Dark Need by Clarissa Wild

Chapter 13

Soren

I haveto physically will my cock to stay down.

That’s how fucking hard she makes me.

But the pain is too much to bear.

I cannot let myself go like that. Even when she flaunts her body in my face, I must resist. She’s doing it on purpose, which also means she’s discovered my only weakness.

Her.

I knew it the second I was asked to escort her, and I ignored the signs because I had to. Because it was my job. But the more time I spend with her, the harder it becomes to stay away.

Not to lose control and let myself go.

Because when she walked out of the water, all wet and dripping, her tits fully peaked, I wanted nothing more than to grab her, pin her to a tree, and fuck her into oblivion.

I’m becoming the very thing I despise.

I should’ve listened to the warnings when they told me it was going to be hard, that temptation was lurking behind every corner.

I cannot succumb and become a sinner.

But she almost makes it impossible to resist.

I sigh out loud as I make sure the fire is burning well enough before I prepare our makeshift bed made of leaves underneath the blanket. The sky is looking cloudy tonight … but not as cloudy as my own damn mind.

She stands in front of me, waiting until I’m done. So I quickly grab the rope again and tie it around her waist.

“Really? I thought I said I wasn’t gonna run,” she says.

“Precaution,” I reply as I tie the knot right over her belly.

She looks down at me with those big eyes that enrapture me while I tie the other end to my own waist, determined not to let her escape. I don’t believe what she says, even if she said I could trust her. Trust needs to be earned. And I have learned in the progression of the course in my own job that trust is impossible between captor and captive.

And she is very much still my captive.

Nothing about that will change this fact.

Not even dirty little tricks she may try on me.

I clear my throat and lie down under the blanket, patting the ground beside me. She raises her brow but lies down anyway, sighing out loud. I’ve heard my fair share of complaints, crying and begging, but her sighs are really starting to get on my nerves. And I don’t fucking understand why I let it get to me the way she does.

Something about her is just getting under my skin.

I turn around on my side, away from her, so I don’t get tempted to have a peek at her tits again.

No matter how many times she throws it in my face, I cannot give in.

I cannot … let myself become the monster lurking deep inside.

* * *

April

In the middleof the night, I wake up to the sound of birds flying overhead. I sit up straight with my heart pounding in my chest. I can never get used to sleeping in the open air. Nor can I get used to this muscled beast lying right next to me, tied up to my freaking waist.

And his arm is right around my legs.

Oh, God.

His warmth radiates off him, and I suddenly feel hyper-aware of my body.

Why does he have such an effect on me?

Goddammit.

It’s the middle of the night, and this is the best time to escape. If not now, then never.

But with this arm wrapped around my legs, I’m sure he’ll notice if I move even an inch.

What do I do?

I look at him snoring away, and I wonder what he’s dreaming about. Maybe he’s had the same filthy dream I’ve had … where he towered over me, naked, while I stood with my back to him, one hand snaking around my waist while the other squished my neck, his lips close to my ear to whisper, “You’re mine.”

I shiver in place, goose bumps scattering on my skin.

Don’t fucking think about it, April. Forget those stupid dreams.

But a loud snore from Soren reminds me that there’s no escaping this man. And the longer I spend with him, the more I’m beginning to question my own motives. Because I enjoyed it a little too much to see him gawk at me naked.

My gaze slides down his body lying there so gentle in the leaves under this canopy I almost forget he’s my captor. And I can’t help but gaze at his pants and at the metal peeking up from underneath.

Every time he touched me, or if I touched him in a certain way, he would howl in pain and grab it. Does it hurt him? Or is it … only when he gets excited?

A hot flush runs through my body as I inch closer and hook my finger underneath the fabric. I can’t help myself. I’m too curious not to want to know more.

Who would wear this thing out of their own volition if it hurts so much?

Unless … someone is forcing him to.

I swallow hard as I lower his pants. He grumbles in his sleep, and I pause for a moment, watching him turn to his back. My pussy clenches at the sight of his muscular pecs and ripped abs moving with every breath he takes. He’s muscled like a bodybuilder and has the soul of a beast, and every inch of him reminds me of what the Greeks wrote about when they talked about gods.

But gods aren’t caged.

And this metal around his waist reminds me of just that.

I gulp again as I’ve lowered his pants far enough to check out the contraption, trying not to stare at his flaccid dick. It’s not see-through, but there is a tiny locket at the top, but the key is missing. Does he carry it with him? Or does someone else have it?

Maybe that’s why he’s so determined to bring me somewhere else. Did Eli tell him to do it? Does he have the key? Or is it someone else?

I touch the thing to make sure it’s metal, but it won’t budge. The bars that keep it in place look like they could cause significant pain if he gets hard.

How long has it been on him?

And if it hurts him … why would he keep it on?

So many questions swirl through my head, but all I can think of is one thing—if I want to gain his trust, maybe I can help him by taking it off. It would ease his pain, even if only a little.

So I pull and tug at the device, but the more I tug, the more it feels like it’s chained to his body. I rest one hand on his abs while tampering with the lock using a branch, but it’s hard to focus when the skin beneath my hand is hot to the touch, a constant reminder of the devil lurking underneath.

Suddenly, he groans in pain, and when I look at his face, his eyes burst open.

They’re filled with crimson fury, raging fire like a beast still in chains.

But something is different about them.

Something ghostly. Like he’s not really here.

I quickly lift my fingers away from the metal, but it’s too late.

His hand is already around my wrist, gripping me tightly as he pins my arm to the ground, then my body along with it. Roaring out loud, he rolls on top of me, one hand clasping my wrists, the other diving into my shirt from the collar.

I whimper. “Soren!”

He doesn’t respond, the sounds coming from his throat sounding inhuman, almost animalistic. And I don’t know whether to be scared or turned on. He pushes down the fabric until my boob pops out, and he twists the nipple hard.

A squeal leaves my throat.

Suddenly, he leans up on his knees, batting his eyes.

Then comes the pain.

It’s so visible that it even takes my breath away as his whole face contorts and a loud howl emanates from deep within his chest.

He rolls over onto the ground on his knees and buries his head into the soil between his arms again, clenching his teeth so hard he could break them.

I swiftly sit up and tug my shirt back up, but a bit of the fabric still got torn in his onslaught.

What just happened?

Was he … still asleep?

It was like he was overtaken by lust.

Like the desire had turned him mad.

When his head turns, and his eyes bore into my soul, I crawl back a little on hands and feet.

“You …” he growls, breathing loudly like a wild bear.

“I’m sorry,” I say, shaking my head.

“Don’t!” he rebukes with a gravelly voice.

He slides closer and fishes his knife from his pocket. I instinctively hold my hands in front of my body to protect myself.

“Why?” he growls.

“I … I saw you were hurting and I,” I mutter, my heart beating in my throat. “I just wanted to help.”

He stares at me for a second, the look in his eyes slowly becoming less and less like those of a fiery demon wanting to torture you until infinity. And for a second, I wish he would just accept my help.

But the moment passes quicker than I can blink, and he swiftly cuts the rope around us, gets up, and marches off.

I suck in a few much-needed breaths after that encounter, but I can’t help wonder. “Where are you going?”

He doesn’t respond. He just keeps walking until he’s out of my sight.

The complete and utter silence of these woods hits me right in the face.

All I have to keep me company is the crackling of the fire that’s burning out slowly.

I get up on my feet and look around. After a few minutes, I find him leaning with his forehead against a tree, the knife still in his hand.

But blood drips down the blade.

My eyes widen.

* * *

Soren

One second, I’m sleeping, having the dirtiest dream I’ve ever had about this girl slipping naked into the water, only to come out and kneel in front of me, begging me to take her … and then the next, I find this same girl on top of me, toying with the metal around my waist.

In an instant, I was rock hard, and it hurt so bad that I wanted to fuck her and kill her at the same time because of the pain it caused me. I wasn’t myself. I wasn’t even fully there.

But I remember feeling her taut nipples with my own fingers, and I cannot forget … or forgive.

I shake my head, trying to rid myself of these filthy thoughts, these emotions swirling through my head.

A man like me can’t feel, can’t want, can’t desire.

It’s impossible.

Because I was made to obey.

To torture.

To kill.

And she … she draws out the worst in me.

I groan against the tree as I cut a wound into my own skin, forcing myself to lose these desires tempting me to do something wicked to this girl. I already did the unforgivable, and now I must pay the price.

Flesh for flesh, blood for blood.

One pain to ease another.

My cock slowly deflates along with my lust as the blood rolls down my leg.

But it’s still not enough.

As I raise the blade to slice again, a gentle hand suddenly envelops my wrist.

My body instantly yearns to throw her up against the tree and bite her. I must ignore these sensations, but how do I deal with it when she won’t let me?

“Let go!” I snarl at her.

“No,” she yells back, putting in every inch of her strength to stop me. “Stop.”

She wants me to stop? She was on top of me, trying to peel away the very thing holding me together.

So I turn to face her and roar, “You did this to me!”

Her fingers unlatch from my hand, and she takes a step back, looking at me with tears in her eyes. Those same tears I’ve seen on a woman plenty of times before … but never did they put a wrench in my soul as badly as they do now.

“I’m sorry,” she mutters.

Her squeaky voice makes it all the more painful.

Not because I cannot bear to hear it, but because I want nothing more than to hear it … over and over again … and it’s driving me insane.

Our ragged breaths are the only audible sound for a few seconds.

“Leave me,” I say.

She won’t run. There’s nowhere to go.

It’s better for her and for me if she’s not around me right now.

But she shakes her head at me as if she actually wants to stick around, and I don’t understand.

“Why not?”

Why would she want to stop me?

Why would she care?

I wish I understood this woman, but the more time I spend with her, the less I understand about these creatures.

She swallows, visibly shaken by my actions … and questions. “I … you’re the only one who can get me out of these forests. If you hurt yourself, you could die, and then what? Then I’m all alone in a place I don’t know. And then I’ll die too.”

I snort and twirl the blade around in my hand.

Of course, that’s the reason.

Why did I ever think it could be anything else?

Still, my heart and face lose a little of that edge of darkness I was hinging on.