Those thoughts did nothing for me.
Stella was okay. I’d gotten the call as soon as I landed. She was heading back to Jay’s. My first and most immediate instinct was to go right there.
But then I thought about it. Jay’s pregnant wife had been kidnapped by the Russian Mob. The baby was okay. I’d gotten an update on that too. After hearing that, everything in me relaxed. I would not wish what happened to me on my worst enemy. Not in a million fucking years. I’d live every day with pain if it meant Stella never had to know it.
Surely, she and Jay were having a reunion. Tucked up in that house of his. He would not let her out of his sight. I trusted that. Trusted him.
It was over. From what I’d heard, the Russian empire was all but shattered.
It was done.
So I was pacing the porch. Waiting for Karson. I needed to see him. In one piece. And deep down in my soul, I knew he needed me.
Revenge had been keeping him going these past months. Keeping him functional. It was something to focus on. But now it was done. There was no one left to kill, left to punish. And I was afraid Karson might disappear inside himself once that became clear.
My throat was strangled with worry as it got later.
Finally, lights illuminated the drive.
I didn’t move, not one inch as he parked, as the door slammed and the gravel crunched underneath his feet.
I watched him approach, and I knew immediately something was different. He was different.
Blood stained his shirt.
His hands.
His eyes were electric, empty, wild.
Though he was the same shape, he was not the same man. He was bigger somehow. He carried the shadows in.
His eyes were on me. Determined. Dangerous.
Still, I did not move.
He did not slow his stride either. We crashed into each other like maniacs, his lips plastering to mine, hand at the back of my neck, yanking me in.
My body sang for him, everything in me disappearing but my animalistic need. We tore at each other’s clothes. I was desperate to feel the warmth of his skin. Blood smeared on my skin, and death seeped from him to me, but I didn’t care.
At some point, we made it inside the house. Then we were on the floor. The door was still wide open. Karson was flat on his back as my hands scrambled to free him from his pants. He’d already ripped my panties off at some point.
I didn’t hesitate to impale myself on him, Karson letting out a low hiss as we joined.
There was pain for me at first. My body had healed completely, but it had been a long time since he had been inside me. I hadn’t touched myself down there, had shunned that part of myself.
I liked the pain, rode him until it mixed with pleasure, until my body thrummed with impending release, impending oblivion. My palms landed on his chest, digging my nails in until I drew blood.
A low growl came from Karson’s throat, his eyes still glowing with the predator inside him. I liked it, loved it that he was almost a stranger in this moment, that his evil chased away my demons.
His hands had been on my hips, yanking me down on him, matching my rhythm. But they skimmed up my body as I coated my fingers in his blood. His hands fastened around my neck.
Tight.
With violence.
They were still coated in death. As he squeezed, he coaxed my orgasm out of me, my lungs scrambling from the lack of oxygen.
I rode him harder.