Tales of Darkness & Sin - Pepper Winters Page 0,102

the column of her throat. Talia responded with a small shudder. “Beg me to kill him.”

“Please, make him suffer.”

My dick hardened. “Say it again.”

“Please,” she breathed.

I pulled back, a grin on my lips. “I quite like you like this. Submissive.”

And at my mercy.

Talia was provoked and she squinted at me. She opened her mouth, but I placed a finger against her lips, stopping her tirade of words. “Careful, or I might decide to continue our kissing lessons right now.”

Her jaw snapped shut. I knew exactly how to shut her up.

“I can kiss just fine.” Talia glared with no heat.

I chuckled at how affronted she appeared. “You’re getting better.”

She nudged her chin up and looked away from me. I stood up and straightened to my full height.

“Once the job is done, I’ll collect the second half of my payment.”

Talia paused. Her eyes lost the mirth and were now replaced with caution. “Second half?” she sputtered. The color drained from her face as she finally came to the realization. “Wait, I thought this was a one-time thing. You wanted my virginity and I gave you that. The payment has been made.”

“No, the payment is done when I say it’s done. You gave me your virginity… but I had to hold myself back,” I growled. “I’m not satisfied with your service, Talia.”

Her eyes widened and she jumped off the couch, taking a few steps back. “You… you mean…”

I stalked to her, moving forward for every step she took away from me. Her back slammed against the wall and I crowded into her space. “You struck a bargain with the Kazan’s Devil. You’re out of luck, Little One. I’ll be back to collect the rest of my payment.”

I pushed away from her soft, tempting body. Talia brought a hand up to her heaving chest and silently gasped.

“If you run,” I warned. “I will find you. And you won’t like the consequences.”

CHAPTER NINE

Talia

After all these years I’d finally get my wish. Killer would kill Pasquale, would dole out the revenge I’d only ever dreamed about. It was an exhilarating feeling. Even knowing that Killer would make him suffer, I didn’t feel a hint of guilt.

I’d gone through my work shift in a trance today, thinking about Killer, about what he’d do, about what we had done.

Nerves tightened my belly. I’d really slept with him. From an early age, girls in my circle were taught to protect their virtue because it determined their worth. It was something deeply engrained in me, and yet I’d given it up to Killer. Not just anyone, but the enemy. If my family or my friends found out, they wouldn’t understand. Maybe Cara would understand. My sister herself had been with Growl before marriage, but her situation had been vastly different. She had been a captive, trying to make her situation more bearable. My mother, she’d be terribly disappointed, even heartbroken.

They’d condemn me for my choice, and maybe they would be right to do so.

I hadn’t offered myself to Killer to protect someone or for some other virtuous reason. I’d done it for simple revenge, to still the hunger for blood humming in my veins.

I glanced at the door for what felt like the hundredth time, waiting for Killer to return. I didn’t know when that would be, how long he’d need to end Pasquale for me, to end him brutally.

Sighing, I closed my eyes. Images from our time together flashed through my mind, vividly, breathtakingly. I tensed when heat pooled in my belly, remembering Killer’s imposing body, the feel of his muscles on top of me, the pressure of him inside of me. It had been painful, and yet I’d felt the teasing hints of something more beneath the ache. Something I was dangerously curious about. But worse than my kindling desire was that gentle flutter in my chest when I thought of him, of how carefully he’d treated me. I hadn’t expected him to be gentle. To know that there was more to him than brutality made me want to discover all of him, peel back all the layers of darkness to the man hidden beneath.

I wanted to spend more time with him. But how would that ever be possible? Our time was limited. Eventually I’d have to return to New York. Not yet though. We still had time. I had time to coerce more out of Killer, to make him realize that it was okay to be gentle with some people, with me. We had tonight, and tomorrow,