His chest expands on a breath and he moans in his throat, a sound that somehow combines with the sting on my backside to make my sex ache until it’s slick with need.
How in God’s name am I turned on by this?
“Yes, you do,” he croons. “This piece of shit is a danger to my club. That rooming house you called was on a list of his contacts, Adamson had a picture of you, and now, that asswipe who tried to take you from me was at Adamson’s house hours before he was. Are you telling me that’s a coincidence?”
My heart stalls. The guy who kidnapped me knew Adamson?
I try to grapple with this new information, but it makes as little sense as this Adamson guy having my picture. I can see why Spider isn’t letting this go.
“That doesn’t make sense,” I shake out.
“No. It doesn’t. Unless you’re lying your pretty little mouth off and you know them.”
“I don’t!”
“Suit yourself.” His boots scrape the carpet again.
“No! No, no, no, no!”
Whoosh, crack. A streak of fire across both cheeks.
A howl rips from me.
The pain is indescribable, shattering me.
“Who is he? Was he helping you escape the Colony? Were you supposed to fuck him and then you backed out and he didn’t like it? Or are you into something with him? Helping him?”
“No…”
He sighs and backs up.
Crack!
Again, his body presses against me, his fist in my hair. Helplessness claws at me.
“Come on. Give me something, Emma. Girl’s gotta eat. You had a job before The Devil’s Den. Were you doing dirty shit for him?”
I shake my head, unable to form words through the pain.
“All right then.”
Whoosh. Crack.
I gibber, wordless protests that I know will accomplish nothing. This man has no heart to appeal to, no soul. The man I fell for never existed. It was all in my head, some sick, twisted game my imagination played on me. It’s the only explanation for how he can do this.
I am the witch at the end of her rope, caught in that moment between determination to remain steadfast and that exquisite moment before I break like glass and spill all.
Except I won’t break. I can’t. I can’t, because Sarah is still out there, waiting for me. And because there is nothing to give him.
Crack.
“I don’t know…” I murmur.
My head is starting to feel light. I feel as if I’m drifting away, my blood buzzing with a dizzying heat.
Crack.
“I can’t… I don’t…” My words won’t even form. It’s like I’m high again, just like when I had my first orgasm.
Crack.
I shriek and sob, and a part of me dies. It dies for the man I thought I saw in those days after Cap took a bullet. It dies for the heart that opened to the man who turned out to be nothing but a demon.
Whatever we had vanishes like smoke, and I weep for what never was.
The belt slips away.
A growled panting fills my ears.
I feel as if the world has slipped away, as if I’m in a hazy fog, and the sound of Spider’s breathing is distant, muffled.
His fingers tangle in my hair. He lifts my head a fraction. Out of the corner of my eye, he’s watching me through a cold, heartless gaze.
“Jesus Christ. I gotta hand it to you, Wildcat. You’re clammed up tight. Maybe you need another kind of persuasion, hmm?”
My stomach lurches. “Wh-what?” I pant, looking at him through hot tears.
His expression is cold and brutal, but his eyes are also burning with lust.
What’s left of my resolve breaks apart. He’s the inquisitor who’s decided to move from one torture device to another. This is where he takes me out to the river and drowns me, and if I rise to the surface, I’m a witch. If not…
Except the hunger in his eyes leaves no doubt, I’m not about to die. He’s talking about a different type of torment.
Beyond the ability to form words, I give a jerky shake of my head, pleading.
Spider’s fingers slide over my butt, between my folds, which are shockingly soaking wet. “That’s fine. You don’t have to talk. I’d rather you screamed.”
One last time, Spider goes in behind me. His fingers stroke and tease, and when I twist in his grip, he fists my hair.
“You have to be kidding!” I burst out, more angry now than broken.
He releases my hair and unties the binds on one wrist, then the other. I’m too incensed to be relieved.