“Fuck,” he mouths silently, his eyes flaring with heat. Heat that extends to me, spreading like wildfire until the pattering rain against my flesh is a balm to the incessant burn.

Dragging my finger out of my pussy, I circle my finger across my clit, my mouth falling open and a husky moan slipping past my lips.

Pleasure exudes from where my digit continues to circle, and I can’t help but rock my hips against my own hand, seeking a touch past my own. A touch that would be rougher, firmer—better.

Ignoring my body's silent plea, I focus on my ministrations, my head kicking back as my orgasm builds.

Zade lifts up, removing his arm from across my thighs and taking up his former position of kneeling before me with his hands firmly holding my knees to the ground on either side of me.

This way, his body is no longer providing protection against the rain, the cold drops of water like ice between my legs.

I lift my head, my heart thundering as Zade’s eyes sear through me. The knowledge that he is watching everything I’m doing to myself only heightens the pleasure. I’ve never been so turned on in my life, and the unfiltered moans are impossible to control.

I’m too lost in the moment to care about how loud I am. Too high on the euphoria coursing through my system as I reach that cliff.

Sensing my stiffening limbs, Zade looks up at me and whispers, “Show me how deeply I’ve ruined you.”

My brows contort, and my mouth falls open as I topple over that edge. I cry out, my hips rocking relentlessly, searching for something more.

The orgasm that washes over me is sharp and quick. Before, I would've been satisfied with that. But now, with the cruel man kneeling before me, I feel fucking robbed.

I keep my mouth closed, the downpour and wind seeming silent now that my moans have ceased.

A wicked smirk forms on his lips, emphasizing the scars on his face.

“Was it better?” he asks, but it sounds like he already knows the answer.

I nod, not brave enough to speak my lie but too prideful to say no. For a brief moment, it feels like the world around me stills. The rain, the wind, the leaves on the trees. And then everything is speeding up, too fast for me to stop him from moving my hand and delivering another sharp slap to my pussy.

Instinctively, I try to close my legs to abate the pain, but he pins my knees back, leaning over me menacingly.

The dormant fear flares back up again as he stares down at me.

“Lie to me again,” he threatens. “My patience only stretches so far.”

I swallow the lump in my throat, my wide eyes locked on his.

“Was it better?”

It’s at this moment, my brain decides to remind me that I’m in the middle of the woods, alone, with a very dangerous man. A man who had tortured and murdered four men only three nights ago.

“No,” I whisper, eyeing him carefully. I’m tense, waiting to see what his next move will be. Zade has always been unpredictable. That feeling is nothing new.

He won't hurt you, Addie.

No, but maybe I want him to.

He releases me and stands. “Get up,” he clips.

Shock renders me frozen, but my brain catches up after a few seconds and I’m scrambling to my feet.

I’m readying to ask… I don’t even know, but before I can figure it out, he’s bending down and grabbing the back of my thighs. He lifts me up, my legs instinctively curling around his waist. My sensitive center clashes with his hard cock straining in his jeans, nestling firmly between the folds of my pussy.

A soft whimper escapes, and I’m still too shocked to move or say anything as he begins to carry me, assumingly back towards my house.

“What’s happening?” I finally manage, shuddering as every step rubs his jeans against my overstimulated clit.

“I’m going to remind you how good it feels to be mine.”

Zade’s steps are purposeful as he carries me, the silence between us strained with terrifying promises. The rain hasn’t relented, seeming only to grow heavier as time passes.

I’ve no idea how he knows where to go, and I’m both impressed and suspicious. The only reason he knows these woods so well is because he’s spent a lot of time in them. Stalking me.

Is he hiding the dead bodies in there? The question is lingering on the end of my tongue, but I let it die. I don’t want to upset the small, albeit shaky, truce we’ve seemed to reach.

His large palms cup my bare asscheeks, the tips of his fingers a mere inch from my entrance. He doesn’t explore, the teasing touch setting me aflame and flooding me with anticipation.

He’s driving me mad with desire, and it’s only fair I return the favor. If he takes me on the cold, wet ground, I’d be glad for it.

The smile that graces my lips is nothing short of evil.

My lips trace the column of his throat, brushing so softly that the touch merely feels like a whisper. His grip tightens, and my smile grows. Parting my mouth, my tongue darts out and licks a path from the base of his throat to the spot behind his ear.

A growl vibrates against my tongue, spurring me into action.

He marked me relentlessly so many months ago. Isn’t it fair I mark him, too?

I bite down on that spot, lapping and sucking at the flesh trapped between my teeth until I’m sure the skin is bruised. And then I retreat and find a new spot to mark, over and over as he gnashes his teeth, hands gripping me with bruising force.

"Addie," he growls, his voice guttural and so deep, it sounds demonic.

I trail my lips up to his ear and bite down, sucking the lobe into my mouth. And then I withdraw, gliding my teeth sharply against the flesh as it pops free.

"What's wrong?" I whisper into his ear. "Can't handle what you dish out?"

I nip at his neck again, delighting in the sound of his control slipping and a moan slipping free. It’s the sexiest sound I've ever heard, and I'm nearly feral with the need to bring it out of him again.

The light from my front porch is just piercing through the trees when he gives in, slamming me against a tree trunk, my bare back scraping against the rough bark. His jeans are undone in record time, his cock bursting free from the confines and driving up inside me before I can process it.

I scream from the intrusion, his cock stretching me so suddenly that all I can feel is fire. But he doesn’t relent, fucking me against the tree until I’m clamping down on him, an orgasm tearing through me that nearly causes permanent eye damage from how hard they roll.

He spills inside of me on a hoarse shout, ramming me so deeply into the tree, I swear there will be an imprint of my ass.

I’m sure the squirrels will find that fascinating.

Pulling out of me, he harshly tears me away from the tree and speed walks the rest of the way back. A visceral energy radiates off him, and I can’t tell if it’s full of anger or desire.

My back is on fire, accompanied by the dull throb radiating between my legs. It’s the sweetest agony I’ve ever felt.

In the duration of the trek back to my house, my brain has come back to Earth, and yet nothing has changed.

That unsettles me more than anything.

The fact that I’m no longer delirious from fear or bliss, and still, my desire and need for this man hasn’t lessened in the slightest. If anything, it’s only grown with the weight of anticipation hanging over my head.

The small light hanging over my door is like a beacon. As if the house will make me feel any safer from the man holding me in his arms.

Instead of beelining towards the door as I expected, he heads for my car. Despite the back of my SUV being spacey, Zade is no small man, and being cramped in a small space with him suddenly feels intimidating.