Damaged Queen (Darkness Within Duet 2)

He hadn’t intended to cut her flesh, but just one look at her and thinking about Buck and Jett, he’d lost control and fucking hurt her.

“Are you satisfied now?” Axel asked. “Have you had your pound of flesh?”

“You want to criticize what I’ve done? We planned this. You and me. Her punishment. This is what she deserves.”

“How did she know about the gunman?” Axel asked.

Draven stopped, staring at his friend. “She’s gotten to you.”

“What if … she’s right? Alan couldn’t stand for her to be part of us. It’s still pretty fucking suspicious that she’d go to him. You said so yourself, she hated Alan’s guts. Why go to him? We were all too brokenhearted to see it.”

“She couldn’t handle what we dished out. She should have come to us, but she didn’t. Buck and Jett are dead because of her.”

“She didn’t pull the trigger, and she knew about it, Draven. She knew what happened, and if she was gone, how did she know unless what she said is true? Your father had connections, and even to this day you don’t know every single one of them. Don’t you think it’s a little too neat with how this has ended up?”

“For fuck’s sake, you’re not going to let this go, are you?”

“You want to break her that’s fine. Be prepared for what you’re causing. Once you break her, there is no going back. There is no Harper. She’ll be long gone.”

“Your point being?”

“I hope you can handle that. You’re my concern, Draven.”

He rolled his eyes. “Seriously, what are you getting at?” He was done playing these games. It was fucking cold, and he really needed to get Harper out of the cold. He wanted her to hurt but not die.

“You were in love with her all those years ago, and you really think that is just going to disappear? That a love like that fades?”

“I’m not pussy-whipped anymore, Axel. I got over it.”

“You did? Then why did you opt for the whipping post? I thought you were going to have your guys use her. Let them wreck her pussy and ass just like the whore she was. You came here and let them hurt her instead.”

Draven stormed over to Axel, raising his fist, and his friend laughed.

“I see right through you. I always have. I saw how much you cared for her years ago. It’s why I didn’t fight you. For you, it has always been Harper. Here she is. She can belong to you. If you’re going to ruin her, be ready to lose her forever.”

He watched as Axel walked away, and he watched him go without saying a word.

Alone, near the whipping post with Harper, he was lost to his thoughts.

She didn’t deserve to be tied up.

Gritting his teeth, he helped her down, taking her weight as he lifted her up. He’d have to take care of her back. A couple of lashes had split her skin.

She deserved this.

He knew deep down into his soul, she had to have this.

But if he truly believed it, why was his gut twisting at what he allowed to happen?

Chapter Eight

Harper gasped as she woke up. Her body ached, and the pain in her back was intense.

“You’re awake.”

She turned toward the sound, and as she squinted, she groaned. Hannah, her lovely stepmother, sat in a seat beside the bed.

“Have I died?”

“No, not even close. Draven left you too long on the whipping post. The cold, the shock, and you got an infection. It can happen. You’ve been out cold for a couple of days.”

“So why are you here with me?” she asked.

“Because, Draven thought it would be good for us,” Hannah said.

Harper watched as she leaned forward and began to pour out some water. There was a straw.

“Here, drink.”

She took a sip of the water and groaned, pulling away once she had enough.

“Why would it be good for us?” Harper asked. “I imagine if anyone was going to be worth me talking to, it would be my dad.”

“Your father has never been on the whipping post. I was shocked to learn it was still here and that it was also currently in use.”

Harper hadn’t forgotten what had happened, and it made her shake a little knowing Draven and his cronies had done that to her. She turned her head away in shame. Had she allowed that to happen? What did that make her?

Pain and fear and everything from anger to rage consumed her.

“I know what you’re feeling.”

“You were on the whipping post?” Harper asked.

She felt the bed dip, and Hannah had moved a little closer to her. Age hadn’t done well for her, and she’d lost that chipper, happy look.

“Is being married to my dad what made you so miserable? Sorry, I’ve got no filter at the moment.” Harper saw her flinch.

“Life in Stonewall has never been … a blessing. For the most part it has been hell. Your dad, he makes life … bearable.”