Chapter 20
Desire
Aurora’s confession instantly has me coming.
My semen floods her, and my cock keeps trying to pump out more and more.
My heart races, but I don’t even try to use one of my Chinese meditation techniques to calm my pulse.
I just don’t want to and have to stifle the reflex.
Wanting to be a beast, drunk with joy, and feeling life boil in my veins, I haul my wife into my arms.
She presses against me, and I find her lips. Aurora’s long, dark lashes flutter; she’s dissolving into this moment too. While Zack kicks around inside the trunk, we gaze at each other, and there’s more passion in this look than in our sex.
“Ready to uncover all the mysteries?” I ask, looking into her eyes.
I want Aurora to know she didn’t give herself to me like some ordinary victim.
I’ll take all of her, but in return, I’ll hand her the keys to everything I own.
I may dominate her every breath, but the truth is, I need her like madness.
Without her, my kingdom is just a cold crypt, and I’m just a predator without a purpose.
She nods.
“Get in the car.”
Cedar Lake is beautiful, but tourists might show up here, even if rarely.
We need a quieter place. I steer the Cayenne off the trail, to where the old dirt road has been long overgrown with weeds.
I turn straight into the dense bushes, ignoring the branches scratching the expensive paint. I don’t give a shit about the car.
I grab the gun from the glove compartment and hand it to Aurora.
“Hold this, sweetheart.”
She takes the weapon with trepidation. When her slender fingers slowly stroke the cold steel of the barrel, my erection strains once again.
With an effort, I step out of the car and flip open the trunk lid. Seeing me, Chloe loses control—a wetness spreads beneath her. Strange, I thought my face was expressing the utmost kindness.
Aurora stands beside me, gripping the pistol. She watches as I grab our prisoners by the backs of their necks, one by one, and toss them over the edge of the trunk like bags of trash. I sit them up, leaning their backs against the rough trunk of an old oak tree.
“We’re in the middle of nowhere,” I say, looking each of them in the eyes. “No one will hear you no matter how loud you scream. But I will definitely break your noses.”
Zack and Chloe blink in terror as I rip the tape from their mouths. They gasp for air and, as if on cue, turn to Aurora. The only person here who still has a heart.
“Rory! Please! Help us!” Zack turns on the puppy-dog eyes.
“Aurora, he’s a complete psycho! You know that yourself!” Chloe whimpers, trembling all over.
Aurora looks at me, still cradling the pistol in her hands.
“Will you teach me to shoot?”
“Right now?” I smirk, admiring my wife. “Want to start with live targets?”
“Aurora, my love! Listen to me!” Zack turns on the charm, his voice trembling. “Whatever I’ve done, whatever mistakes I’ve made were all for you! For us!”
My princess shrugs, not even feigning to glance at her piss-soaked ex-boyfriend. She stares at the blued steel in her hands.
“Whatever you want, honey,” Aurora answers me.
“I’ll think about it.” I nod thoughtfully.
“Aurora—” Zack’s voice is so pitiful it makes me wince.
I step forward and smash my fist into his cheekbone.
My knuckles burn, and Zack’s head snaps to the side.
“Don’t flirt with my wife, bastard,” I growl, looming over him.
“Aurora knows that you and Lucy were planning to feed her to Diver. I personally interrogated your sister and shook every last bit of filth out of her.”
Zack slumps against the tree trunk and groans, spitting thick red blood onto the grass. I shift my gaze to Chloe. She’s curled up on the ground, trying to become invisible. “Why aren’t you wearing your shitty collar?” I narrow my eyes. “I thought you and Zack were a pair.”
“Desire, I love only you!” Chloe shrieks, her voice trembling.
At that moment, Aurora does something that makes me proud of her: she raises the pistol with both hands and aims the barrel at Chloe’s face.
“How do you shoot this?” my princess asks, not taking her eyes off the brunette.
My lips stretch into a smile. “First, you need to take the safety off.” I look back at Chloe. “You love me? But I’m a fucking psycho.”
She bursts into tears, choking on sobs, but I don’t give a shit about her.
I’m only interested in Zack. I reach into my pocket, pull out a folding knife, and flip the blade open with a dry click.
Leaning down to him, I press the cold steel against his pulsing throat, feeling his pathetic, shameful trembling.
“Well, Zack, was it nice pretending to be your own father’s killer?
” I say coldly, looking into his fear-swollen eyes.
“What’s it to you?” he hisses, trying to lift his chin away from the blade.
My princess steps forward, her gaze locked on Zack, still gripping my gun in her hands. “You brought Oakley sunglasses to our first meeting at the clinic. Exactly like the ones Alistair wore in that basement. How did you know about them, Zack?”
I press the knife a little harder, letting a thin crimson stream run down his neck.
Zack groans, jerking against the chains.
“I knew … I knew my father was hiding you in that cabin. I knew what kind of outfit he wore when he went to you. I bought those fucking glasses just to worm my way into your trust.”
“But how were you so sure Aurora wouldn’t know the real killer?” I ask, lazily stroking the knife handle.
“An inside source popped up on the darknet saying that some prince had offed my father. A bastard killer in a carnival mask. I bought the intel, but no one knew who was under that mask. Lucy and I figured his creditors had taken him out. I thought this prince wouldn’t mind if I borrowed his glory to get close to Aurora. ”
I snort. Well, Zack, the Prince minded after all.
“You didn’t want revenge on the Prince?” I ask.
“Why the fuck would I?” he growls.
“Your own father’s death isn’t a good enough reason?”
“Not a good enough reason to die!”
Looking at Aurora, I ask the most important question. “Why was Aurora’s mother willing to cover up your affair with her daughter?”
Zack’s eyes widen, and I press the knife a little harder, letting a thin stream of blood trickle down his neck. “We know Alistair drained bone marrow from Aurora for Eleanor. So spare me your cheap lies. Tell the truth.”
“Then figure it out yourself, Desire,” he snaps, lifting his chin. “Of course, it’s all about that secret operation. That bitch Eleanor was ready to do anything—even marry me off to her daughter—just to keep it all quiet.”
“Why?! Why did it have to be a secret?!” Aurora screams, and there’s so much pain in her cry that my jaw clenches. “I would have given Mom a kidney if she’d needed it!”
Zack bursts into a hoarse laugh. “Because Eleanor is a whore! Just like you, Rory. You’re just like her, a chip off the old block!”
“Shut your mouth,” I growl, ready to sink the knife into his throat.
“No!” Aurora raises her hand. “Desire, let him talk.”
It takes an enormous effort not to kill him on the spot. Zack’s dam finally breaks, the words pouring out of him along with bloody foam. “Oh, I’ll tell you, all right! You’re not Arthur Vance’s daughter, Rory!”
“What?” Aurora is stunned, and my vague suspicions come roaring back to life.
“You were conceived on the side! Official clinic tests would have revealed the absence of Arthur’s genes, and then your mommy would have been in trouble for being a slut!
Eleanor knew it!” Zack is disgustingly cocky despite the knife at his throat, and everything inside me tightens—this goat clearly has an ace up his sleeve.
“But your mother needed a donor. So my father and your mother conspired.”
The shock on Aurora’s pale face makes my heart clench around her shattering world.
“What are you talking about? Even if that’s true, how could she do that? Alistair tried to rape me …” Aurora’s voice trembles.
“Tried?” Zack looks at her with contempt.
I see the certainty in his eyes that Alistair succeeded.
“Is that what you call it? That was part of the deal with Eleanor. Your mother isn’t just a whore, Aurora.
She’s your pimp. Poor little whore Aurora,” he sneers.
“You were sold to my father for your own bone marrow!”
Aurora’s face breaks out in red blotches; she trembles. I don’t want her to hear this shit. To shut this bastard up, I slice a thin strip of skin from his neck.
“Fuck!” he cries out, squirming like a worm. “You … you can’t kill me!”
“You’ve suddenly gotten very bold.” I flip the knife and catch it by the handle, looking Zack in the eyes. “Time to explain where that confidence comes from.”
The puzzle pieces fall into place. Arthur isn’t Rory’s father.
That’s why Eleanor was so panicked about official procedures.
Two years ago, my cousin had a similar transplant.
In elite clinics, transplant preparation protocols include extensive genetic panels—to rule out hidden mutations and risks for donors and recipients.
Those tests would have inevitably revealed that Aurora wasn’t related to Arthur, and Eleanor knew it, but what kind of monster do you have to be to traffic your own daughter to keep that secret?
Zack hisses through clenched teeth. “I covered my ass! Eleanor could have tried to bury me too. If I die or don’t enter the cancelation code in time, Arthur will get my ‘farewell gift.’ He’ll find out he’s been raising another man’s bastard all these years.”
I exchange a silent glance with Rory. She stands rooted to the spot, staring into the void with glassy eyes. My black soul is torn apart by my girl’s pain.
“A delayed send?” I growl, pulling his phone from my pocket—I confiscated it earlier. I unlock it by pressing this piece of shit’s finger to the sensor. “What time did you set the timer for?”
Zack swallows. His arrogance evaporates as he realizes I’ll just delete the draft. I open his outbox and freeze, staring at the screen.
“Ten in the morning,” I say, seeing the last email.
“But it’s … it’s already fifteen past ten.” Aurora steps closer, looking at the phone from the side. Her voice is barely audible.
“The email went through.” I sigh. “Your father will read it any minute now.”
Aurora stands with her head hanging low. My chest aches that I couldn’t shield her from Zack.
She shakes her head, coming out of a daze. “It’s better this way. Let my father know the truth. Let him know Mom cheated on him.”
I shake my head. My girl remains open and pure despite all the filth she’s been dragged through. She doesn’t understand that Arthur isn’t the type to settle for a quiet divorce. His rage will burn everything around him.
“Rory, I’m afraid it’s much more complicated than that.” I caress her cheek, forcing her to look at me.
“What do you mean?” Her pain-filled eyes search for an anchor in me.
“I’ll tell you later. But first, we deal with this trash.” I nod toward the prisoners.
Stepping away from Aurora, I walk up to them. Zack is silent—his last trump card has been played, and he knows it. I shift my gaze to Chloe. She’s choking on sobs, smearing mascara down her face.
“How did you two get together?” My voice is calm.
“Desire …, Zack suggested it …. It was his plan. He found out that the Asgardians were pissed at you over that guy you beat up. I went to them and suggested—” She breaks off in sobs.
“What?” I hold back my icy rage.
Zack screams, jerking against his chains. “Shut up, you idiot! He’ll kill us!”
“What did you suggest, Chloe?” I repeat, almost in a whisper.
“Let them … play with your girl,” she wails, hysterical. “It was all for you, Desire! So you’d come back to me! For our—”
With one swift, precise motion, I slit her throat—and the fountain of hot blood sprays right into Zack’s face.
“Fuck!” He chokes, coughing, spitting, squeezing his eyes shut against the sticky crimson sludge. “Fuck!”
“Your turn, Zack.” I step back, careful not to get my shoes in the spreading pool of blood.
I usually don’t waste words on my victims, but this bastard dared to make my princess sad.
She’s still standing there with that lost look, hurt over upsetting her father, and she doesn’t even know that’s the least of our problems. I wait for Zack to finish vomiting a mix of bile and blood, then toss out “By the way. I’m the one who killed Alistair. ”
“What?!” Zack chokes, staring at me with a crazed look. “You son of a bitch! Bastard!”
“You know what, Zack?” I stretch my lips into a smirk. “Your father never fucked Aurora. You’ve been wrong all along. And thank you for my wife being a virgin when I got her.”
He writhes on the ground like a crushed worm, roaring and choking on curses. I lose interest. Folding the knife, I turn to Aurora and extend my hand. I have no desire to get covered in someone else’s blood—a bullet will do it cleaner.
“Give me the gun, babe.”
“I want to do it myself.” She looks up at me.
I frown for a moment, then nod. “Alright. Let me help.” Tucking the knife into my pocket, I stand behind her, pressing my chest against her back, and cover her tense hands with mine.
“Raise your arms. Like that. Take off the safety … Index finger on the trigger. Now align the front sight with the rear sight.”
I can feel her heart pounding, but her hands in my grip become steady.
“You can shoot, Princess. Three shots. Just to be sure.”
She freezes. Taking a human life isn’t easy, but I believe she can do it.
“You’re still a fucking whore!” Zack shrieks, spraying spit.
“Goodbye, Zack.”
A muffled crack of a shot. Then two more almost blending together.
Zack’s body jerks and falls still. I lower my hands to Aurora’s bare forearms, stroking her goosebumped skin. No tears, no trembling—she doesn’t even look sickened by the sight of death.
My girl is simply beautiful. In that white dress, with her hair tousled over her shoulders, she’s breathing heavily, not taking her eyes off Zack’s body. Possessive pride floods my chest. In this moment, I want her like madness.
My phone buzzes in my pocket.
Laurent: The latest male samples match the anonymous female samples. They’re related.
My eyebrows lift, and Aurora notices. “Desire?” she asks, tense.
“We need to get back now,” I say, putting the phone away. “And figure out how to save you from Arthur Vance.”