Page 35 of Vows of Silence

The way she had stopped breathing when I crouched in front of her. The way her pulse had fluttered wildly beneath the delicate skin of her throat. The way she had looked at me like I was death itself.

Fuck.

My cock hardened, memory and obsession tangling together into something ugly.

I had enjoyed her fear. It had been so thick I could almost taste it.

I wanted that again. I wanted her beneath me, terrified and alone, her eyes begging for mercy as I took her, showing her who she belonged to.

But she already knew. Because for those few minutes beneath that couch, she had belonged entirely to me.

Not Adrien.

Not her father.

Not Luca.

Me.

Every breath she took had been for me. Every terrified little tremor. Every desperate heartbeat. And when I brought my finger to the mask, when I silently told her to stay quiet…

She obeyed.

Fuck.

Before I could stop myself, I pressed play again and unzipped my trousers, watching her from the beginning—the confident way she entered the secret room, her frustration at the computer being locked. And then her panic. Her terrified run as she fled from me. Sliding her luscious body along the floor and under the couch.

I groaned again, fisting my cock as the angle changed, switching to another camera. I could see her under there, her body shaking, the tears spilling down her face.

Fear looked exquisite on her.

I gripped my cock harder, stroking up and down rapidly as I imagined licking the tears from her face—after all, I was the one who put them there. It was only right I got to taste them.

My cock jerked again and my hips thrust upwards as she locked eyes with me on the video, and I imagined her here, hiding under my own desk, knowing I was coming for her, knowing I would take her, knowing she would never escape again…

With my teeth gritted, jaw clenched, and hand pumping my cock, I came with a guttural growl, my cum spilling over my fingers, my breath heaving.

Soon, little bird,

I looked at the video, seeing me crouched in front of her, my finger on my masked lips.

Soon I’ll bring you to where you belong.

Chapter 12

The Flame

“You look beautiful, Miss.”

I stared at Frank’s reflection in the mirror, my fingers stilling against the diamond bracelet around my wrist.

The engagement dress glittered beneath the soft bedroom lights, fitted perfectly to my body in a way that made me feel more displayed than elegant. My mother cried when the final alterations were finished. She told me I looked like a princess. Which was helped by Adrien sending over enough jewellery to rival a museum collection, accompanied by a note telling me that none of these could rival my beauty, but he saw them and thought of me.

I threw that note in the trash.

Soppy words wouldn’t work on me. There was no point acting like a man in love.

“Thank you, Frank,” I replied, adjusting the ridiculous tiara on my head.