Page 90 of Villainous Rise

He pulled back to flip me over and shoved me face-down into the mattress again. His hand pressed between my shoulder blades, keeping me pinned as he kneed my legs wider apart.

“Is this what you want? You want me to fuck you like you mean nothing to me?”

“Yes,” I gasped, even as something in my chest twisted painfully at the words.

His hand came down hard on my ass, the sharp crack echoing. I yelped, more from surprise than pain, though the sting bloomed hot across my skin a moment later.

“Too bad,” he growled, leaning over me until his chest pressed against my back. “You mean everything to me and I’m going to make sure you feel it.”

He lined himself up and thrust into me hard.

I screamed into the sheets. The stretch was agonizing and I tried to detach, to let the pain drag me down into a dark, numb oblivion where I didn’t have to feel his heart pounding against my back.

Cipher refused to let me go.

He locked his arm around my waist, pinning my hips flush to his, and sank his teeth into my shoulder. He held the flesh between his teeth, forcing me to stay present in the agonizing pleasure of his mark.

“You belong to me,” he hissed against my ear. Each word was punctuated by a rough thrust. “Every scar. Every fear. Mine.”

“Please,” I sobbed. My pussy clenched around his cock with every punishing thrust even as I tried desperately to check out. I needed oblivion.

He wrapped his fist in my hair and yanked my head back, exposing my throat.

“Feel this,” he demanded, driving into me so hard the bed frame slammed against the wall. “Feel how much I love you, Annie. Let it ruin you.”

He fucked me violently, giving me the exact pain I begged for while taking away my ability to hide from it. I was trapped in his devotion, overwhelmed by the terrifying reality that he loved me enough to tear me apart.

When his hand came down on my ass again, the sharp sting shattered me. I convulsed around him, my orgasm feeling like a surrender, driven by the inescapable weight of his obsession. I screamed his name as I came, my mind consumed by him.

CHAPTER 16

ANNIE

Something light traced across my shoulder, feathering over the jagged scar Dread had left behind. A shiver rippled through me, pulling me from the depths of my first dreamless sleep in months. I opened my eyes to find Cipher propped up on one elbow beside me, his finger tracing the raised edge of my scar.

The room was still dark, the city lights casting shadows across his face.

“Go back to sleep, Annie,” he murmured.

But it was too late. I remembered where I was, what I’d done, who I’d done it with. The mask still clung to my face, the only barrier I’d maintained while surrendering everything else.

Shame and panic collided within me as I shoved upright, the sheet falling away as I scrambled toward the edge of the bed.

Cipher’s hand closed around my wrist. “Calm down.”

“I need to go.” My voice sounded strange, high and tight, bordering on hysteria.

“Why?” He didn’t release my wrist, his thumb brushing over my pulse point. “It’s not even dawn yet.”

I stared at the windows, at the darkness beyond the glass. The city twinkled below us, oblivious to my internal meltdown. What had I been thinking? I’d let myself do all those things with him, while I hid behind a mask like a coward.

“Annie.” His voice softened, and somehow that was worse than his usual commanding tone. “Look at me.”

I couldn’t.

“I can’t do this. Last night was⁠—“

“Exactly what you needed,” he finished.