Falling for the Villain

“I haven’t done anything you don’t want or need.”

She scoffed out in disgust, throwing her mask to the floor.

“If you would have said that to me yesterday or the day before, I would have laughed in your face.”

“And now?”

“Now, I don’t know what to think. You did that to me. Made me question everything. Are you proud of yourself?”

“I take pride in anything that involves you, Juliet.”

“I hate you,” she spat. “Do you hear me? I. Hate. You.”

Grinning, I stepped back and waited.

In less than a second, she dropped to her knees and apologized, “I’m sorry! I’m so sorry, Master! But I do hate you! I do!” she screamed for herself. I already knew the truth.

I let her have her pity party, her temper tantrum, her defiance. It was the least I could do after what I’d put her through tonight. Crouching in front of her, I grabbed her chin to force her to look at me.

“You and I both know there’s a very thin line between love and hate, little girl.”

She swallowed hard, listening to my every word.

“I want you to hate me, but I also want you to love me.”

“Why? I don’t understand. Please make me understand.”

Nodding to the piano in the corner of my suite, I said, “Play for me, Juliet.”

“Ugh!” She jerked her chin away like a child. “Just answer my question! Why do you want me?”

“Why not?”

“Stop it! Stop with your games! I want to know the truth! I deserve to know the truth!”

“You don’t make demands, pet. That’s not your role to play.”

“Play? Exactly! This is just a game to you! I’m just a fucking game! Your play toy, your doll that you share with perverted bastards just like you are!”

My patience snapped, and I heard it loud and clear. Roughly gripping onto her chin again, I sneered, “I’m nothing like them, and don’t you ever fucking forget it.”

Meaning every last word.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Donovan

Yanking her chin out of my grasp, she lost her shit, and again, I allowed her to. I hated having to endure this emotional bullshit, considering I never had before.

I guessed we were both learning new things.

In a high pitch, she shouted, “You shared me! You shared me, Master! How could you do that to me? How could you let him hurt me?”

“How about we get your story straight, Juliet? I beat him within an inch of his life for you. I stopped him, didn’t I?”

“You still handed me right over to him, knowing what he wanted to do to me!”

“What bothers you more, pet? The fact that I let him hurt you, or the fact that you wish it was me who was doing so?”

“To hell with you!”

I lunged at her, and instantly she fell to her back with my body hovering above her petite frame. Caging her in my arms on the sides of her face, I leaned down, close to her lips, and spewed, “I’m already there, and I’ve been there since I was ten years old.”

She gasped, and her lips parted. Understanding my subtle yet pungent reply.

“Who is Sir?”

Through an overwhelmingly clenched jaw, I bit, “My father.”

She grimaced, not trying to hide it, hurting for me without me having to make her.

“So what happened?”

“If I tell you, what do I get out of it?”

Her steep breaths came out in ragged pants, her chest was rising and falling, and I knew if I touched in between her legs…

She’d be wet.

For me.

“I’ll play for you.”

“You’ll play for me regardless. Try again.”

“I’ll be a good girl. I promise. Please give me something, Master. Please…”

Looking her up and down, I thought about it for a second. My father didn’t try hiding what he’d done. It wasn’t the first time a slave would die at her master’s hand. Our world wasn’t for the weak, and if that meant someone died, then so be it.

Life went on.

“Did your father do something to your mother?”

“You could say that.”

“Tell me. What happened? Maybe I can help you.”

“Help me?” I jerked back.

“Yes, do you forget who I am?”

“I know who you are, Juliet. It’s one of the main reasons you’re here with me now.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means I owe you no explanations. I owe you nothing.”

She actually batted her fucking lashes at me.

“For fuck sake. If you must know, the cat o’ nine tails, the same one that Troy used on you tonight. It was my father’s, and with his hand gripped over mine, he beat her with it until she took her last breath in front of my eyes.”

“Oh, Donovan,” she uttered in a breathless tone. My name fell off her lips.

In pity.

In pain.

In the realization that Donovan and Master were two different men. At least when it came down to her, they were.

“When I say I’m untouchable, I mean it.”

I tried to see things through her eyes. With a heavy sigh, I hung my head.