Chapter 57
FIFTY-SEVEN
TRISTAN
I've been watching Keira for hours.
Watched her hands work slow and steady as she carved retribution into the man who tried to destroy her.
Watched her face shift through emotions I've never seen her wear so openly—satisfaction, rage, grief, and something terrifyingly close to peace.
Watched her shed the skin of the woman who survived and step into the woman who refuses to be afraid anymore.
I'm just lucky I get to be here with her. Witnessing this.
By the time night rolls around, I've lost count of the number of times I've slammed adrenaline into Calder's thigh because the bastard kept trying to die.
He doesn't get to escape.
Not until she's done with him.
I also had a bit of fun with him myself. My most memorable moment being when we decorated his entire body with hundreds of tiny pieces of glass.
Keira stands at the table now, looking at the next instrument she wants to play with. Blood has dried to rust on her fingers. Splatter marks her cheek like war paint. Her ponytail is loose now, wild strands framing a face I would commit genocide to protect.
She's utterly breathtaking, flawless, and mine in every possible way.
And watching her has turned me a little feral.
It started subtle—a little nudge I could ignore—but subtle died about three hours ago. Now there's nothing but want, this all-consuming need that's been building like pressure behind a dam, and I'm one more perfect moment away from losing control completely.
Mine.
The word keeps pulsing through my head like a heartbeat.
She's always been mine. And he's going to watch me prove it before he dies.
I rise from my chair.
She doesn't turn as I cross the room, but I see the way her body attunes to my presence like a compass finding north. By the time I'm standing behind her, close enough to feel her warmth, her breathing has already changed.
"You're doing so well." I settle my hands on her hips, pulling her back until she's flush against me. "So fucking well, baby. I'm proud of you."
Her breath catches. "I learned from the best."
"Mmm." I let her feel what watching her has done to me—the hard length of my cock pressed against her lower back. "You're a natural. It's been taking everything I have not to bend you over this table."
She picks up a long blade, shivering as she grinds her ass against me.
I drop my head to her shoulder, biting the side of her neck and trying to contain myself.
It's damn near impossible.
"We're not done with him yet." Her voice has gone breathy.
"I know." My fingers trace idle patterns across her stomach through the fabric of her shirt. Like I'm patient and not dying to be inside her. "Finish what you started. I'll wait."
She makes a long cut up Calder's leg. He makes gurgling sounds, but I don't look at him.
I only have eyes for her as my hand slides lower, toying with the button of her jeans.
She takes a deep breath but doesn't pull away or tell me to stop. Just continues working, cutting all the way up to Calder's neck while I slip my hand beneath her waistband.
She's not wearing any underwear.
Mother of god.
"Fuck, Keira, you're soaked." I press my lips to the spot beneath her ear, feeling her pulse hammer against my mouth. "All this got you worked up, Red? Watching him suffer? Or is it me behind you that's making you this wet?"
"Both," she whispers.
"Greedy girl."
I circle her clit with agonizing slowness, applying barely enough pressure to satisfy—but it's the perfect amount to make her squirm. I love teasing her almost as much as I love eating her.
"Tristan, please."
"Don't stop working." I nip her earlobe, my tongue tracing the shell. "Show me what else you want to do to him while I play with this pretty pussy."
Her hand trembles as she raises the blade, hovering right above his mouth.
Calder is spiraling. I can see it in his eyes. The panic, disbelief of exactly what kind of show he's about to witness.
Keira makes a shallow cut along his cheek. She's distracted, and I reward her with firmer pressure, my fingers sliding through her slick heat.
"Good girl. Deeper next time."
A moan slips out before she can catch it.
Calder's eyes track to us.
Watch closely, you piece of shit. This is the last thing you'll ever see.
"He's looking at us." I don't whisper this time, wanting him to hear every word. "He's watching me touch you. Watching you fall apart while he bleeds out on this table."
"Let him watch." Her head tips back against my shoulder, hips rocking into my hand. "Let him see…fuck…"
"See what?" I sink two fingers inside her, curling them just right, and her whole body jerks. "Tell me. What do you want him to see?"
"How you—" She mewls as I find the spot that makes her legs shake. "How you make me feel. How good it is. How it was never—fuck—never like this with him."
"Because he didn't deserve you." I pump my fingers, building her up with perfect cruelty. "He never knew what he had. He looked at you and saw an item there to serve him. Something to own. Something to hurt."
"Yes…"
"But I look at you and I see everything.
" I press my thumb to her clit, and she cries out, loud enough to echo.
"I see the woman who survived years of hell and came out burning.
I see the mother who threw herself into a frozen river without a second's hesitation.
I see my future. My family. My whole fucking reason for existing. "
Her blade clatters to the floor.
"I can't." She's shaking now, right at the edge, and I keep her there. "Tristan, please—"
"Please what?"
"I need you."
"You have me." I twist my fingers, and she keens. "You will always have me."
"Inside me." She turns her head, and the raw hunger in her eyes almost makes me come in my pants like a teenager. "I need you inside me. Now. Please."
I arch a brow at her. "In front of him?"
"I want him to see." She reaches back, gripping my thighs tightly.
"I want the last thing he ever sees is how you fuck me.
I want him to die knowing that everything he tried to destroy is still here.
That I was never his. That it was always you and me.
That every time he touched me, I was thinking about you. "
Jesus fucking Christ.
I spin her around so fast she gasps. Lift her onto the edge of the metal table, right next to the bowl of teeth, and slot myself between her thighs.
"Your wish," I growl, "is my fucking command."
I free myself with one hand, not bothering with finesse. Align myself with her entrance. Feel how soaked she is, and then I thrust home.
She screams.
I don't give her time to adjust. Don't give either of us time to think. I drive into her with a force that rocks the table, making the tools clatter, filling the room with the sound of skin against skin.
"Look at him." I grip her jaw, turning her face toward Calder. "Look at him while I fuck you."
The door opens.
I don't stop or slow down. Just glance over to see two familiar figures slip inside.
Aaron and Cat move like shadows, completely unsurprised by the scene they've walked into. They probably heard us from the hallway. Expected one kind of show and found something else entirely.
They don't seem to mind.
Aaron settles against the far wall and pulls Cat against his chest, arms wrapping around her waist like they're getting comfortable. Cat's head tips back against his shoulder, her eyes finding mine with the kind of dark amusement only she could manage in a room that smells like blood and sex.
My little voyeurs.
We all like the same shit. I learned that the night I met Aaron and Dom at Untamed—the same night that lit the fuse between Aaron and Cat.
Probably why we fit together so well. None of us are vanilla.
Not that there's anything wrong with that.
It's just not who we are.
I don't acknowledge them beyond that glance. They know the rules.
"We have company," I murmur against Keira's lips, my hips never breaking rhythm.