and my own, the tension in the car was so palpable I swore it fogged the car.
When we finally pulled up in front of the house, I tore out of the vehicle before
he even shut the damn thing off and headed toward the house. I didn’t get very far
when I felt my arm gripped way too tightly in his hand and yanking me back.
“What the fuck is your problem?!” I shouted at him.
His response was to slap his hand against my mouth and lower jaw and squeeze.
Pain buzzed in my jaw where he had first cracked it so long ago, and I couldn’t help
but release a muffled scream, not wanting to go back there. My eyes pled with him
to stop, my free hand gripping and pulling at his wrist, but the scowl on his face
showed no signs of concern.
“This fucking mouth of yours,” he growled. “That is my goddamn problem.”
Darren then released my face and practically dragged me to the house, nearly
flinging me through the front door. I whirled around to face him, and immediately
kicked my heels off, lowering myself another few inches, but at least, I would be
more stable. We were going to fight. I could feel it.
“Darren, what’s going on? Why are you acting like this?”
He shook his head at me, those eyes so dark and dangerous, and it only made me
quiver inside, heat flourishing all over my body. He took another step toward me,
and I couldn’t stop myself from retreating slightly, my knees bending and my feet
light for quick movement. My heart was pounding out of my chest, and my blood
rushed so fast it was making me dizzy.
“I probably should have mentioned something about that pendant of yours,” he
said low and steady, taking several slow steps toward me. “One specific little detail
…”
He was even closer now, his body heat clouding around me as he towered over
me, a menacing glare smeared all over his gorgeous face. He was fucking terrifying
me because I knew he was going to say the one thing that was going to destroy
everything.
“It records.”
50
HATE
Cornered, trapped, and terrified. I had Jaden exactly where I wanted her, and she
was fucking shaking with fear. On the outside, I was fucking furious but still in
control, and on the inside, my rage was eating me alive. I’d heard every word she’d
shared with Kayla, and it was everything I needed to hear, needed to confirm that
her head was still wrapped around the wrong objective. After everything I’d just
done for her, after all the time I’d spent pampering and pleasuring her, my warrior
princess was still planning to betray me, and I just simply couldn’t have that. Even
if she had no idea where to start or how to accomplish a single thing against me,
the simple fact that the idea was even there in the first place was enough to put me
into action.
It didn’t matter how well I did or didn’t treat her, didn’t matter how lavish or
hellish I could make her life, the amount of times I’d threatened her family, or the
number of people I’d already killed to keep her as mine, she was still out for my
blood. The only thing stopping her was that she wouldn’t be able to get away with it
if she did. She still refused to accept her life and still intended to betray my trust
and that was the undoing moment.
I wanted to be able to trust Jaden more than anything. I wanted to feel her reach
for me at night, whether she was scared, wet, or just needed to feel me. I wanted to
create the dependency that she had created in me, and I was going to make that
happen, starting right fucking now.
Jaden was backed against the staircase, her small frame shivering in the dress I
was going to rip to shreds. I traced my fingers along the side of her temple down
her face, tucking a strand of red hair behind her ear, relishing in her obvious terror.
She knew how much shit she was in, and the question was whether she was going
to lie down and take it. She didn’t have a choice in it, of course, but I’d be lying if I
said I wasn’t hoping for a fight.
“You’re shaking, little girl,” I whispered and then tipped her chin up to face me.
“Did you really think I wasn’t going to find out about your little plan to betray me?”
Tears brimmed at the corners of her eyes, making them big and glassy and
beautiful, the fire of her irises drenched in the wetness of her fear, and it was
making me hard as fuck.
And then suddenly, her eyes hardened.
“Guess the cat’s out of the bag,” she said and shoved her palms into my chest.
Catching her wrist before she could make another strike, Jaden countered with
her legs, but she didn’t have enough room for a decent kick. And suddenly, it was
game on.
Jaden attempted to make every strike she could, but in the end, she just wasn’t
fast enough. I blocked everything she gave until it was clear she was becoming
tired, her body clearly out of practice with combat. And when she was done
