Carnage by Sarah Bailey

Thirty Five

Prescott

Scarlett clutched my hand as we rode up in the lift to the penthouse. Leaving the awards event would land me in hot water with Drake and Francis, but I didn’t give a shit. West had already disappeared from it after he’d got his own back on Scarlett for dancing with Mason. Those two could hold down the fort just fine without us. As if I was going to pass up on the opportunity for some alone time with Scarlett.

The doors opened as we stopped on our floor. I pulled Scarlett out into our open plan living area. She looked around, her expression darkening as if she remembered what happened when she was last here. How Francis laced her food with a sedative to knock her out and we’d taken advantage of her.

To distract the girl, I tugged her against me, tipping her face up to mine. She blinked, those hazel-green eyes full of emotion.

“Do you want something to drink?”

She shook her head. I stroked her jaw, unsure of where this tenderness had come from. I didn’t treat anyone with care. Somehow, Scarlett made me soft for her without even fucking trying. Her fragility made me want to wrap her up in cotton wool and shield her from everything coming her way. And yet… I wanted to wreck her too.

My knowledge of her from when we were kids made this complicated. Made it hard for me to bury my feelings towards her. She’d been one of my closest friends. My confidant. And I couldn’t stop all the memories of our childhood flooding my brain whenever she was around me. The way she’d smile and challenge the four of us. Our Little Nyx had such a beautiful soul. She was the brightest part of us. The one we’d lay down our fucking lives to protect. And now… well, we weren’t protecting her at all. We were using her as a means to an end. But it was to keep her by our sides too. None of us wanted to live without Scarlett again. She completed us.

“Should I give you a tour?”

She reached up and fiddled with my bowtie.

“Of your bedroom?”

I couldn’t fight my smile.

Oh, my dirty little lamb, you are asking to get railed.

“Is that what you want to see?”

“I thought…”

“Thought what?”

“That you’d want something for letting me stay with you.”

I didn’t blame her for thinking that given our last encounter. And she’d be right too. She owed me for this. The shit I’d get off Drake and Francis would be fucking annoying, but they’d be directing their ire at West too. I might get off lightly this time.

“Mmm, last time you weren’t so… willing.”

Her cheeks went a rather fetching shade of red.

“I liked what you did to me,” she whispered.

And fuck if her admission didn’t rattle me. I shoved my whirling emotions away, concentrating on the fact she wanted me to fuck her again.

“Did you now? Well, perhaps we’ll play a little game.” My hand left her back and curled into her hair. “It’s called…” I tugged her head back by her hair. “Good girls who beg get rewarded.”

Her eyes widened and her lips parted.

“What do you want, little lamb?”

“I can ask for anything?”

I chuckled.

“Anything within reason, sweetness.”

Her hands slid down my chest and underneath my lapels.

“There are three things I want.” She nibbled on her bottom lip, gazing up at me with hesitation in her expression. “I want to see all of you… I want to touch you… and I want you to kiss me.”

I expelled a breath. Those were very simple requests. And I wasn’t sure what to make of them, especially the kissing part. Whilst I prided myself on my skilled mouth, I rarely allowed such… intimacies. Kisses had always been a reward for good behaviour. Somehow, I didn’t think Scarlett wanted me to kiss her as part of a game. No, she wanted me to kiss her purely because I wanted to. And that fucking terrified the shit out of me.

Instead of answering her, I let her go, only to take her hand and pull her towards the stairs. Scarlett followed me without hesitation. Taking her into my sanctuary was something I shouldn’t allow but fuck it. I wanted her in my bed, her naked body spread out for me. To fuck her where I slept every night. And I wanted her scent on my sheets to remain long after she left.

We walked up the stairs and down the hallway together until we came to my door. I opened it and strolled into the dark room, shutting it firmly behind me and flipping the lock. I dropped her hand and hit the switch, bathing the room in light. The floor to ceiling windows spread across one wall, giving an impressive view of the city. The rest of the walls were a dark grey. One had shelves with a huge TV in the centre mounted on the wall. The shelves contained many trinkets I’d acquired over the years. Scarlett made a beeline for them, running her fingers over a steel skull with gold snakes coiling out of it.

On the other side of the room sat my bed, its pale green sheets neatly folded across it. I was in the habit of making it just right every morning. West told me I was anal about appearances, but he was a fucking idiot. I liked things being in their place.

“What’s this?” she asked, picking up a small statue of a crowned rider with a bow on his back seated on a white horse.

I made my way over to her, curled myself around her back and plucked it out of her fingers, setting it back on the shelf in its rightful place next to the other three riders on horses.

“Pestilence.”

She turned her head, looking up at me with wide eyes. I pointed at the next horse, which was red and the rider carried a sword raised high in the air as if charging towards something.

“War.”

My hand fell next to the merchant upon a black horse.

“Famine.”

And I indicated the final horse with my fingers, pale green with a cloaked figure carrying a scythe.

“Death.”

Scarlett looked at them and swallowed.

“Did you get these before or after people started calling you the Four Horsemen?”

I chuckled and wrapped my arms around her waist, tugging her back against my front. My nose went to her ear, nuzzling it.

“Before. I’m far from religious, but they fascinate me. Would they be flesh and blood mortals or beings of a higher power? Who knows. I like to think they’re symbolic of humanity’s greed and corruption… how it infects everything, seeping into your soul and making you weak to your baser desires. They’re sent to punish the wicked. To tear them to pieces for their wanton desires.” I stroked her stomach, needing to be skin on skin with this woman who I shouldn’t want to get closer to. “But little do they know, the Horsemen are just as wicked and destructive as they are.”

“Wicked men hiding in plain sight,” she whispered.

“Exactly.”

She turned around in my arms and pressed her face to my chest, her hands slipping under my tux jacket again. In that moment, I let myself feel the sense of belonging she brought on. Scarlett should be in my arms. She was a part of me. A part of us. She was home.

“Be wicked to me, Pres.”

“Ask nicely, little lamb, and maybe I will.”

“Please show me your wicked side.”

Leaning down, I gripped her legs and picked her up. She yelped, wrapping her legs around my waist and her arms around my neck. I carried her over to my bed and laid her down with me covering her body. I ran my hand down her bare leg, watching her parted lips, her hands gripping my collar to keep me close. Then I ran my fingers down the centre of her chest, making her shudder.

“Do you wish Pestilence would infect you, sweetness?”

She panted out a breath and didn’t respond. My fingers paused between her breasts.

“Use your words… I won’t reward you otherwise.”

“Yes, I want you to infect me, please.”

Did she have any idea what she was doing to my self-restraint? The neediness in her voice had my dick throbbing, desperate to be in her. Whilst I loved to watch and hunt, there were times like this where I wanted to indulge myself in touch, taste and the sounds of begging, pleading wantonness from a woman.

My fingers resumed their path. This dress needed to come off. I needed to see her exposed. All of her on show.

“Mmm, me? Do you think I’m your Pestilence? Am I going to corrupt you?”

“Yes,” she gasped, hips bucking into me. “Please, fuck, please, Pres.”

Her fingers tightened on my clothes, her eyes wide with an intense craving for me. I leant towards her and nuzzled my nose along her collarbone before pressing a kiss to the bare skin above her dress.

“Say it,” I murmured against her skin. “Fucking say it, little lamb.”

Her hands slid from my collar up to my neck and into my hair. I groaned with the feel of her nails against my scalp.

“Fuck me, Pestilence.”

I’d died and gone to fucking heaven. Never in my wildest fantasies did I ever imagine how damn sweet it would be to hear her call me that. I was going to ruin this woman completely tonight. Break her apart piece by piece until she could do nothing but give in to me.

Reaching behind her, I unzipped the back of her dress before tugging it down her shoulders and off her body. My mouth watered when I realised she wasn’t wearing a bra, her full breasts on display. I took her heels off her feet and discarded them with the dress off the end of the bed. Her little lacy knickers were drenched in her arousal, no doubt from West’s earlier exploration and my own right now. I ran a finger through them.

“Such a dirty little lamb.”

She squirmed before pushing herself up on her elbows.

“Can… can I touch you… please?”

I smirked.

“If you wish.”

As quickly as I answered, she was on her knees with me, her hands splayed out across my chest. First, Scarlett undid my bowtie and threw it away. Next, she unbuttoned my jacket and I shrugged out of it. Her fingers made quick work of my shirt. She pulled it open and stared at my bare chest.

“Fuck,” she whispered, her fingers tracing lines down my skin.

All of us utilised our home gym downstairs to keep in shape. I wasn’t crazy about working out, but I had a routine to maintain my appearance.

“Do you like what you see?”

She bit her lip and nodded, her eyes intent on me as if she couldn’t tear her gaze away. I undid my cufflinks and threw them on the bedside table before pulling my shirt off completely. Her hands went to my belt, unbuckling it before she unzipped me. I watched her tug my trousers off my hips. Pulling away, I slipped off my shoes, socks and trousers. I stood in front of her in my boxers, the clear outline of my hard cock straining against them. Her eyes were on it, her hands fisting in her lap as if she was struggling not to reach out for me. As if she wanted everything I had on offer.

Don’t worry, sweetness, I’ll give it to you. All of it. Just be a good girl for me, hmm? Do as I say and beg me for my dick. Beg me to kiss you. Beg me for it all. I want to do my worst to your sinful little body. To my Little Nyx.

“So, little lamb.” I ran my hand over my dick. “If you want this… you’re going to have to make me believe it.”

Her eyes flicked up to mine, widening slightly.

“Beg.”