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No card, but a call all the same.
Diamond’s eyes meet mine over the heads of the children clustered around us, each of them exhausted but relieved. Something passes between us, but I can’t name it. He almost looks . . . angry, but something tells me it’s not directed at me. Whatever demons Diamond carries are great.
I wonder how magnificent he is when his beast comes out to play.
I wonder how well it will play with mine.
Chapter
Twenty-Five
My girl gets the kids settled in, checking on them twice to make sure no one has any immediate needs. Dr. Louis helped them all as best as he could. Many need time to heal and lots of meals, and we’ll offer them that here, giving them a sanctuary until they are ready to fly free if they want.
It seems it’s not enough for my queen though. She’s still angry, still wound up as she paces in her tent. We watch her, taking in the glorious picture she paints. We feel it too, the pain and fury from that place. Even the flames can’t tame the horrors we saw there, but she was magnificent tonight. Watching her hurt that warden was a show all in itself, and she was its puppet master.
It probably wouldn’t be appropriate to tell her I was hard while watching her cut into the woman or that I almost came when the flames turned into screams, but when her eyes meet mine, there is something wild in them I understand better than most—madness with no outlet.
It’s why I do what I do. It’s why I kill. Why I hunt. Why I hang above crowds and offer death-defying stunts.
Our girl needs an outlet.
I prowl her way. She’s too busy pacing to realize how close I am until I step into her path, our bodies pressing together. She stumbles backward, but I capture her and pull her closer. “Queen,” I purr, licking her mask before I reach her ear. “Do you want to play with me?”
She hesitates, frozen between what she knows is right and what she feels. It’s a fine line most people walk, balancing between what they know they should do and what they want to do. Usually the latter loses, but not with me. It always wins.
Biting her ear, I grin when she gasps. “Play with me, Queen. Let out all that anger. Let it be free or it’ll rot your insides. There’s nobody left to kill tonight, so let’s fuck instead.”
She startles at my bold words, her eyes wide as I pull back. “Heart . . .”
“Don’t want to play with me, Queen?” I hum, tilting her chin up with my finger as my other hand drags down her body. “Or don’t want to admit you want to? Tonight, you can let go. You embraced the nightmare inside you, and you hurt the woman and liked it.” Her eyes blow wide when she realizes I noticed. “You liked it, and it wasn’t enough. You need more. I’ll be your outlet for tonight.”
“Heart,” Diamond warns, concerned that I’m pushing her too far.
“No, she needs the shove,” I snap as I move closer again, my other hand grabbing her ass. “Don’t you? Or you’d hide away and let it destroy you, worried about how you should be rather than what you want to be. Didn’t anybody tell you, Ember, that at the circus, you can be whatever you want? I want to be yours.”
Her hand hits my chest, and I see flames burning in her gaze, but something holds her back—something keeps her locked away from me even though I’m pushing. Pulling her mask up, I stare into her bloodstained face and let her see the raw truth in my gaze.
“Take it out on me,” I tell her honestly, licking her cheek. “I can handle it. Rip me to pieces if you need to, Queen. I’m here, and I’m yours.”
“What if I hurt you?” she whispers in horror and hunger.
“I’d like it,” I admit with a grin. “They won’t let you kill me though.” I nod my head toward the others who are watching, showing no signs of leaving anytime soon.
When her head turns back to me, I see the decision in her eyes. Reaching up, she pulls her mask down, her eyes darkening further. Gone is the sweet, innocent Ember who was worried about hurting me, and in her place is the beast that was born from nightmares.
“You want to play, Heart?” she purrs, her voice lower and filled with a hunger that makes mine grow. My dick swells in my pants as she presses against me, dragging her hand up my chest to grab my chin just like I did her. “Then let’s play. Get on your knees for me.”
She pushes me down, and I sink to my knees for her, my mask firmly in place as she pets my chin softly. “Diamond,” she calls. “Whip.”
There’s a moment of hesitation, and then the whip lands at her feet. She bends down and picks it up, letting the coil slip through her hand. The sight makes my cock twitch, and a moan escapes my lips. My body braces, expecting pain, wanting everything she will give me.
“You want me to hurt you, don’t you, Heart? Despite it all, you’d thank me for it.” Her words caress my body like silk, leaving me panting, and she hasn’t even touched me yet. This girl might have been weak once, a victim, but there is nothing left of her.
Not anymore.
This is our queen.
This is our nightmare.
