Cruel Control by Candace Wondrak

Chapter Six – Markus

My eyes and ears on Fred Osborne had notified me that he’d finally gotten home late last night. He’d come home to an empty house, to a home without his precious daughter. The little girl he’d spent years hiding, the girl he’d kept away from the world, from its horrors… from its men. Keeping her sheltered, keeping her safe, keeping her virtue intact.

This world did not lend to innocence, but it did lend to its dissolution, to its desecration, to its utter and complete annihilation.

Juliet was a butterfly, beautiful and caged. Precious and weak. It was only a matter of time before those wings of hers were plucked, before a needle punctured her and pinned her to the wall of this madhouse. Whether it was me or someone else who destroyed her did not matter. All that mattered was that Fred Osborne fell back in line. That he realized how serious this situation was and I did not take his actions lightly—nor did I take mine.

I did not get off on the destruction of innocence, but I’d be lying if I said I was not lured to it. Juliet was… so fragile, so breakable, she truly had no idea. She inherently called out to the thing caged inside, to that beast I never let out.

I did not lose control. I was always in control. I controlled everyone around me. If there was one thing I did not like, it was the mere notion of not being the one in control. Frankly, I didn’t know what I would’ve done or where I would be if my father had not chosen me to take his place as the head of the family.

If he’d chosen someone else, someone like Lincoln… the family would’ve crumbled. When you ran a place like this, when you had countless of sociopaths on leashes below you, you had to be aware of each and every leash and just how tightly you had to pull on them to remind them they would regret not being well-behaved.

I waited for Jaxon and Juliet to show up, sitting alone in my office. I’d had an early breakfast, up before dawn, as I usually was. I was… surprised, to say the least, that I had not been woken up in the middle of the night with a report that Juliet had tried to escape. Not that I slept much, that was—and not that I didn’t anticipate her trying to run.

Oh, I knew she would. I could see the fire in her eyes. It was only a matter of time before she tried to run from me, and the moment she did, I would make her regret it. I would show her just how dark I could be.

Truly, she’d gone from one prison to another, and though I was not her father, I would not hesitate to punish her for her disobedience and insolence. Just a part of the job.

Even if I happened to take pleasure in it.

I sat there, waiting, leaning on the arm of my chair, elbow propped up. I ran a finger along my bottom lip, letting my mind wander a bit. I did not let myself daydream often; I found it useless in every way, but that girl had found her way into my head more often than not these last two years.

Maybe that’s why I’d gone to such extreme lengths to get her here. To have her here under the guise of teaching her father a lesson. I claimed it was part of the job, but was it really? Would it always be so? I liked to think I was more self-aware than most of my brothers when it came to reality.

And the reality was I was not sure.

For now, it was just the job. But the more I repeated that in my head, the less likely it felt true.

It wasn’t as if I felt lonely. It wasn’t like I’d never been with a woman before. I knew the soft curves of a woman’s body, knew the sounds they could make. I knew what they felt like under me, their legs around my waist and their cunts tightening around my cock. My actions surrounding this whole thing were not simply because of physical desire.

A memory rose in the back of my mind, a memory I could not stop.

It was a week after my father had taken me to the basement and basically told me I would be his replacement, that I would run this family when he retired. He was getting older, he’d said, and he wanted to see the world and its wonders… and do it with all of his wives.

He had a lot of them. My father collected wives like no other. They knew about each other, too. Whether it was the money or something else, whether it was genuine love for my father that made them all stick around, I had no idea. I wasn’t really interested.

Father had told me to dress to impress for tonight, so I’d donned a suit. Felt a little snug on me, for I was not accustomed to wearing one, but such clothes were what my father wore nearly every day. I supposed I’d have to get used to it.

I met my father in one of the lounges of the house, and he appraised me with a smile. “You look good, son,” he said. He stood near a cabinet of liquor, and within seconds, he got two crystal glasses out and poured some whiskey for us both. I was not twenty-one yet, but it would not be the first time I’d tasted alcohol.

When you were a Scott, not every law applied.

Father sipped his, and that’s what I did with mine. It was strong stuff, but I did not wince as it burned while falling down my throat. “I have a surprise for you,” he told me. “A surprise and, of course, a lesson.”

We finished up the drinks, set the glasses down, and then we were off. I walked beside him, but I let him lead us. He took us down to the first floor of the house, his hands in his suit pockets.

“As you know, nothing matters more than getting the job done. Whatever it is, whoever needs to meet their end—for this family to keep going, it needs to run without a hitch. You can’t let emotions control you. You can’t let the heat of the moment get out of hand.”

I nodded along, fully agreeing with every single word he said, and because of that, I said nothing. What was there to say? I was still young, there were still things I would have to learn before he left us, the financial aspects and everything else, but that much I already knew.

We stopped before a closed door, and my father turned to face me, staring at me with an intensity even I could not match. “There is one weakness many men share, and I don’t mean the penchant for blood your brothers have. It is a weakness that has nearly tripped me up on occasion. Can you guess what that weakness is, Markus?”

I thought, but I didn’t say anything, because I wasn’t sure what could’ve tripped my father up on multiple occasions. He always seemed so strong and collected; whatever it was, he hid it well.

When I said nothing, my father gave me a smile. It was not a warm smile; more of a cold one, the kind of smile I was used to receiving when it came to him. He set a hand on my shoulder, squeezing gently as he said, “Women.”

All I could do was blink.

It was clear I was not quite understanding what he was saying, so he dropped his hand and went on, “Men share an almost universal weakness, and that is a weakness to women. To their bodies, to their screams, to the pleasure they can bring you. To the feeling of being their protector, their defender.”

My eyebrows creased, and I said, “But you have—”

“Wives that bear me sons and daughters, the ones who will carry on my legacy. I will admit this to you, but I don’t want you to ever repeat this to any of your siblings.” My father lowered his voice to a whisper, “Your mother almost convinced me to leave it all behind, to start a new life with her somewhere. It was right after your grandfather died. I… almost agreed with her.” Shadows danced across his features, and I was momentarily struck by the sudden truth of it all.

Father had almost run away with a woman. It didn’t seem right. It didn’t seem right at all.

“But I realized this family needed me, so I put my foot down, refused to let her be a weakness of mine.” He lifted his hands and gestured around us, at the house. “And here we are. I think I made the better decision, don’t you?”

I nodded. Of course he did.

“I tell you all this because I want to prepare you for the future. Women will try to sink their claws into you. They will try to use you, to claim you, to bend you to their will… but you are a Scott, my son, and no son of mine will fall to his knees for a woman.” He spoke those words with such intensity, such belief, that I could not say anything in reply.

My father moved to the door we stood near, setting his hand on the knob. He pushed inside, walking in, and I was right behind him—and then I saw what surprise he had in store for me tonight.

Women. Young women. Pretty women, all in various states of undress. They lounged about the room in lingerie, the curves of their bodies tempting. They chitchatted with each other, though when we entered, they stopped and stared at us. Mostly at me, eyeing me up like I was a piece of meat.

My father leaned in to whisper, “Do not worship what’s between their legs. Instead, let them worship you.” He said nothing else, backing away from me and leaving the room, shutting the door behind him.

I surveyed the room, the women, their smiles and, of course, their bodies. They started to get up, to move toward me, and as they began to swoon over me, to touch me, to touch each other while I watched, to do anything and everything I wanted, I swore one thing to myself.

I would never be like my father. I would never let a woman get to me.

Wasn’t it ironic that it wasn’t a woman who’d gotten to me but instead a girl? A girl who was just barely eighteen, a girl who was pretty but should not have caused me to look twice. Juliet was a girl I never should’ve cared about, and yet somehow it felt as though I had to keep watch.

All these years, I’d made sure… I’d watched, I’d paid attention. I knew the truth about her father, and I knew what he would do to her if he was not put in line.

And I would not see that happen to her. I would much rather take every shred of innocence in her body myself—or let one of the others do it. Did that make me no better than my brothers? Did that make me as weak as Vaughn, who ran off with that girl to try to make a life for themselves as Ed and Lincoln had before meeting and courting Stella? Did it make me as weak as Bennet for denying everything this family was and wanting to do what I wanted to do for once, instead of what was best for the family?

I believed I was better than them, but was I really? Deep down, could I say that without any hint of irony?

A knock brought me out of my mind, and I spoke, “Come in.”

Jaxon and Juliet walked in. Jaxon pushed in first, and he stepped aside, letting me see the girl. She’d changed into more of Stella’s clothes; really had to get her some of her own, ones that fit well and didn’t make her look like a wannabe librarian. Her blonde hair fell over a shoulder, her blue eyes meeting mine almost hesitantly.

Fuck. Everything about her screamed innocent. I was surprised to hear that Fred had let her be. I’d thought… well, I’d thought a lot of things, none of which mattered as I stared at her.

“Good morning,” I said, mostly to Juliet. “Sleep well, I hope?” My words were laced with an edge she immediately noticed, and I watched her break eye contact to stare at her feet. Her bare feet. Had to get her some shoes too, I supposed.

“Sure,” she whispered, barely audible.

She was scared of me, as she should be. When we’d first met at that masquerade, she’d had no idea who I was or what I was capable of. She had no idea that I was worse than the monsters she heard about on the news. A methodical, organized beast who did what he did because he simply had to.

“Your father came home last night,” I said, watching her gaze quickly snap back up, those entrancing blue eyes of hers widen to new depths. Oh, I had her attention now. “From what I heard, he was positively wrought with concern over his missing daughter. He had no idea where you went, if you ran away because you wanted to… or if someone stole you out from your bed.” At that, I shot a glimpse at Jaxon.

Jaxon shifted his weight, but I noticed how he swallowed, how he looked down. Don’t tell me he felt bad about all of this? Don’t fucking tell me he’d started to grow a weakness for her, too?

Had to stomp that out immediately, but one thing at a time.

“What have you done to him?” Juliet had the balls to ask, taking a step closer to my desk. Though she practically trembled in fear, her spine was straight, and she waited for my answer, bold. Too bold.

“I’ve done nothing to him… yet,” I said, breathing evenly as I stood. I moved around my desk, walking toward her as I unbuttoned the two buttons on my suit jacket. The deliberate movement caught her eye, but she remained firmly planted where she was. I stopped when I stood before her, towering over her easily.

Such a tiny girl she was. She had some curves, yes, but she was quite short.

“And I’m not going to—not without your help, that is.” As I spoke, I lifted a hand to her face, swiping some of her blonde hair behind an ear, a soft, gentle gesture that made her shiver. “You and I, Juliet—we’re going to send him a message.” I was slow to cock my head. “Is there anything you’d like to tell dear old daddy?”

“I don’t—no, there’s nothing. I don’t want—”

“Do you think you actually have a choice in this?” I asked, causing her fumbling to stop and those eyes to become even wider as they gazed up at me. Those eyes… one could definitely get used to those eyes under you. “When I say we are going to send Daddy a message, I mean it.”

Her cheeks blushed, and I wondered if that was because I’d mocked her. She called him Daddy. It was such an ugly display of love and adoration. Daddy. No matter what Daddy ever did to her, she loved him. He could keep her locked away in that fucking house and she would still die defending him.

I hated it. I hated him for it.

My eyes moved to Jaxon, who was currently doing his best to ignore the way I towered over Juliet. He said nothing to me, but I could tell he wanted to. The fool. I’d sent him to fetch her because he was loyal and not a little prick like Bennet. He was not supposed to get close to her; he was only supposed to watch her. Key difference there.

“And you,” I said, “are going to tape it for us.” I narrowed my eyes at him. “Do you think you can manage that, Jaxon?” More vitriol than I’d intended seeped into my voice, but I didn’t care. Let him know I saw the beginning cracks on his mask.

Let him know, and let him either fix that mask or own up to it.

Because she did not yet know her place here, Juliet spoke, “And what’s stopping my dad from going to the police? From showing them this video?” As I refocused my attention on her, she lost her gusto. “He knows who you are. He’s not going to sit back and—”

My hand shot up, instantly cupping the lower part of her face, right over that spunky little mouth. “You think you know it all, don’t you? You think I’m the bad guy,” I muttered, frowning down at her as I held onto her face. “What you don’t know is that when I hurt you, I will do it with a purpose, whereas he would have no reason.”

I let her go, turned my back to her, and returned to my chair. She practically pouted like a child, leaning her hands on my desk, meeting my glare with one of her own. “My dad would never hurt me, if that’s what you’re saying,” she spoke—and so proudly, too. Like dear Daddy was the best man she’d ever known.

More like the only man she’d ever known.

“Oh, Juliet,” I whispered, “before you leave this house, I will open those eyes of yours and make you see how ugly the truth really is. There are no good men in this house, but out there? Out in that big, wide world you have no idea about—in case you forgot—there are even fewer. Fewer good men. More animals.”

“If they’re all animals out there, what does that make you?”

The corners of my lips curved upward in a rare smile. A tiny thing, really, gone within seconds, but it was there, if only for a moment. “The devil, of course. And right now, I’m your devil. You should count yourself lucky.” I pointed to the space beside my chair. “Now, come here.”

Juliet did not want to; I could tell she fought with herself, but in the end, she walked around my desk and stood where I told her to, like a good girl.

I reached forward, grabbing a phone I’d set on the desk. Not my personal one, of course, but one I used for business dealings on occasion. I turned on its screen and handed it to Jaxon. When I was not using it for business, it was locked away in a safe in my room.

Jaxon took it, and his fingers deftly hit the right app to record. He positioned himself near the leather chair facing my desk, and I said, “Make sure you get the desk, too.” After I said that, he took a few steps back and nodded.

He was listening to me, so that was good, but I could tell he was still a bit too concerned over the fact that Juliet stood so close to me. If he did not appreciate that, he had a world of hurt coming.

“Let me know when you begin,” I said.

Jaxon waited a moment, and then he hit the screen and gave me a thumbs-up. Those eyes of his kept flicking up and glancing to Juliet, which irritated me to no end.

“Hello, Fred,” I spoke slowly, deliberately taking my time. “I bet you’re wondering where your precious daughter is. As you can see, she’s right here.” I reached for her, running a hand down her arm. I knew she resisted every impulse she had to move away from me. “You and I have had many discussions over the years. You work for me. Not the other way around. Lately, I feel as if this particular detail in our relationship has been ignored.”

That… that was actually not saying much, with everything the man had done, how he’d put us all at risk like the stupid fucker he was.

“I know what you’ve been up to. I’ve known for years. I’ve told you to stop, and yet stop you apparently cannot. So, here we are. At an impasse.” I leaned forward on my desk, folding my hands over each other as I stared at the phone in Jaxon’s hands. “That is why I took your daughter, and I’m going to keep her until you prove to me you can actually listen to instructions.”

Measuredly, I stood, pushing my chair back as I did so. I grabbed Juliet by the back of her throat, moving her so that she stood between me and the desk, her face clear as day on the camera.

“You know me, Fred. You’ve known me for years. You know by now I do not take disobedience lightly,” I said. With one hand on the back of her neck, my other moved to her side. “And since you are not here, since I have this lovely daughter of yours here instead, I think I will make her pay for your crimes. How does that sound?”

Juliet trembled a bit, and I could not blame her. She did not know what was coming, didn’t know what exactly I was capable of. She would find out. She would find out what we were all capable of here; even Jaxon was no knight in shining armor.

Without saying another word, I tore at her shirt. The blouse ripped without resistance, revealing the bra she wore underneath. Out of the corner of my eye, Jaxon tensed, but I was too busy making a show for the camera.

The hand on the back of her throat curled around so it now held onto the front, and I squeezed her harder than would be considered gentle. I made her body lean back into mine, breathing in her scent as I scowled down at her.

“Such a pretty, innocent girl you have, Fred,” I whispered, my other hand making its way up her stomach. A slow crawl, an agonizingly slow and steady movement up to her chest, where her breasts heaved with uneven breaths. “I’m going to take more pleasure than I should from her.”

I dropped the hand from her tits, and in the next moment, I forced her to bend forward, to bend right over my desk, giving me her ass. She whimpered—of course she did. When I’d touched her, I could feel how fast her heart beat, and I knew she was terrified. I would be, I supposed, if things were different and I was in her shoes.

Or, rather, her torn-up clothes.

“I’m going to break her,” I said, moving to hold her down and positioning myself behind her. “I’m going to take that precious innocence of hers and shatter it into a million pieces. I’m going to destroy everything about her, and when I’m done, you’ll get her back—as long as you’ve held up your end. I’m always watching, even when you think I’m not, and you know I’m a man of my word. This girl is mine, and until I’m swayed to believe you can play by my rules again, she will remain mine.”

Juliet’s face was sideways, her cheek pressed down upon my desk. She did not fight me, mostly because she knew she couldn’t.

“If you’ll excuse me, I need a moment to remind your daughter who’s in charge in this house. Maybe if she learns to beg, I’ll be gentle with her. Goodbye for now, Fred.”

Jaxon stopped recording, and he lowered the phone, green eyes studying my position with Juliet. He was trying not to appear too interested, but he failed miserably, in my opinion. Or maybe that was simply because I knew the masks each and every one of these men wore, and I could tell the beginnings of an obsession when I saw one.

Obsession. Whether it be power, blood, money… or even getting off on screams. It ran deep in my family. Everyone knew it. We felt obsession for one thing or another in our very core, and Jaxon was no different. He might not be a Scott by blood, but he’d been raised here, taught by us, molded into what he was today by us. So, no, the one before me was no different at all.

“Leave us, Jaxon,” I growled out. The show was now for both Jaxon and Juliet.

Jaxon hesitated. He hesitated, and I noticed right away. In the blink of an eye, his hesitation was gone, and he set the phone down on the leather chair facing my desk before leaving—but not before tossing a quick glance over his shoulder at us.

At her.

I was slow to turn my gaze down toward her, gripping the back of her neck once more as I leaned down, pressing upon her and whispering, “You seem to have Jaxon under your spell already. I must admit, I’m impressed. He’s always been loyal… but then again, he’s never seen such a defenseless girl before. I imagine he wants to protect you. Instinctual.”

She said nothing, which was probably for the best. If she said something right then, if she defended Jaxon in any way, I might snap—and I never snapped.

“Do you know what my instincts are telling me to do right now?” I whispered to her, moving her hair aside so I could get a better look at her face. Or, rather, the side of it that wasn’t leaning against the wood of my desk. “They’re telling me to show you exactly who’s in control here.” It felt almost too good to have her bent over my desk, her ass in a perfect position for me to grind on.

I’d held it back, my body’s craving, while we were recording, while Jaxon was here, but to have her alone in such a vulnerable position was almost too much. Before it’d been business; I was able to focus on that.

If I was honest with myself, this wasn’t strictly business, not anymore… but I supposed we’d known that all along.

I was hard. I’d gotten hard almost instantly. It was not because she was so helpless. It was not because it’d been so long for me. It was simply because she was the ultimate temptation, the tall glass of water suddenly appearing after wandering the desert for miles. She was the light that shouldn’t exist, the angel among demons, the breath of fresh air amongst the blood and gore.

She was everything I shouldn’t want and yet everything I craved all the same.

But to her, to Juliet, I was the opposite. I was the desert. I was the dark, the devil, the blood and the gore and the danger. I wanted her…  but that did not mean she would ever want me.

I drew myself off her so I could spin her, so I could lay her on her back on my desk and gaze down into those eyes. The same eyes I’d seen for the first time in person that night two years ago. She’d been so ridiculously innocent then, too. Wide-eyed and excited to be free. I’d wanted to take her then, but for more selfish purposes.

This was not just a job.

Juliet gazed up at me, the shirt she wore torn from my earlier actions. She still breathed harshly, unevenly, panting for air as if she couldn’t get enough. Color flushed her cheeks, and not just because she’d been pressed down upon the wood before. No, the way she stared at me—it was not the stare of a frightened girl, not the stare of someone who knew they were royally fucked.

It was defiant. Strong. The kind of stare someone had when they were not afraid.

Her next words said just that: “I’m not scared of you, Markus.” My name on her tongue was damn near the best sound I’d ever heard, and I swore I felt everything in me tighten as a result. My soul, my heart, my cock.

The part of her shirt that didn’t rip was the hemline around her neck, but I fixed that. I tore the damn thing open all the way, let my eyes eat her up. The soft, white flesh on her stomach, the rounded skin above her bra. The way even her neck was flushed. She was flustered, emboldened despite the position she was in.

And she was beautiful in the way only something good could be. Untouchable—but at the same time, very touchable.

I drew my hands along her, meeting her eyes, slow to lean my top half over hers, lowering my face to hover mere inches above hers. “You should be,” I whispered back. “You should be very afraid of me, Juliet. The things I’ll do to you… the things I’ll make you enjoy.” My hands moved to her chest, cupping her tits and instantly making her gasp. “The things I’ll make you beg for. Everything about you, I will take, and I won’t stop until every part of you is tainted, until you look in the mirror and don’t even recognize yourself.”

There was something so delicious about it, wasn’t there? Something so appealing about making this girl mine. Mine in every way possible.

“I’ll make you never want to go back to him again,” I murmured, my thumbs running circles on her bra. I could feel the pebbled nipples trying to poke through. “You’ll be begging to stay here, Juliet. Begging me.”

I bet she’d never had someone touching her like this. I bet she’d never felt an ounce of bodily pleasure in her life. Maybe I should show her what that body of hers was capable of, the things it could feel, the way her muscles could clench.

Just this once. Just a momentary lapse of weakness on my part; it didn’t mean I was weak for her.

“I won’t,” she whispered back, and this time she tried to get up, tried to push me off her, but I took her neck in my hand and slammed her back down.

“You will,” I told her, reaching down between us. She wore leggings. Stella’s. The Butcher had a thing for leggings, and I had to admit, on Juliet, they looked good. They hugged every part of her tightly, just as they should. When my hand neared that space between her legs, she glared. She glared at me so hard it almost made me smile.

Such fury. Did she hate me? She’d be better off if she did. Hate and fear; the only things this girl should feel toward me. Nothing else. Never anything else. We both had to remember who I was and why we were here. Not because we wanted to, but because we had to.

“Speak again,” I warned, “and I will make you regret it.”

To her credit, she did not attempt to speak; however, she did try to reach down and pull my hand away. I responded by releasing her neck and taking her wrists in my hands. Such small things, much like her. Once I had them situated above her head, I easily held them both with a single hand, thereby immobilizing her.

“Well?” I prodded, feeling suddenly too warm in my suit. “Don’t tell me you’re actually going to stay silent? I’m impressed. I thought I’d have to drill obedience into you—not that I would’ve minded.”

Juliet puckered her lips, silently glaring, as if daring me to continue, to do what I was about to do. I shouldn’t. I knew I shouldn’t, but in the back of my mind, I knew Jaxon waited outside, knew he was too concerned over her.

I also knew that I wanted to continue a bit too much. In fact, I couldn’t remember wanting anything quite as badly before.

Make me a villain. Make me the thing that kept you up at night. Make me everything you feared and more, the ebbing darkness always at your toes, threatening to devour you whole. I was no hero, nor would I ever be—nor did I wish to be. I was the devil and this was my hell. God help anyone who got stuck here with me.

Like Juliet. Poor, sweet, innocent Juliet, about to get a taste of temptation herself.

I stared into her eyes, holding her wrists above her head while my other hand resumed its location between her legs. She held her thighs tight, as if that would stop me. As if she could. My hand curved along her, slipping between those thighs; I could feel her through the leggings, that hot, forbidden place.

Juliet’s lips parted, and for a moment, I thought she was going to speak, to swear at me, to cuss me out or deny me again. To call me what I was: an evil, cruel monster of a man. But she didn’t speak. She only panted, unable to catch a full, deep breath. Her pupils were dilated; I could tell she was turned on. I knew it, and maybe that’s why I could not stop myself.

She would never admit it out loud, but she was curious about the darkness. We all had bits and pieces of it inside ourselves, some more and bigger than others. She was Fred’s daughter, and though some might claim genetics didn’t play a big role, others would argue. She had a monster inside too, and I would lure it out to play.

I took my time in rubbing her over the leggings, feeling the fabric slip between her slit. I found her clit, that small nub of flesh ever so sensitive to touch, and I applied more pressure to it, causing her to suck in a breath. I wanted so desperately to slip beneath those leggings, to feel how hot she was, to see if she was indeed as wet as I imagined—but I held back. Just barely.

“It feels good, doesn’t it?” I whispered. Her arms no longer struggled, and instead her lower half squirmed in a much different way. With the position we were in, I could no longer press my midsection upon her, and I could feel the low ache in my balls, the dull throbbing of my cock. It’d been so long, so very long.

I was not one to seek out bodily pleasure, not addicted to it like some of my brothers were, but I longed to feel her body under mine, no clothes between us, her core clamped down on my length and every part of Juliet helpless beneath me.

Those were not thoughts I should entertain, I knew, and yet I could not stop them from dominating my mind, much like how I wanted to dominate her.

She was just a girl. She shouldn’t make me feel like this, shouldn’t make me want to throw all caution to the wind. The last thing I should feel for Juliet was the urge to claim, to keep, to protect.

I rubbed her harder, causing her to moan beneath me. Her hips bucked, her back arching somewhat, as much as it could, given her position. Her body, I’d bet, was on overdrive. What she felt, every little sensation coursing through her body from my work between her legs—it had to be amplified.

“You think you’re not like me, not like any of us,” I murmured, “but the truth is you’re just like us. The sooner you admit it to yourself, the sooner you shed that good girl persona you wear, the sooner you’ll start to enjoy it.” The dark part of me wanted her to lose it; that meant I affected her, and it would only be fair if I affected her as much as she affected me, would it not?

A whining sound left her, and her thighs clenched together. I did not relent, stroking her clit through the leggings rougher, pinching the skin around it, drawing what must be her first orgasm out of her.

And then, like a glorious, long-awaited explosion, it happened. It happened, and I drank in every detail, memorizing it. The way her facial muscles spasmed, the sound that escaped her slender throat, the way her entire lower half tensed. Her arms tugged down, but I did not let her wrists go, instead sitting back and watching her unravel, all thanks to a hand. A single hand.

How fast would she come for me with more than a hand? Without clothes involved? Would Juliet still be so innocent even when she could fully appreciate everything bodies could do together? I guess we’d have to wait and see.

I pushed off her, lumbering to get to my chair, to sit myself down. The blood in my body ran too hot right now; I had to get my hands off her, lest I decide to continue this… whatever it was. My eyes were slow to move to her, watching as she sat up, every inch of skin on her flushed. Her cheeks, her stomach, her chest. The shirt hung wide open on her front, and she tried to hold it together.

Right. I think we were beyond that by now, weren’t we?

“I’d leave, if I were you,” I warned. I let the threat end there. Surely, after that, she had enough of an imagination to picture what would come next.

Juliet said nothing to me, and she hurried around my desk and out of the room, leaving me alone to wrestle with what I’d just done… and the still-raging cock in my pants. I probably shouldn’t have done that. No, I definitely shouldn’t have done that. It wasn’t smart. It was taking things a step too far.

I’d lost control. I couldn’t let that happen again, as delicious as it had been… and as tempting as it would be.