Dark Need by Clarissa Wild

Chapter 16

April

We eatthe rest of our food in silence. Soren hasn’t spoken since I told him I was from a cult.

I didn’t expect the conversation to drop dead, but I guess that happens when you talk about that sort of stuff.

I didn’t say it to be snarky. I just wanted him to know I’ve done a lot of things I didn’t want to do. That I was being forced. And that being with him like this reminds me of that place and those people there who wanted to confine me in the same way.

But I am not a girl who can be caged.

I’m a free spirit who will always fight to be able to spread her wings.

Whether it’s one man or a whole army, nothing is going to stop me from being who I am.

And I needed him to know that.

Even if only subconsciously.

I am not just another number, another girl, another one of the House’s sinners.

I am a girl whose freedom was robbed from her right in front of her.

And I would rather die than go back to imprisonment.

I swallow down the last bit of my food and pick up both our plates to bring them to the kitchen. As I clean the table with the cleanest cloth I could find, Soren stares at me while casually leaning back in his chair like he wants something from me but refuses to ask, and I hate it.

I hate how he looks at me … and what it does to my body.

How it makes me yearn to hear that grumpy voice again that makes the goose bumps scatter on my skin.

“What?” I bark after I can’t take it anymore.

A hint of a smile tips up the corner of his mouth. Still, he doesn’t say a word.

I frown, putting my hands against my side. “Well … stop looking at me like that.”

“How?”

I don’t know whether he’s asking me what kind of way he’s looking at me … or if he’s asking me how he can stop.

And for some reason, the thought makes my whole body heat.

A blush creeps onto my cheeks, but I will it away and sigh out loud. “I … need to freshen up.”

Without saying another word, I hurriedly open each of the doors until I find the bathroom, where I lock the door behind me and slam the back of my head against the wood.

Stop it, April. Just stop. Don’t think. Don’t feel. Especially not for a guy like him.

No matter how hard it becomes. No matter how badly your body responds to him.

Do not give in.

I blow out a big breath and look at myself in the grimy mirror, wiping away some of the dirt with water that luckily still runs from the faucet. I’m a mess, and I look the part, and seeing myself in the mirror only makes me want to cry.

April, the girl who once dreamed of having her own bakery … now in the hands of men who want to use her for their own gain. How did it ever come to this?

Oh right, because I had the audacity to want to go to a meetup in an underground venue where they spoke about God. I needed guidance after a tough breakup … Instead, I got taken and thrown into a cell.

All because they wanted me for my body.

I was a girl they could marry off to some random man I’d never met, so he could fuck me and make me have his babies.

The thought makes all the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.

I rub my cheeks and splash some water onto my face, trying to erase the memories.

I am a new person now.

Not just a girl who was discarded … but a girl with a fierce passion for life.

And I’ll be damned if I ever have to give it up all because of a man.

I take another deep breath and head out the door. Soren’s now lying on the couch with a blanket covering his body. I open the door to the bedroom where there’s one king-size bed, the bedding still intact as if no one ever slept here. The other door leads to a closet filled with supplies.

Guess I’ll take the bed then since he already parked himself on the couch.

Still, as I head inside, he throws me a grumbling sound.

“Wait.”

I pause and wait with my back to him.

Suddenly, his body presses against mine, and his thumb brushing down my arm sets off a blazing fire within me.

He grips my hand and brings it to his face, inspecting the red marks around my wrist. Then he holds out some lotion that he probably found in his bag and squirts it on there, rubbing it in.

I tug my hand away and stutter, “Y-you d-didn’t have to do that.”

He cocks his head. “Yeah, I do.”

The way he says it, so resolute and full of devotion, makes me swallow hard. He doesn’t sugarcoat it, doesn’t try to hide that he actually does … care.

And something about that makes me melt into a puddle.

Fuck.

“Uh … good night,” I murmur as I tuck my hair behind my ear and quickly tiptoe into the room, trying to shut the door.

However, he wedges his foot in the doorway. “Don’t close it.”

His eyes burn with that same fire I feel in my own body, and it’s almost impossible to tear my eyes away.

And for a second there, I almost, almost feel like he’s about to lean in and kiss me.

But then he turns around and marches off to the couch again, and I’m left with clenched thighs and a confused mind.

Did he tell me to keep this open because he wants to keep tabs on me so I don’t escape?

Or is it because of something else?

Like … wanting to look at me?

Shaking it off, I turn around and hop into bed, crawling under the blanket. The warmth and comfort are very welcome compared to the harsh environment we’ve been walking in for so long. But I cannot stop thinking about that beast of a man lying in the living room, waiting for me to come out and try to sneak out … so he can grab me again and pin me down.

And rip down my shirt to fondle my boobs again.

Fuck.

I really have to stop thinking about this.

Suddenly, the sound of water pitter-pattering down catches my attention.

Soren’s under the shower.

And I don’t know why but I’m instantly reminded of that time he walked into the lake butt naked. My eyes slam shut, and I turn around in bed, forcing myself to forget the images that just popped into my head, along with the tiny thumps in my pussy.

Instead, I focus on what I’m going to do when I get back home, where I’m going to start my new business, how many customers I’m going to have, and all the delicious things I’ll cook for them. And with that thought, I fall into a restless, dreamless slumber.

Until I hear a roar in the middle of the night that makes my eyes burst open and my heart pump in my throat.

Soren.

* * *

Soren

Minutes ago

I can smellher scent from a mile away. Even as I lie here on the couch, her smell enters my nostrils with a sweetness I can’t stop wanting to lick.

Fuck.

I have to stop this.

Grumbling to myself, I get up from the couch and march into the bathroom, where I turn on the shower. I rip off my clothes and step underneath the cold water, forcing my body to cool down before my dick gets hard again.

I cannot allow myself to go there again.

The pain is just too much to bear.

So I plant my hand against the wall and let the water pour down on my naked body, then wash thoroughly, leaving nothing unscathed. I take ample time on my cock. Even though it’s trapped in metal, I can still reach every part through the bars with a piece of cloth.

When I’m done, I turn off the shower and dry myself before putting my clothes back on. Now that I’ve cooled off, it’s easier to walk past her door without feeling the incredible urge to hunt her down and pounce on her like the animal I am.

But even as I lie back down on the couch again for some much-needed sleep, all I can think of is her and those sultry lips, those beautiful tits, and just how much I want to use them for my pleasure along with every other inch of her body.

I used to dream of ways to torture a soul, about blood and suffering.

Now all I dream about is her.

And no matter how exhausted I get, she’s there to energize me, excite me … make me burn with need.

I want to kiss her, lick her body until she begs for mercy, sink my teeth into her flesh until she screams my name.

And she’s right here in front of me, wearing that same thin shirt and pants that stick to her body, allowing me to swipe my eyes over her naked skin underneath. A deep, rumbling groan emanates from my chest as she sits down on top of me, her fingers sliding down my legs as my pants are pulled down and taken off.

A burning pain shoots down my thighs, straight into my crotch, and I growl out loud, the sound echoing through the cabin. I can’t fucking move from the pain, and it becomes so bad that I roar out loud.

Suddenly, I feel something … or someone … pick at the metal around my waist.

My eyes burst open as I realize the dream in my head was a twisted version of reality.

Because April is right here in front of me, sitting on top of my legs, poking at the metal with an actual fork and knife.

“What the—”

It stings so bad I can’t even form the words.

“Hold still,” she says, toiling away at the metal like she wants nothing more than to take it off.

But as she makes a crack in the lock, I quickly come to my senses and grip her wrist, forcing her to look at me.

“Don’t,” I growl, but the pain is making it impossible for me to move.

“You’re in pain,” she responds, and she jerks free of my grip. “This thing needs to come off.”

She sticks the fork into the lock and messes around with it while another burst of pain shoots up and down my body, and I groan with rage.

With a deadly look, I stare straight into her eyes. “I can’t control myself.”

She pauses for a second, fear briefly flashing in her eyes before the determination takes over.

“I cannot just sit here and let you be in pain!” she retorts, and she jams the fork into the lock so hard that it breaks.

The metal loosens from around my waist when the lock falls off.

The pain instantly diminishes, but my rage does not as she gets up from the couch and tears off the metal in one go.

My nostrils flare as she steps back, still clutching the metal while I crawl up from the couch and stand in front of her, tall and proud. Her eyes take in every inch of my body as they slide down to my fully erect cock.

She gulps and takes another step back.

But the more she walks, the more my rage grows, along with an indescribable lust to ravage her body.

Because this metal wasn’t just placed on me to stop me from ever enjoying myself so I could fulfill my tasks.

It was to cage the hungry, carnal animal who has never had a woman for himself.

To protect good, beautiful women like herself …

From me.

And now that the beast is uncaged, nothing is stopping me from claiming what I want.