Confess (Sin City Salvation 1)

Her body language was all wrong. Soft, pliable, charming. All the things she never gave freely, yet she was giving to him. Her laughter was vibrant, and her eyes were hungry. If I hadn’t seen her slip into this second layer of skin before, I wouldn’t even recognize her.

Vincent was a colleague, and I respected him, but he was also widely known to be overindulgent in his carnal pleasures, and right now, he wasn’t backing down from my goddamn wife. My hands balled into fists when Gypsy touched his arm. She hadn’t ever touched me that way. Not intentionally. And even if I knew it meant nothing to her—this was simply a game she was playing—it fucking bothered me.

It shouldn’t have. And I shouldn’t have let my temper get the best of me, but that’s exactly what I did.

“Gypsy.” My voice sliced through the space between them, and both of their heads swiveled in my direction.

“Lucian.” Vincent cleared his throat and took a reproachful step back from my wife. “I was just keeping your girl company while—”

I wrapped my fingers around her waist and laid claim to her with a grip she wouldn’t escape. “Did I ask you to keep her company?”

Vincent’s jaw slackened, and he held up both hands in a weak attempt to pacify me. “I’m sorry, Lucian. I meant no offense. Honestly.”

“We’re leaving.”

Vincent mumbled a quick goodbye, and I led Gypsy back to the parking lot. Once we were out of earshot, she tried to pull away, but I didn’t let go.

“What is your problem?” she hissed.

“Don’t play dumb with me, pet. It really isn’t becoming of you.”

Her eyes turned a flinty gray as she turned her nose up at me. “Have I told you today that you’re an asshole?”

I opened the door to the Demon and hoisted her inside, forcing her buckle into place and securing her in her seat.

“I’m not a toddler.” She smacked my hands away. “I can do it myself.”

I leaned down into her face and grabbed her chin. “Then maybe you should stop acting like one.”

“Maybe you should stop acting like a fucking prick!”

I had to take a step back to cool myself off because if I didn’t, I would punish her in anger, and that wasn’t what she needed. I tried to remember that when I got inside the car and started the ignition. But the entire drive home, she kept at it. She called me every name that her defiant mouth could think of and then some. I’d already decided I would need to call Ace to babysit her, but the minute we walked in the door, she was at my throat again.

“There isn’t a single good thing about you,” she shouted. “That’s why nobody likes you.”

“Go to the bedroom,” I ordered. “Stay there until I tell you otherwise.”

She stood her ground, forcing me to acknowledge every spiteful word she threw my way. “How about no. How about I hate you, and I don’t want to be married to you.”

I took a deep breath and tried to remember why she was doing this. Gypsy didn’t know how to deal with her emotions in a healthy way. She only knew how to lash out, and once we both calmed down, we could discuss this rationally.

“What’s the matter, Lucian?” she taunted. “Are you so weak that you can’t even fight with me?”

She could have said anything, but she chose to say that, not knowing it would be the thing to push me over the edge. I struck out like a snake and wrapped my hands around both of her arms, dragging her against me before I forced her chin up to meet my gaze. “Is that what you think?”

“Yes,” she spat. “You aren’t half the man Vincent is. You should have left me there with him.”

I wasn’t proud to admit that I knew exactly what I was doing when I dragged her down the hall and into the bedroom, forcing her onto her knees. “Undress.”

She glared up at me but didn’t dare try to move. “Fuck you.”

“Have it your way.”

I hauled her up onto the bed and pinned her there with my body while I secured her wrists and ankles to the bed posts with the ties I’d picked out for that week. She fought me every step of the way, and I enjoyed it.

I enjoyed it so much that my cock felt like cement in my trousers as I cut her clothing from her body and tossed it to the floor. When it was done, I stepped back to look at the beautiful mess I created. She was at my mercy now. Naked and spread wide for me, her chest heaving, her beautiful features tainted with fear. I’d finally unleashed the monster I tried so hard to hide from her.

“Lucian.” All the fight had gone out of her voice when she looked up at me with kitten eyes. “What are you doing?”