unless she’s careful. My breathing turns ragged at the thought of fucking her into submission. It’s a tool available to me that I’m not afraid to use, especially if it gets Zara to give me what I want.
It’s a pleasant form of manipulation, and giving her pleasure on a regular basis will keep her coming back for more. She’s as eager for my cock as I am for her cunt, and at this point, I’m not sure there’s much point in denying us both the pleasure of indulging.
“Are we there yet?” she asks and her brat like behavior begins to grate. She’s pushing my buttons deliberately and I’ll shove my dick down her throat and make her gag on it if she doesn’t stop soon.
The wards shimmer faintly in the distance, a ripple of energy just beyond the ordinary.
Our mansion looms behind them, all jagged edges and shadowed spires, every inch the unwelcoming fortress I designed it to be.
We insist on one in every town that’s big enough to support a warlock community, and they’re all protected by spells and wards that lesser warlocks cannot break through.
Even powerful warlocks would struggle and we’d know if they tried to disturb the defenses around our manors.
The fortresses are as much a symbol of our power and influence as they are a useful way of keeping control, and it makes the arrival party that greeted us all the more surprising.
I could forgive the trap in the woods, allowing the inhabitants to explain it away as a standard protection that Zara’s presence inadvertently triggered.
Someone sent the warlocks who attacked us, and I’m open-minded enough to allow for the possibility that they had nothing to do with Varric’s Hollow.
But the guards who attacked us were protecting the outpost and they were wearing the town’s insignia.
There is not an excuse or reason I can think of that would excuse this act from this provincial, dirty settlement, and I’ll make damn sure that Darius, Galen, and I return the favor in kind. With interest on top.
“We’re close.”
I hear Zara whine as she inhales. My cock strains against my trousers and I’m on the verge of losing all reason.
“Brats don’t get good dickings,” I whisper before peering out of the side street, checking that we’ll be fine before we move through the streets that stand between us and safety. I’m honestly unsure if there is any danger, but I refuse to take the risk and Zara’s using it to her advantage.
“I don’t want a good…” She swallows and then huffs.
“Kitten, your cunt’s begging for my cock.
It’s so wet I can smell it from here. I can feel it throbbing for me through the blood weave.
There’s no point in lying to me.” I hum and I feel the heat of her eyes boring into my honed ass again.
“No point in denying yourself, either. Focus for a few minutes and I’ll think about filling you until your pussy begs me to stop. ”
My eyes narrow as I scour the streets ahead.
Zara’s still huffing and I ignore the shit out of her, deciding that now is as good a time as any to try to use my magic without blowing everything up like we’re in a war zone.
It’s one thing using power under pressure when you’ve got no choice, but it’s quite another when you’re going for subtlety.
That’s a whole other beast and I may as well start wrangling it now.
I reach out with my magic, letting it thread through the air like a shadowy current, testing the wards and the space between us and the mansion. It works and I’m pleased, its power humming low and steady, a reassuring pulse, and I decide that’s good enough for now.
Zara huffs once more and it’s the final fucking straw.
I grab her around the waist, haul her over my shoulder and march toward the wards without a second thought.
She lands a weak smack against my back, and I add it to her tally for later, stepping into the wards as they ripple and part for me.
The air thickens for a moment, the magic assessing, then recognizing me, and I pass through easily, Zara still fuming.
“Put me down!” she snaps, her voice a harsh whisper that barely masks her embarrassment.
“Not a chance,” I say, tightening my grip. “The wards aren’t forgiving, and I don’t trust you not to try something stupid.”
She glares up at me, her cheeks flushed, but I don’t give her the chance to argue.
The wards hum as we pass through them, their energy crackling against my skin like static electricity.
I reach out with my magic, pushing just enough shadow into the weave to ease our passage.
I don’t stop until we’re past it, the wards sealing shut behind us with a sharp snap.
I set Zara down on the stone steps of the mansion, ignoring the way she swats at me. I wave my hand, increasingly confident, and open the door, strolling inside and waiting for her to follow before I flick my wrist again and shut the heavy iron doors behind me.
“Did you make your choice?” I ask.
Her eyes narrow, and she steps back. “I won’t be either. I’m not your slave and I’m not marrying you.”
“You’re out of time, kitten. Choose, or I’ll choose for you.”
“Fuck. You.”
The blood weave sparks and I smirk. I didn’t need the excuse and Zara’s words are more than enough of a challenge for me to meet, but the little witch has just walked herself into a world of pain. Maybe pleasure, if she takes everything else like the good girl I want her to be.
I’m fast. Too fast for her.
I spin and grab her long white hair, twisting it sharply as I yank her toward me. Zara screeches, and I ignore her, pulling her with me as I drag her toward the stairs. Her magic flares and mine pushes back, and I’m delighted with how quickly I’m learning to control it now it’s changed.
“You’re hurting me,” she screams.
“Good.”
I spin her despite her protests and Zara’s hands whiten as they push back against the stairs. “Why can’t you be nice?” she hisses.
My spare hand grabs her trousers and starts yanking them down.
“I don’t…” She stops herself and huffs. “Why are you so fucking mean?”
I keep working her trousers down and slide my hand between her thighs. She moans when I catch her clit and the tension in her body eases. Zara’s wet already and it gives away her arousal, even before her hips rock and her breathing changes.
“Because it’s who I am, kitten,” I rasp, my voice a threat whispered in her ear.
“Because you like it, Zara. You want a dominant who’ll take you.
You need it, you crave it, and it keeps you coming back for more like a good little whore your pussy’s begging you to be for me. You like it rough, and so do I.”
Her hips roll again and my grip eases, although I turn her head so I can see her face as she descends into pleasure.
“You like pain, kitten, and this would be easier if you’d just accept you like the degradation, and then I’d get you off on it.” I lean closer and bite her earlobe, making her moan louder. “You’re a slut for it, Zara. Let me give you what you want.”
She hisses and I don’t know if I love it or hate it.
Silence takes over, and her breathing turns ragged.
“Kitten?”
Her weight shifts. “I hate you.”
Zara bursts into tears, and I almost feel sorry for her.
I want to, and that’s almost more shocking than anything else that’s happened in the past few days.
She’s breaking apart beneath me and a pang of something that’s sickeningly like empathy clutches at my chest, and I ought to hate the girl for doing this to me.
For reducing me to someone who cares. But I do and now she’s shattering in the way I’d hoped she would.
In the way I wanted her to. And I just need to push her until she falls apart and gives me what I want
“I…”
Her sobs grow louder as my fingers play with her clit and her pussy drips onto my hand.
My cock’s throbbing and as much as I want to fuck her senseless, I know that I can break her now.
I can make her mine. And my cock can wait because having this girl give herself to me for an eternity will be so much better than a quick fuck now.
My fingers curl, and she cries as pain spreads over her scalp and pleasure through her body.
Zara’s struggling to hold herself together and I slide my thumb over her clit, slipping my fingers inside her pussy.
She’s gloriously wet and her cunt clamps down on me immediately, seeking release from the agony of waiting.
“I can’t, Kade.” Her lip trembles and my fingers move inside her. “I can’t. Not after what you did.”
I slide a third finger inside her and she moans.
“You killed my coven, Kade.”
“They deserved it, Zara.”
Her legs kick, and she tries to push up off the floor.
My weight holds her down and my magic contains hers when it lashes out.
She screams in frustration and tries again, summoning wave after wave of power, each one falling to mine as the blood weave kicks in and tells me what to do.
I acquiesce, obeying it as I hold Zara back, refusing to let her beat me.