It wasn’t the fact that I’d gone upstairs to brush my teeth after dinner that bothered me.

It wasn’t even that as I was standing in the dark, splashing ice cold water on my face, I hadn’t been able to get the erection to go away. After the way José had described her crying as he fucked her mouth with his gun… the erection made sense.

The bottle of rum in my hand didn’t bother me either. That was normal.

No, what bothered me was the pair of condoms tucked in my back pocket.

I barely remembered grabbing them in my room. Definitely didn’t remember putting them in my pocket, but I could feel them. Had caught the edge of the foil when I’d tried to put my hand in a moment before — and now I was just frozen. Listening to the NFL game on the television, Paulo’s cheers and curses as loud as José’s. They were enjoying the blood sport. Something to fill the time.

Tossing back the rum again, I swallowed rough and stifled a cough, the flash of Nicky on her knees with tears in her eyes making my cock twitch. I brought my head back hard against the wall, feeling the snap of pain somewhere underneath the haze of the alcohol.

I had to get a hold of myself.

José and Paulo were fine, Marco was sulking in one of the big chairs, and Diego was —

Where the fuck is Diego?

Fire rushed through my veins as I stood up straight, straining my ears to listen over the booming surround sound of the game. Before I’d even made the decision, my feet were carrying me through the kitchen, to the storage room door that was slightly ajar.

Motherfucker.

Rage, dark and hot, flooded me. Burning a hole in my stomach, using the alcohol as a catalyst, and at the first pathetic scream from below I ripped the door wide. Stomping down the stairs, I could hear her desperate pleading over the heavy sound of my boots booming on the steps.

I made it to the floor just in time to see Diego throw her down on the table, her shorts tangled around her golden thighs, legs kicking. When she reached up to claw at his face he caught her wrist, twisted it, and then he backhanded her. Sent her back to the table with a thump and a choked off sob.

“STOP!” she screamed, but he almost had her shorts off, and there was no way she could fight him.

There was a roaring in my ears, the heat inside my chest burning the haze of the alcohol away, and suddenly all I wanted to do was hurt him. Break his face.

It only took a few steps for me to be beside him, surprise flashing in his expression just before I grabbed his shirt and hauled him off her, shoving him back harder than necessary. Diego stumbled, caught himself on a chair, his pants open, belt flopping as he shouted, “What the fuck, cabrón? What you think you’re doing?”

“She’s mine,” I growled, and I felt darkness surging inside me. Lapping at the edges of my sanity, devouring it piece by piece.

“Like hell, this little puta is mine.” Diego tried to step around me, to get to Nicky, but I caught him with a hand in the center of his chest and shoved him back once more. My fist tightened, arm twitching like I was about to knock his fucking lights out — which was crazy. I rolled my shoulder as he stared at me, as shocked as I was by what I was doing.

And what the fuck am I doing exactly?

Nicky’s soft whimpers, her sniffling, trickled into my consciousness and I knew I was rock hard. Could feel the strain of my cock pressed against my zipper, wanting to be buried somewhere warm and wet. Wanting me to take Diego’s place on top of her.

“Andre, move the fuck out of the way. You can have her next!” Diego took a step toward me, toward Nicky, but he froze in place when I flexed my hands and faced him completely. He’d seen exactly what I could do with my hands, exactly what happened when I let the darkness out of its cage, and I had no idea what he saw in my eyes… but he stopped.

“Paulo said I get her first.” The low rumble of my voice was answered by a hiccupped sob from the table behind me, and it was wrong how much I enjoyed it.

Diego knew I was lying, his mouth gaping like a fish for a moment before he clapped it shut and cursed under his breath. “Fine, but I’m coming back later.”

He moved towards the stairs, and I turned around to see Nicky leaned up on her elbows. Dirty blonde hair in a mussed halo around her face, feet tucked on the edge of the table, with only one of her shoes on. Her cheeks were flushed, still wet with tears, and she was biting her lower lip hard enough to make me wonder if it hurt — and if she liked it.

The shorts around her calves blocked my view between her legs, and I wanted to see. I promised myself all I wanted was to see her, but she didn’t know that. Kicking out at me as I approached, panicked sounds filling the room. It took no effort at all to catch her foot, rip the last shoe off and throw it somewhere else. The shorts were next, her struggles actually helping the process, and then I was looking at pale blue panties.

“Please don’t do this.” Wide, terrified eyes, almost the same color as her underwear, but with more dimension. More vibrant from the tears.

I didn’t answer her. I reached for the edge of the cloth and she fought me weakly, a useless punch landing on my shoulder, the heels of her hands pressing at me with what I figured was all her strength — as little as it mattered. Grabbing her by the throat I slammed her back to the table, her sharp whine of pain making my balls ache.

She even sounds sweet.

“Don’t move,” I growled, and her eyes went wider. Frightened and fragile. Delicate. I could seriously hurt her. I could be the one to snuff out that light if I wasn’t careful. Trailing my hand between her breasts, over her belly, I hooked my fingers into her underwear and slid them down shaking thighs. Her fear was tangible as I tossed them free, knees snapping back together like it could stop me.

But I just wanted to see.

I shoved her legs wide without a word, digging my thumbs into her flesh when she tried to fight me, gripping hard enough to make it hurt. Nicky whimpered, throwing an arm over her eyes as another sob shook her chest. I ran my tongue over my bottom lip as I focused on the trim, golden down between her thighs, imagining what she’d taste like. Would she be as sweet as I imagined? Would she taste like redemption even as I damned myself further?

“You gonna fuck her or not?” Diego was leaning against the wall at the bottom of the stairs, pants buttoned again but still deformed by his hard-on.

Sonuvabitch.

“Plan on watching?” I asked, digging my fingers in a little harder when she tried to twitch away.

“Doesn’t seem like there’s much to watch. You got a problem?” Diego dropped his eyes low with a mocking grin before he cupped his dick through his pants. “Because I sure don’t.”

Switching my hands to her hips I yanked her down the table, splitting her thighs around me, exposing her pink folds. Not wet. Yet. I could get her there. Nicky panicked when I ripped open the button to my pants, crying harder and trying to turn away. I almost flipped her onto her belly, but I wanted to see her face. Needed to.

I wrapped my arm around her thigh to hold her in place as I shoved everything out of the way, groaning as I wrapped a fist around the base of my cock. So tantalizingly close to her pussy. It would take so little effort to shove in, to hold her down… condom. After digging in my pocket I tore the foil between my teeth and rolled it on.

“No, no, no…” Nicky was pulling back, withdrawing, her eyes clenched tight as she shook her head back and forth on the table. “Why? I didn’t do anything—” She was crying again, her voice tinted with the pathetic sound of it. “I didn’t do anything to you!”

There was a twinge in my chest, somewhere inside the inky blackness eating away at everything except the urge to own her, to take her while she was still her. Before Diego could have her, before Paulo ruined her. Her next sob was like a ripple in the black, and I ripped her up from the table, fist buried in her hair. Eyes open, wide and afraid on mine.

“Please,” she whispered, close enough to my face that I felt her exhale. Another shudder in the black, a flicker of something almost human.

I crushed her to my chest, my other arm moving around her waist to hold her in place so I could roll my hips against her, rubbing my latex-clad cock against her soft flesh. Her hair smelled like sunlight, warm and summery, and I clenched my jaw as I brushed my stubble against her neck. Women were always nervous in my bed, a hint of fear as they wondered what I’d do to them, and more often than not there was pain along with the pleasure. I didn’t do gentle, I couldn’t, but they always signed up for it. They wanted to taste the darkness. Nicky had just wanted to save her brother. Feeling the shiver rush through her muscles, the grip of her thighs around my hips, the hitched expansion of her ribs — it was perfect. She was perfect, and I didn’t want to ruin it… did I?

More importantly, could I stop myself?

My lips moved to her ear, and I spoke as quietly as I could, cursing myself in the process for delaying the inevitable. “I’m not going to fuck you, but you need to fight me. Cry. Make it believable.”

A feminine gasp was her only answer, and I wrenched her head back harder than necessary. The yelp of pain was authentic, not giving her time to react as I looked down, pretending to line up with her perfect pussy, but when I thrust my hips forward I slid outside of her. Through her folds, and her hips twitched as my cock brushed her clit.

Nicky just stared at me, lips parted. Maybe it was the shock finally settling in, but I could see Diego in my peripheral vision and he wasn’t going to accept this quiet.

Pressing her down to the table I did what I’d wanted to all those hours before, I trailed my tongue along her throat, and then bit down hard at the beginning of her shoulder. She screamed, hands shoving at my ribs, but I caught them and pinned them to the wood above her head.

“Take it,” I groaned against her skin, loud enough for Diego to hear, and swung my hips back and forward again.

“STOP!” she screamed, and I smiled before biting down again, reveling in the sharp cry she released. Hands trying to twist free of my grip, she was nothing against my strength with both her wrists pinned under one of mine. I knew I was leaving bruises as I mimed thrusts between her thighs. Torturing myself, wondering how much of her pleading was real, and how much was a show for Diego.

None of it mattered though, because I had my hands on her. I could taste her skin, and hear her whimpers beside my ear. With my next thrust I felt the slick glide of her wetness easing my path, and I buried my nose against her neck and breathed deep. Nicky was aroused, whether she wanted to be or not, and that actually made it hotter. Grinding my cock against her like a goddamn teenager, her quiet pleas for me to stop were constant, but I ignored them… kind of enjoyed them.

I shoved her shirt up with my other hand, her bra was next, her body torquing as she fought hard, begged. It only helped me though, her hips working my cock between our bodies, her arched back offering up a breast, and I drew the nipple into my mouth.

Fuck.

Every inch of her tasted incredible. So pure. The cries, the whines, leaving her lips a fucking symphony in my ears. I was lost, the darkness surging, a new wave with each jerk of her body against mine. Each wave larger than the last, threatening to drown me, to crack the last shred of self-control I had.

Because Nicky was heaven and hell in the same breath.

Diego was gone, I’d heard him stomp up the stairs, but it didn’t matter now. The liquid heat between her thighs was spreading with each thrust through her folds, my cock straining, my body urging me to push her wider and take her, claim her while she was still the innocent warrior who had come to save her brother.

I wanted to be inside her. I wanted to hurt her again so she’d cry out, scream for me as I thrust deep. I wanted to drag her into the dark with me… just to see if she’d survive it.