Carnage by Sarah Bailey

Thirty Eight

West

The way she trembled below me with my words had the darkness inside me smiling. How she continued to defy me when she knew exactly what I would do had me thinking she did this shit on purpose. She wanted me to punish her. Her guilt was showing. The whole fucking reason she was here was clear as day. It seeped out of her pores. Scarlett had not re-entered our lives with good intentions. And whilst I knew it wasn’t all her fault, she still carried the fucking responsibility of going along with it.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered. “Please don’t hurt me.”

“Now, now, what I did tell you about your apology?”

She shivered. I could feel her heart hammering against me. Her fear was fucking intoxicating. I got drunk off the terrorised woman below me.

“I’ll do it, just please, don’t hurt me.”

I caressed the skin on her neck.

“And here I thought you weren’t going to beg me, Scar. Is that not reserved for Pres?”

“No,” she whimpered. “Please, West. I’m sorry.”

I nuzzled her hair. Fuck, her fear smelt so sweet. I dug my knife out of the table and ran the edge across her bottom lip.

“If I cut you right now, you know what would happen?”

She shook her head.

“We’d make Drake hard as fuck. Then you’d be in bigger trouble.”

“W-what?”

“Mmm, I’ll leave you to work that one out.”

I released her and pushed myself up off the table. Then I straightened my clothes. Scarlett didn’t move, frozen on the table where I’d pinned her. My eyes went to the others. They hadn’t heard the full extent of my conversation with her. Prescott looked like he wanted to deck me. Drake had his arms crossed over his chest with a dark expression. And Francis? Well, he had his fists clenched on the counter. I was in for quite the conversation when she left.

“On your knees, Scar. You wouldn’t want to keep me waiting now, would you?”

She scrambled to obey, pushing herself off the table onto the floor and kneeling at my feet. Her head raised slowly, her hazel-green eyes meeting mine. I put the tip of my knife under her chin and forced her head up further.

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have spoken to you in the way I did, West. I didn’t mean it.”

“And… what else?”

She reached out and gripped my belt between her fingers. Her expression was full of earnestness and stark honesty.

“I want your dick as much as I want Pres’. I need it.”

I fought my smile so fucking hard.

“Who is allowed to touch you?”

“You, Drake, Francis and Pres.”

“And who do you belong to, Scar?”

“You.”

I stroked my knife down her cheek.

“That’s right. You best not forget that again, you hear me?”

She nodded, her fingers tightening around my belt. There was nothing sweeter than watching her beg me to forgive her with her eyes. Beg me to not unleash my inner deviant and wreck her soul. It was only a matter of time until I did. Until she saw the monster living inside me. The one who had no mercy for anyone. Not even her.

“I won’t.”

Before I could stop her, she’d released my belt and took my hand. She pressed her lips to my knife. Then she licked it, her tongue running up the smooth side of the blade. And finally, she kissed my knuckles where I had symbols tattooed representing the lives I’d taken. The important ones and the scum of the earth who didn’t deserve to breathe air.

Dear fuck, I have no words.

“Yours, West,” she whispered. “I’m yours.”

Then she let go and rose to her feet. Her actions proved to me the real Scarlett was still in there. The one who was as fucked up and psycho as the rest of us. We had to tear her out somehow. Not yet, but soon.

She stared up at me, a fucking queen in her own right but she didn’t know it yet. I flicked my knife closed and slipped it back into my pocket. Stepping closer to her, I wrapped my hand around the back of her head and leant down, watching the others over her shoulder.

“We’re going to fuck you all together again, Scar. Not now, but soon. And this time you’re going to watch every moment. See the way your body strains and struggles to take us all at once.”

Slipping my free hand beneath her dressing gown, I cupped her bare breast. My thumb flicked over the hardened peak.

“We’re going to fuck you until you’re crying and then I’ll lick away your tears. They taste so damn sweet.”

She shuddered and let out a little gasp.

“Don’t piss me off again, Scar, or I won’t let any of them make you come when we use you for our damn fucking pleasure.”

I pinched her nipple for good measure. She squeaked, rocking back on her heels.

“And I really, really want to make you come so many times, you pass out again.”

I released her, stepped back and pointed at the dining room table.

“Sit.”

She obeyed straight away, taking a seat and stared down at the wood. I took a seat next to her, stroking my fingers along her shoulder as I leant my arm over her chair. And I fucking dared the rest of them to give me shit with my eyes. None of them did. They wouldn’t in front of Scarlett.

I watched Prescott shake his head and give me a dirty look before he turned away to continue making her breakfast. Something had happened between him and Scarlett last night. I wasn’t sure what, but he kept glancing at her as if to reassure himself she was okay.

Drake and Francis were clearly unimpressed with both me and him. They were having a rather heated whispered conversation and kept giving us disapproving looks.

“They’re not very happy Pres let you stay,” I murmured in Scarlett’s ear.

She looked at me.

“Are you?”

I gave her a smile.

“Pres can do whatever he wants. I’m not his fucking keeper.”

“Can I ask you something?”

I curled my hand around her shoulder.

“If you want.”

She searched my eyes for a long moment.

“Why are you okay with them touching me?”

I shrugged.

“We’ve always shared our toys.”

“That’s all I am to you? A toy for your amusement?”

She was far from a fucking toy. Hell, this woman was my damn soul, but until she remembered who the fuck I was to her, I wouldn’t be giving her anything.

“Aw, Scar, am I destroying your fantasies of a loving, caring relationship or something? Hate to break it to you, but I don’t do romance or any of that other bullshit.”

She frowned.

“No. And I didn’t say you could call me Scar.”

My hand tightened around her shoulder.

“I don’t recall needing your permission.”

“You’re not big on asking for anything.” She reached out and curled her fingers around my thigh. “You take what you want and don’t care who gets hurt in the process.”

I licked my lip. Raising my free hand, I curled it around her neck, stroking her pulse point. She didn’t try to stop me or push me off. I cocked my head to the side and gave her a sly smile.

“I like hurting you, Scar. You cry so sweetly on my dick.”

She pursed her lips, clearly trying to refrain from giving me a smart remark back.

“I won’t punish you if you tell me what you’re thinking right now.”

Her nails dug into my leg. I didn’t wince. No, I fucking loved the sharp pricks of pain.

“I want more than good dick,” she whispered. “But I don’t think you’re capable of giving it to me.”

“You have the others for conversation if you need it.”

Her free hand curled around mine around her neck, fingers caressing my skin.

“One way or another, West, you’re going to show me who you really are. Don’t kid yourself into believing you won’t.”

Such a bold little thing she was. And I fucking loved it.

“We’ll just have to see, won’t we?”

Her eyes darkened. There she was. My girl showing her true colours once again.

I released her and leant back in my seat as Prescott approached with a plate for her. He set it down and returned to the kitchen to get his own. Then he sat on her other side and stroked a hand down her back.

“Eat, little lamb,” he murmured.

Had this prick gone soft for her? Was that why he kept giving me those murderous looks? He needed to chill the fuck out. I wasn’t actually going to cut her with my knife. A little pain didn’t kill anyone, but I’d already hurt her enough to last a lifetime. As if I would endanger her life again.

My eyes went to Francis, annoyance flooding my veins. If it wasn’t for… I stopped my thoughts in their tracks. No point taking a trip down memory lane. It wouldn’t do me any good.

Scarlett and Prescott shared a whispered conversation with each other whilst they ate. I’d already had a liquid breakfast after my workout. I’d been waiting to go downstairs with the others when these two had shown up.

When they were done, Prescott took her back upstairs to dress. I stood up and leant against the table, eyeing Drake and Francis warily. They didn’t say a single word, only looked at me with reproach in both their eyes.

Scarlett and Prescott returned a few minutes later, Scarlett in her clothes from last night. She left Prescott to approach Drake with cautious steps. He stared down at her, his expression blank as usual when she stopped in front of him.

“I have to go home and change. I’ll be a little late, but I promise I’ll make up the time.”

Drake said nothing for a long moment. The only reaction he had was the flexing of his hand, something only I noticed. Drake's tells were so fucking obvious. He wanted to tell her it wasn’t okay, but I had a feeling he was way more pissed with Prescott right now.

“Don’t let it happen again.”

She gave him a nod. Prescott walked over to the lift and pressed the button for it. Scarlett gave Drake a tentative smile before saying good morning to Francis. Then she retreated to Prescott’s side as the lift arrived. He leant down and whispered something in her ear, stroking her lower back with his fingers. She smiled up at him, touching his arm before walking into the lift and pressing a button, presumably for the ground floor.

The moment the doors closed and the lift descended Prescott turned around. There was a certain fire in his eyes I rarely ever saw. The next thing I knew, he’d closed the distance between us in three long strides and his hand came up. I didn’t have a chance to duck as his fist collided with my jaw. My head snapped back, pain radiating up my face from the impact.

Lowering my head, I put my hand to my jaw and rubbed it. Fuck me, Prescott had a decent right hook. I’d been on the receiving end of it before, but I forgot how damn fucking strong the guy was.

“What the fuck was that for?”