Entwined, page 7
His warm hand covers mine where it’s holding on to her neck, helping me to keep her in place even though she’s stopped moving for now. Then he crooks his finger for me to come closer. I’m drawn to him like metal to a magnet, unable to ignore him even if I wanted to. Which I don’t. Cole understands my brand of darkness more than any of the others ever could. So when he beckons, I come.
Leaning forward, he uses the hand with the knife to guide me by the underside of my chin until we exchange a brief kiss. No tongue, but he does suck on my bottom lip before nipping at it lightly. The usual harshness we share is currently being channeled into the woman in the passenger seat.
“What were you thinking?” he asks conspiratorially.
“Well…” I pause to keep Madaline on the edge of her seat, right on the cusp of her sanity. “She didn’t listen when I warned her to keep her mouth shut. If we don’t give her consequences, she won’t take our threats seriously in the future.”
“So brilliant.” Cole eyes me up and down like he wants to devour me for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. “What did you come up with?”
A thrill rushes through me, excitement threatening to burst free. It’s so wrong by society's standards for me to feel this way, and yet, not even a single atom in my body cares. I’m filled with warmth at the very thought of doing something so deliciously deranged.
I’m a serial killer. Doesn’t matter who it is, if they’ve done something wrong or not, I love taking things from this world. I’m not a good person, and that’s fine with me. I’ve embraced it, accepted the darkness with open arms. But what makes it so much better is having someone who enjoys it just as much, if not more, standing by my side. He won’t judge what I want to do. No, he’ll fucking fall harder for me.
“You should cut her tongue out,” I state plainly, leaving no emotions in the words, simply so the woman who dared to touch my man will panic all the more.
Cole’s eyes sparkle, and his smile somehow seems bigger, even if it doesn’t change at all. Perhaps now it’s more real or has more truth behind it. “Someone’s jealousy is showing.”
“No, Cole. It’s not jealousy, it’s possessiveness. You’re mine. Forever and always.”
A rumble starts in his chest, a sound so similar to a purr it almost makes me question who suddenly swapped places with him. More surprising, though, is the zip of pleasure that goes through my cunt, as if he brushed his finger through my wetness.
“That I am, Luv.” He licks his lips, his eyes traveling over my skin like a caress. “Hold her still for me, and I’ll deliver her tongue for deigning to think she could ever use it to draw me away from you.”
The stench of fear sours the air. You’d think it would make it harder to breathe, but it only adds to the joy of it all. Her eyes lock on Cole, trying to catch his gaze, but my man doesn’t even glance at her. He remains fixed on me. Growing desperate, she shakes her head, attempting to persuade him not to do it.
I’m pleasantly surprised she doesn’t say anything, her unimagined nightmares come to life keeping her lips sealed tight. It won’t stop us from doing it, though.
Leaning close, I run my nose along her cheek, sniffing deeply. “Your terror is an intoxicating perfume, darling. I wish I could bottle it up to enjoy well past your death.”
A shiver wracks her body as the sound of Cole tsking reaches me. “Don’t reach for me again, or we’ll turn this from playing to torture. And trust me, doll, you won’t like that.” With his words, I notice the way she attempted to grip his shirt, begging him for a way out of this.
At this point, she should know better. And we should’ve driven the message home by now as well.
Shifting my position in the back seat, I brace myself to hold onto our date night toy. Her forehead is clammy with sweat when I press my palm to it, using my shoulder behind her headrest to give me extra leverage to hold her still through her thrashing as she knows what’s about to happen. My other hand grips her chin, forcing her mouth open, but at this point, it wasn’t as hard as I was expecting it would be seeing as she’s broken through her fear and is screaming at the top of her lungs.
Cole winces, shaking his head as he lifts the knife to her mouth. He says something, but there’s no possible way for me to hear him over the noise. Doesn’t matter though, I wouldn’t be able to concentrate on anything he said right now, anyway. I’m too transfixed by the glow coming from his smile. It reaches his eyes and covers his skin in a way I’ve never seen before.
My hacker might be in his element behind a computer screen, but killing is where he thrives. It’s his happy place, just as it is mine. No wonder my men make claims that they love watching me like this. There’s nothing like seeing first hand pure joy radiating from someone you care for.
And what makes it better, we both unequivocally love the same thing. Killing isn’t something we’ll ever simply put up with in our significant other’s life. No, it’s ingrained in everything that we are.
We get to share our passion… there isn’t anything that binds a relationship tighter than that.
I can’t tell you what steps Cole takes to remove her tongue, but I can tell you all the ways his face shines with elation. How at one point his expression twists with concentration. How he bites his lower lip, then licks his teeth marks away. It makes me entirely jealous and filled with lust, wanting to jump him right this very second—to hell with what he’s doing and if it makes him kill her prematurely.
Before I can take action on my thoughts, Cole turns to me. In his hand is a bloody chunk of what I can only assume is her tongue. “It’s not as good of a job as if I had the right tools, but it’ll do for our purposes right now.” He grins, holding the red muscle up like he’s posing for a trophy picture like other men do with a fish.
With a quick check on our victim, I find she’s passed out. For how long, I’m not sure, but I can’t say I care right now, I want my man with a burning passion that can’t be extinguished. It’s not far for me to reach when I peel my hands from their tight grip on her face, to claim Cole. But before I can get him in my hold, he lunges back, escaping with a laugh.
I growl. “What the fuck, Cole?”
A hearty laugh comes from deep in his chest, the level of his joy ratcheting higher. “Patience, my love. I want to play a game first. You can’t have me until our toy is dead. You’ll enjoy me even more if I make you wait.”
His smirk nearly makes me change my mind, making me contemplate if killing him wouldn’t be the better option. But after a split second, I can’t help but admit I like the idea of a game. It at least intrigues me enough to find out what he has in mind.
“You have five seconds to convince me to play your game, otherwise we’ll do things my way,” I huff. Serial killer with an attitude. They aren’t someone you want to mess with.
“What if I take longer?” His eyes sparkle with a challenge I didn’t give him. “What will you do?”
“You don’t want to find out,” I growl. “Now get on with telling me.”
He bites that bottom lip, knowing exactly what it’s doing to me right now. The asshole is using himself as a weapon against me. I hate it. I love it. It’s decidedly evil. I want it forever.
“Actually, I do want to know. Come on, tell me what you’d do.”
The motherfucker is baiting me, and it’s working. I’m falling right in his trap, and even though I know it, I’m helpless to stop myself. I lunge, my hands outstretched, reaching for him, wanting to… I guess strangle him. To get to him in any way I can.
Cole, my sweet, murderous man, who’s stronger and more versed in our lives than I am, wraps his hand around my throat and stops me in my tracks. The uncomfortable feeling of being choked stops me from moving, even if irritation and anger courses through me. How did things take a turn so quickly?
His tongue flicks against the roof of his mouth, making that tsking sound he made for our victim what feels like only a few minutes ago. His fingers trail across my forehead before tucking my hair behind my ear. It’s a soft touch that he contrasts with shifting his hold on my neck. His fingers ripple across my sensitive skin, like he’s purposefully flexing each finger to remind me they’re there.
I’m halfway between the two front seats, the tight fit squeezing against my hips as he rests awkwardly against the steering wheel. It barely takes any effort at all and he’s in my face, his mouth barely a breath away.
I long for it, ache to have his lips against mine, I even lick across mine in hopes it draws his attention. It does, but he only stares at them, and the longer he does, the tighter my nipples become. Nothing makes me hotter for my man than killing with him, and I was already primed and ready before he even brought her to the car.
A soft whimper spills from my lips, my legs becoming more slick as I’m stuck with my ass in the air. Finally, after an eternity, his lips brush against mine. The touch is feather light, but it still lights me up.
“Cole,” I can’t help but moan. I want him, want him more than I want to kill our victim together. And if that doesn’t say love, then I don’t know the meaning of the word.
“Such a greedy girl, Raven. You seem to forget your Ravenmaster is always in control. Now sit back and do what I say, or you won’t get my dick once this is over.”
I do as he says. Somehow he turned being able to kill her into a consolation prize, which is so not fair.
“Good girl,” he says, pressing the quickest of kisses to me. I lean into his retreating form, chasing after more. I’ll never get enough from him, especially when he gives me the barest of tastes. “Ah, ah, ah. That’s all you’re getting for now. First, you need to pay attention to the game.”
I huff, sitting all the way back in the seat. It feels like I’ve put an ocean of space between us, which is probably for the best with how much my libido is riding me. I only have one thing on my mind at the moment, which has nothing to do with this game he wants to play. Seriously, what the fuck happened to my Cole?
He reaches between the seats and hands me my knife. It’s warm in my palm from him having gripped it for so long and there’s blood drying on the blade. Somehow, the sight of it sparks a fluttering sensation in my heart. He knows the way to romance my hidden darkness, to caress her just right and get her to show herself.
With a snap, the front seat with our victim in it lays flat, the back of it squishing into my leg, which I quickly tug out of the way. She doesn’t stir from the motion, still passed out from having her tongue cut out.
“What’s the game?” Suddenly having a weapon in my hand has me interested in what it is.
“We each ask the other questions, and after one of us answers, we get to slice into her. A bastardized game of roulette, if you will, to see who gets to be the one to kill her.” He grins at me, his twin shadow of darkness playing in the depths of his eyes as he whips out his own knife. “If we’re lucky, she won’t wake up, so we won’t have to deal with her obnoxious sounds, but I doubt that’ll happen.”
A Cheshire smile takes over my face. “Okay, Cole. I’ll play your game. Ask your question.”
He winks at me, and the flutter in my heart kicks in once again, this time taking the organ on a loop, making it drop into my stomach for a moment. Is this how normal people feel when they start to play something like Clue with their significant other?
“Which of your Ravenmasters do you love the most?” His eyes sparkle with the question, no doubt thinking I’d name him. It’s not like he isn’t fully convinced it’s him based on the fact he’s the only one I’ve shot.
“That has to be the dumbest question I’ve ever heard, Cole. I get two cuts for that.” I move my blade closer to her, but Cole grips my wrist, stopping me.
“You don’t get to slice until you answer the question,” he growls menacingly.
“I love my Ravenmasters equally. There will never be one who owns my heart more than the others,” I snap, ripping my arm free. The idea that I’d care for one more than the others really pisses me the fuck off, which is probably why my first cut is deeper than I mean for it to be. Her skin spreads open behind the blade, blood quickly filling the space as I slice a line below her collarbone.
Cole and I admire the cut, watching the way ruby red liquid wells and spills down her chest to join the blood decorating her front from him cutting out her tongue. We’re both mesmerized by it, and I know this will be a memory we reminisce about together for years to come. Cole is my motherfucking person, and I’ll always cherish being able to share killing with him.
“Is there a part of you that’s worried about seeing your sister again?”
“You get one more cut. But please try to make it more shallow. We don’t want her bleeding out on us and ending the game too quickly.”
I frown. While I’m more than happy to slice and dice all day long, I instinctively know he’s trying to stall answering the question. Running the sharp knife lightly across her forearm, I do my second cut, then wrap an arm around Cole’s neck. It shows how distracted he is when he lets me draw him into me and I kiss the corner of his mouth.
“We can skip your turn, but it’ll cost you,” I say quietly, flicking my knife back and forth, making it clear what the cost will be.
A light laugh puffs out of him, making his shoulders lift. “Heh. You wish.” He leans his head to mine, resting it there as we watch the thin river of blood from my first cut marks a path between her breasts and down into her shirt, where it stains the fabric over her stomach.
“I haven’t taken a moment to even think about what comes after finding my sister. I spent so much time thinking she was dead… I’m mostly feeling guilty that I ever gave up.” His hand finds its way into the back with me, and he grips mine in his solid hold. “If I have to think about the after part too much, I think I might chicken out on ever letting her know it was me who saved her. I’ve lost everything about me that she loved. And I don’t want to break her heart. Not after everything she’s been through.”
“You know,” I start, running my thumb over his knuckles. “If I’ve learned anything about how a family works, your sister will love you no matter what. Sure, she might be surprised at first, and it might take some getting used to, but nothing will change the fact that you’re her brother. Not only that, you’re her twin. There’s a bond there that can’t be diminished no matter how much you change.”
“I’m a psychotic killer who enjoys causing pain whenever I can.” His hand squeezes mine, like he’s subconsciously acknowledging that’s one of the things I like the most about him.
“And? It hasn’t stopped me.” I never thought I’d see the day where I’d be the one reassuring one of my men that our lifestyle isn’t something to be ashamed of. We are who we are. There’s no stopping that, not after our darkness was let into the wild for the first time.
“You’re an exception. What if all I want to do is make her cry?” I have to stop myself from laughing at his question. Not because I find his vulnerability funny, but because it’s such an absurd question coming from him. He’s always so comfortable in his own skin.
“Then you make her cry. But I don’t think that will be the case. You don’t hurt the people you or I care about. You do have control over your urges, Cole. I promise it will all turn out okay.” I squeeze his hand, even if we already have a death grip on each other.
“What if it doesn’t?” he asks after a pause. His voice sounds so small, completely unlike him at all.
I turn, nuzzling my nose into his head before tracing his hairline with it until I reach his ear. A smile curves my lips, and I whisper lightly against him. “Then I’ll let you punish me.”
My words seem to snap him out of whatever weird alternate reality bubble he was in. He slowly reaches for my chin, gripping it in his hold so he can turn it the way he wants as he stares into my gaze.
“I’ll hold you to that, Luv.” He uses his fake British accent I love so much. It sends shivers down my spine and makes my toes curl. I catch movement out of the corner of my eye and watch as he uses the tip of his knife to make his cut. It’s a quick flick of his wrist, the slice only about an inch and a half, but it does its job.
I’m distracted from watching the blood seep from it when Cole tilts his head and bites my lip. The sting makes me instantly lick the marks he left behind and I come back with a copper taste. It’s not much, barely a hint, but enough to know he broke the skin. Fucking savage. I love it.
Not wanting to wait, I reach out and add another slice to her arm, the swipe of the blade causing a splatter of blood to arc in the air. I wince. It doesn’t take much to realize I’m not as skilled with using a knife on a victim as Cole.
“Whoa! You don’t get to slice when it’s not your turn. That’s not how the game works, missy,” Cole says as the pitiful girl stirs. A distorted moan comes from her, but she hasn’t fully come to yet.
“Except you asked me another question, so I am too following the rules,” I answer back, enjoying his game a lot more than I thought I would.
“If we’re playing tit for tat, then I get another go as well. Now the question is, are we adding in who makes the biggest mess with our slices?” He pointedly looks at the blood splatter from my last go, raising an eyebrow. “I need to teach you how to do that on purpose for that to be fair, though.”
Cole’s shoulder crosses into my line of vision, making it so I’m unable to see what he does, but when he moves again, his blade arcs, making blood splatter through the air. I’m not sure if it’s the movement he makes, or if he scooped blood on the knife, or if it’s his method of cutting, but one thought springs to mind. Men… always making a bigger mess than necessary—even if I do enjoy it when it comes to this.
“My turn,” he growls deeply. “What do you think our lives look like five years from now?”
“What? Are you asking interview questions? That’s not very original of you, Cole.” I can’t help the snarky response from coming out. But it really does sound like he’s gearing up to ask me what my strengths and weaknesses are next.
