Chapter 20
Maya
Every single cell in my body feels his presence. It’s as if he completely altered my body chemistry the moment he touched me, tuning my instincts to know him. To know exactly when he is stalking me.
And right now, every instinct I have is screaming at me to run.
I abandoned my sister. I visited her today for no other reason than to spite her.
I wanted to show her that she’s wrong—that I am not worthless as she always claimed I was.
I’m everything to Graham. Toxic, dark, and criminal as it is, he did everything in his power to trap me, and everything in his power to throw her away like trash.
I just wanted her to look at me for once and see that the insults she used to beat me down with weren’t true. Maybe then, if she saw the diamonds around my neck, I’d finally stop believing them myself.
Instead, I just kicked a bleeding woman while she was down. My foot floors the gas pedal, the engine of the Porsche roaring to life. In the rearview mirror, I watch his black Mercedes immediately match my speed.
Yes. Chase me. Chase me.
I need something to blow off steam.
I wrench the steering wheel to the right, veering off the main road and plunging into a heavily wooded area where there isn't a single sign of traffic. I go faster and faster, watching him floor his own accelerator to keep pace.
Then, he pushes the Mercedes past its limit. He accelerates, overtaking me in a split second. His car cuts right in front of mine, forcing me to a sudden, screeching halt as he prepares to claim his prize. But I’m not ready to give up just yet.
I yank the wheel to the right again—off the pavement entirely, where there are no paths.
The Porsche bounces over thick tree branches and rocks.
When the vehicle finally starts to struggle, the wheels spinning uselessly through the thick mud of the woods, I kill the engine, parking it in the middle of absolute nowhere.
The exact moment I fling the car door open and flee into the brush, the sound of his car door slamming echoes right behind mine.
I don’t look back. My legs are moving so fast they practically reach the back of my head, my chest heaving as I take frantic breaths to convince my starving lungs not to give up on me.
"Maya!"
His deep voice booms through the trees. It makes a flock of birds scatter into the sky. There is nothing left in these woods but me, him, and an endless span of grass and towering trees.
I run harder, taking random turns. If I were forced to trace my steps back to civilization right now, I wouldn't even know where the hell I came from.
"Maya! Come. Back. Now."
The shout is significantly closer than before. I run even faster.
But I fail to outrun the monster.
His hand reaches out and violently grabs the back of my head.
The sudden stop in momentum makes me shriek in surprise, my footing giving out entirely.
As we fall, Graham angles his body so he takes the brunt of the impact.
I land directly on top of him, my back pressed flush against his chest. We are both panting as our lungs struggle for oxygen.
And right beneath my ass cheeks, I can feel his cock, completely rock-hard.
Even in his fury, his body is turned on by me.
His hand remains tangled in the roots of my hair. He tightens his hold, pulling my head back until my throat is exposed, and lets out a feral growl right against my ear.
"Never. Do that. Again."
I know I probably just completely ruined his brand-new Porsche. No wonder he is vibrating with rage.
"I'm... I'm sorry about the car," I mumble, coughing sharply as talking hinders my ability to take the deep breaths my lungs are begging for.
The grip on my hair becomes a million times tighter, and a keen of pain slips from my lips.
"You think this is about the fucking car, Maya?"
"Then what is it about?!" I gasp out.
"Your safety," he rasps. "You cannot be negligent about your life.
You cannot risk stealing all the light from my existence.
I don't give a single shit about the Porsche.
I will buy you thirty others tomorrow just so you can smash them to pieces to let off your steam.
But never again do you drive so recklessly. "
Tears escape my eyes, spilling over my temple.
All my life, no one ever cared if I lived or died. No one. And now, when I finally get to experience what it feels like to matter to someone, it comes with a mountain of toxic baggage. He is my sister's ex-husband. A man so utterly, ruthlessly obsessed that he isn't even normal.
Maybe I need this exact amount of insane attention to heal.
Because Graham is simultaneously healing me and breaking me.
Shaping my soul into something I barely recognize.
I painfully twist my body around against his, fighting his restraint until we are face-to-face in the dirt. I cup his jaw and kiss him.
"You know..." I whisper against his mouth. "I never had anyone who cared if I lived or died."
"I don’t only care if you live or die, Maya," he says. "My entire life, my every breath, depends on the fact that you are breathing. If you stop, I burn."
He crashes his mouth back onto mine, and the kiss instantly turns feral.
Our tongues rub against each other in a vulgar way, thick with saliva and unhinged desperation.
But that’s what we have always been. Wrong.
Vulgar. A complete sin. Yet, nothing in heaven or hell appears capable of stopping us from destroying each other.
We begin to undress each other frantically. He pushes my dress up to my chest, his mouth sliding down my throat, down my breasts, until he reaches my stomach.
I tense up automatically. I’m soft there, and Valeria always reminded me of that. I instinctively try to pull away. But Graham buries his face into my stomach, kissing the skin with so much affection that even more tears fall from my eyes. He litters my stomach with hickeys that brand me as his.
As his head moves lower, I grab him by the hair, trying to pull his face up. "Graham, stop... I'm already wet. There’s no need for this."
His eyes turn absolute obsidian as he looks up at me through his dark strands. "When I want to lick your pussy, Maya, you do not tell me no. I devour what is mine whenever the fuck I want."
"I've been running," I shake my head. "I'm sweaty, Graham, please—"
As if he is daring me to fight him, he ignores my words and drops his head straight down between my legs.
He takes a deep breath, audibly sniffing at my swollen pussy and lets out a loud moan.
I decide to let go of my inhibitions. If the monster likes it, he likes it.
I am just going to enjoy the ride. His rough tongue licks me all over, devouring my cream.
His tongue slides lower, licking me between the cheeks.
My hips jump. "You didn't ask!"
Graham grips my hips, anchoring me to the earth as his mouth sucks at the sensitive pucker. Fuck. What even is this?
"Just because your soul is wearing this body doesn't mean it's yours anymore, little flower. This is my body. I own every single inch of this flesh."
His sucks drive me over the edge until I am screaming into the empty woods.
Before my orgasm can even fade, Graham flips me over onto my hands and knees in the mud.
He positions himself behind me, and when he slides into my hole, I let out a breathless cry.
He begins to fuck me like a caveman, driving me forward into the dirt.
His balls slap against my swollen clit, sending a dual jolt of pleasure straight to my brain.
My hands claw desperately at the mud, my fingernails filling with dirt.
"Look at how this tight little hole takes me," Graham growls in my ear, his hand flying forward to grip my throat from behind, pinning me down. "You were made for this, Maya. Look at how you're begging for my dick in the dirt. You're a dirty little slut for your monster, aren't you? Tell me."
"Yes... fuck, Graham, yes," I sob out.
"You're never getting away from me," he pants. "I'll kill anyone who looks at you. I'll bury this city before I let you walk away. You're trapped with me, little flower. Fucking say it."
"I'm yours," I shriek as a second orgasm pulls me under. "I'm yours, Graham!"
Graham lets out an animalistic roar, his grip on my throat tightening just enough to make my vision spot. He shoots his thick cum deep into my womb.
I collapse forward into the mud, and his body covers mine as we cuddle in the mud. I am completely ruined, and God help me, I never want to be saved.