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“Make me.”
He freezes. He knows he cannot defeat me in hand-to-hand combat. He knows any further violence on his part will only result in her degradation. The trap snaps shut around his mind. The cage’s invisible bars slide into place.
I slide my hand lower, slipping it beneath the silk fabric to cup her warm breast. I brush my thumb over the hardening peak.
Liv lets out a ragged moan, her head falling back against my thigh. Her hands grip my trousers, holding on as her knees shift on the rug. She is entirely lost in the sensation, a victim of her own conditioned desires.
“Look at her face,” I tell him, my voice a dark, commanding rumble. “This is your fault. Your defiance brought my hands to her body. Are you proud of your resistance, Mr. Carter? Does your Viper pride keep you warm while she suffers the consequences?”
Ari’s jaw clenches so tight I hear the teeth grind. His green eyes shine with unshed moisture. The playboy charm is dead and buried. The hardened operative is crumbling into dust. He is just a man watching a woman he swore to protect fall apart under my hands.
“What do you want?” Ari asks, his voice a hollow rasp.
I pause my movements. Liv whimpers at the loss of contact, shifting her hips on the carpet, entirely consumed by the need I planted inside her.
“I want you to ask me to show her mercy.”
Ari stares at me. “Show her mercy.”
“No.” I shake my head slowly. “That is an instruction. You’re not in charge here. Ask me properly. Submit to the reality of your situation.”
The silence stretches, thick and suffocating. The air conditioner hums. Liv’s ragged breathing fills the empty space between us.
Ari drops his gaze to the floor. The fight drains from his shoulders, leaving him defeated and broken. He swallows hard.
“Please.” The word tears out of his throat, raw and agonizing. “Please, stop.”
A dark, euphoric high floods my brain. The first crack in the foundation. The first offering of genuine submission.
“Better,” I praise softly. I remove my hand from Liv’s chest and help her pull the silk shirt closed. I stroke her hair, rewarding her display. “You did perfectly, sweet girl. Go wait on the bed.”
She scrambles up, clutching the fabric to her chest, and scurries to the massive mattress. She curls into a tight ball on top of the duvet, watching us with wide, dilated eyes.
I close the distance between us. I stand mere inches from his face, forcing him to look up into my eyes.
“That wasn’t so difficult, was it?” I ask.
He glares at me, the hatred burning bright and hot. “I will kill you.”
“You will beg me to keep you.” I reach out and brush the collar of his shirt. He flinches, but doesn’t step away. He has already learned the first rule. “By the time I’m finished with you, you’ll crave this room. You will seek my approval exactly as she does. You will find peace in your absolute surrender.”
“Never.”
I offer a slow, wicked smile. “We have months to test that theory. You have nowhere to be. No one is coming for you. The world outside these walls ceases to exist the moment I lock that door.”
I turn my back on him and walk toward the exit. The control is established. The parameters are set. I leave them knowing I will return. In the morning, Ari will be moved to the adjoining cell I have prepared. I want him close enough to hear her.
“Rest well, Ari. Tomorrow, the lessons become more demanding.”
I press my hand to the scanner. The door glides open. I step into the hallway and pull the heavy steel shut. The deadbolts engage, sealing them inside the tomb I designed specifically for their rebirth.
I stand in the corridor as silence washes over me. My blood roars in my ears. The adrenaline spikes, sharp and intoxicating.
He broke faster than I anticipated. Not completely, of course. He’ll fight again, rebel, and attempt to plot escapes and formulate resistance strategies. But the seed is planted deep in his psyche. He knows his strength is a liability. He knows his defiance only hurts the woman he came to save, the woman he was already risking his friendships to be with.
He will slowly dismantle his own armor to protect her. He will strip away the Viper training piece by piece, handing me the weapons he brought to fight me.
I walk down the hall to my private quarters. The estate’s darkness wraps around me, comfortable and familiar. I possess them both. Two beautiful, broken creatures locked in a gilded cage, waiting for my return.
