Page 100 of Villainous Rise

I withdrew my fingers slowly, bringing them to my mouth and sucking them clean while she watched, her chest heaving.

“Tonight,” I said, my voice rough. “When you’re done with all the festivities with Havoc, I want you at the Labyrinth.”

Her eyes, still hazy with pleasure, focused slightly. “Why?”

Instead of answering, I caught her lower lip between my teeth, biting just hard enough to make her gasp. I trailed kisses along her jaw, down the column of her throat, feeling her pulse race beneath my lips.

I reached her collar, the starched fabric a barrier I refused to tolerate. I yanked it aside, exposing the junction where her neck met her shoulder. Without warning, I bit down, marking her where no one would see unless she wanted them to.

She cried out, her hands flying to my shoulders, nails digging in through the material of my suit. I soothed the bite with my tongue before pulling back to admire the mark I’d left on her skin. I wanted her collar rubbing against that raw skin for the rest of the night. She would have to sit in Havoc’s box and pretend to be the perfect Keeper while her body throbbed from my touch. Every time she shifted in her seat to log a stat for Havoc, the friction of the fabric would remind her of my teeth.

“Come to the Labyrinth,” I repeated, making it clear it wasn’t a request.

The five-minute warning buzzed, breaking the moment between us. Reality crashed back in—the match, the crowd, our professional obligations.

“I have to go,” she said, voice pitched higher than normal. “Havoc will wonder where I’ve been.”

“Tell him you were delivering a very thorough message,” I replied, smirking.

She shot me a look that was half exasperation, half lingering heat. “You’re impossible.”

“And yet you keep coming back for more.”

She turned toward the exit, smoothing her skirt with trembling hands. Just before she slipped through the door, I caught it, that small, secret smile playing at the corners of her mouth.

Mine. She was still mine.

The door shut behind her, and I turned back to the arena entrance. Game time.

But fucking hell. If eight-year-old Thomas could see me now, what would he think? That skinny, over-medicated kid, dreaming of becoming the most feared Villain in the world, now standing here with a hard-on for a Keeper.

Not just any Keeper. Havoc’s Keeper.

The universe had a sick sense of humor.

I made my way to the entrance tunnel, each step carrying me closer to the moment I’d engineered my entire life around. The platform waited at the end. A black disk that would rise dramatically through the floor of the arena.

My systems fed me the crowd’s energy levels, their anticipation registering as quantifiable data. Eighty-seven thousand heartbeats, accelerated. The air vibrating from their chants. The electromagnetic disruption from thousands of recording devices.

I stepped onto the platform, feeling it hum beneath my feet.

“Ladies and gentlemen!” The announcer’s voice rumbled from somewhere above me. “The most anticipated Nemesis pairing in a decade!”

I stood in darkness, crowd energy pulsing through the walls. Thousands of people chanting both our names—“HA-VOC! CI-PHER!”

“The mastermind of mayhem, the technological terror... CIPHER!”

Lights exploded. The platform shot upward. Spotlights blinded me as I broke through to deafening cheers.

I launched into the air, the arena’s energy humming against my skin. Holographic projections sparked around me that cast the arena in flickering shadows. Boos and cheers crashed together into pure electricity.

The Descent sprawled below. It was a three-dimensional battleground with floating platforms and shimmering hazards. My playground. My proving ground.

My eyes found Annie as she rushed into the VIP box, tablet ready. I forced myself to look away.

“And his opponent—the legend, the champion, the Hero who needs no introduction... HAVOC!”

The arena erupted as Havoc rose on his platform. No technological display needed, just swirling tendrils of dark blue energy dancing around him. White, blue, and gold gleaming under the lights. Power incarnate.