“Does he have protection? Connections?”

River shook her head. “I don’t know. He kept me out of a lot. That’s why I was always so careful with new people or trying to get close to anyone. He could have them on his payroll and I’d never know. I do know he has some cops and judges in his pockets. The few times I tried to press charges, everything fell through quickly, if they even filed any paperwork. He’s untouchable.”

“No man is untouchable, River. Remember that. This changes things.”

“Why?”

“It’s enough that I’ve told you that. Let me worry about the rest.”

“This is my life, Ethan.”

“And it now belongs to me. I protect what’s mine.”

“This was about me killing him. That’s why I came to you. It’s why I’m here.” She threw her hands up in the air, letting out a frustrated sound.

“Let me do this.”

“It’s not your choice to make.”

“We had a deal! I give you everything I am and you give me him. That’s what we agreed on.”

“You will still be mine long after he’s dead. What does it matter who kills him?”

“It matters to me.”

I could see that, but it wasn’t happening. I wasn’t letting River within a mile of this man unless it was at my side, with him at my feet, taking his last breath from my hand. He came to me, not to her, with his little fucking message. He knew who the real threat was.

And I just ignored the fact that imagining her in danger twisted me up. It wasn’t real, any more than this farce of a relationship we were in, but it was enough for us. It would have to be.

“Get Pavel in here to work me out. I can practice night and day until I’m ready. He knows where I am now. It’s only a matter of time before he makes his move.”

Everything she was saying was true, but it didn’t matter. None of it mattered except what I said would happen. I needed to make sure River understood that, in the best way possible.

“And you think you will be ready to kill him after a few lessons, is that it?” I stood up and circled around the desk. River froze, but she was on to me too late. She wouldn’t give away.

“Ethan.”

“I asked you a question.”

“If you’d teach me some more, I would be. It can’t be that hard to kill someone who isn’t trained to fight like that. He hides behind whoever he pays. I never could fight back before, now I can.”

“How long does it take to choke out a man?”

“What?”

“How long do you think it would take to strangle someone to death?” I was close to her, close enough to feel her body shaking. She had the right to be afraid. Some lessons were easier to prove than to tell.

“I don’t know.”

“Count. Very slowly now, or you’ll die quicker.”

She screamed as I wrapped my fingers around her throat and squeezed. I held on as she wasted useless energy pounding my chest and trying to get away.

“Count, River.”

She tried to choke out words but I only tightened my grip. As her legs gave out I lifted her on the desk and stepped in between them. She was so fucking beautiful, even with her eyes full of tears, and her nails digging into my hands. I ran my free hand down her body, over her breasts and the slope of her stomach. Her body quivered under mine, and my cock thickened as I watched her. She’d be out soon. I could feel it.

But I could also feel the heat from her pussy, warming my palm. I used the heel of my hand to circle against her clit. She froze, waiting, dancing on the edge, as her oxygen left her body and placed her where touch and pain were closer to the edge. Where pleasure bit almost too sharply. I rubbed her clit again and loosened my grip a fraction. Her gasping breath was all that broke the silence before I ripped her knickers from her. I left the fabric bunched around her calves as I stepped in close again and worked my zipper down.

So fucking perfect, so mine.

“Look how wet you are.”

She closed her eyes as tears leaked from the corners.

I bent over her and used my tongue to taste them. “Did you know there are different types of tears?” I asked in her ear. I rubbed the head of my cock against her wet slit, up and down. With every pass she grew wetter, hotter. Her nipples were little pebbles rubbing against my cloth-covered chest.

“Fear tastes bitter, sadness salty, and happiness warm and light. Desire, though, those take like a combination of it all. You fear what’s coming. You hate what you are letting me do to you. And you want it so bad you wish you could beg for it. I taste desire in your tears, River.”

I slid into her slowly, feeling each ripple of her tight little cunt gripping my dick. She was so fucking tight. I had to grit my teeth to keep from coming. She arched against me, her hands falling away, her body opening up. She was giving in, forgetting her lack of air, no longer caring I could kill her right now. On the edge between pleasure and pain, anger and desire, hatred and love; she was giving in to me.

And I realized I made another mistake.

In trying to scare her, I ensnared myself. I wanted to take her, toss her into the sun, and keep her there. I wanted to explode with her, and I wasn’t going to get away with just having her and walking away. It angered me.

Utterly destroyed me.

As I sank into her to the hilt, feeling her grip and release around me, I wanted to kill Derrick Reese for ever having her, tear apart any other man that came before me, and claim her in ways that she couldn’t imagine. I wanted her to be mine, all mine, and I wanted her to love every minute of it.

Fuck me, but I wanted her to love me. Even when I knew I wouldn’t be able to ever love her. I was worse than I ever dreamed, and I couldn’t find a way to feel remorse for it.

So I did the only thing I could—fucked her and let myself sink deeper into the darkness.