Page 123 of Knight’s Retribution

Rocco fisted her hair again, tighter this time, and turned her head, kissing her. Whatever she’d been trying to remember vanished, and she kissed him back. She’d spent so much of her life alone, afraid, wondering what was wrong with her. Then Rocco walked into her world and none of that had mattered anymore, because she had him and everything inside her told her he was all she would ever need.

“I love you,” she said against his lips. “So much.”

Strong arms tightened around her. “Give yourself to me, then, my precious one. Tell me you will always belong to me.”

“Yes,” she whispered and lifted her head.

Rocco stared back at her—

She jolted.

His irises were yellow, cold. No, that wasn’t right, Rocco’s eyes were blue.

He grabbed her throat suddenly, shoving her back and pinning her down. “I don’t love you,” Rocco hissed. “I never loved you. How could I love someone as pathetic as you?”

Tears filled her eyes. No. He couldn’t mean that. “What? Why are you—”

Reality swamped her in a rush, and she cried out, gasping in a desperate breath as pain lanced through.

This wasn’t Rocco.

It was Diemos. He was playing with her again.

He stared down at her, all sharp pointed teeth, still wearing Rocco’s face. “Morning, my darling.”

The walls of her apartment shimmered and vanished, revealing Diemos’s bedroom, his bed. The room where she was his prisoner.

Her dreams were her only escape, the only time he couldn’t control her mind. They were filled with joy, with memories of Rocco; awake was where the nightmares lived. But when Diemos did this, they got all intertwined and twisted together.

Tears slid down her face, and she swiped them away, squeezing her eyes shut. Diemos got off on this. On making her forget where she was, what had happened to her, on pretending he was the man she loved.

Whenever he hurt her, he disguised himself as Rocco. So it was Rocco’s hands that caused her pain, it was Rocco who’d tortured her, and it was Rocco’s voice that screamed abuse and insults in her face.

“Look at me,” he said.

She forced herself to open her eyes.

He brushed her hair back. “Do you want to get out of bed today?”

Kyler didn’t move, didn’t speak, because sometimes he was bluffing. Sometimes it was a test to see if she thought she deserved to leave his bed. And the answer was nearly always no.

Diemos sat up, his face turning back into his own, and his yellow eyes sliced over her naked body. She was always naked because he liked her feeling vulnerable. Exposed.

“Sit up,” he said with a note of steel.

Kyler quickly did as he said, and the building anger in his eyes slid away. His moods were always so unpredictable, switching from one moment to the next.

“Good girl.” He took her hand in his cool one, and she fought the urge to pull away. That never ended well for her. He brought her hand to his lips and pressed a kiss to her wrist. “Do not bathe; I’ll take care of that tonight. Now, if you want to get out of this bed, you will kiss me,” he said. “The way you just kissed me when you thought I was him.”

Vomit tried to crawl up her throat, and she forced it down. The intimacy he demanded was constant, his presence overwhelming, his touch almost desperate. He kissed her and he liked to hold her, but nothing more. She didn’t know why, but he hadn’t forced himself on her, even when he was pretending to be Rocco. So far, he had spared her that, but that was the only mercy she’d received from him.

His gaze dipped to her thigh, to the crimson birthmark she had there, and he brushed his thumb over it, something he did a lot, then he looked back at her and dipped his head closer. “Kiss me.”

She had no choice but to press her mouth to his as his other hand, so cold, cupped the back of her head, as his long clawlike nails scraped her scalp and his pointed teeth grazed her lip hard enough to draw blood.

He lifted his head, his eyes locking on hers, and she fought with everything she had not to throw the hell up.

He swiped his thumb over her lower lip and sucked blood off the tip. “Soon, you will kiss me without having to be asked, without me wearing another male’s face.” He cupped the side of her cheek. “You will give me your heart. And you will trust me to lead you, mind, body, and soul, precious one.”