Ruby Tears Excerpt

I hefted the heavy book in my palm.

Ily looked over her shoulder, her face as white as her honey skin would permit, her body hunched and scared. But she didn’t move. Didn’t crawl away.

Her genuine fear was the sweetest perfume.

But her obedience? That…frustrated me.

I hated that the blackest parts of me craved her breaking. It hungered to chase as she bolted. It salivated at the thought of overpowering her—of snatching her submission with claws and teeth rather than having it given to me just because we’d reached an understanding.

Goddammit, I’m not normal.

I had a naked woman on all fours. A woman knowing full well I meant to strike her with the book and consenting to it anyway. If it was a simple matter of getting off on domination, that would be more than enough.

So what the fuck did it say about me that I wanted her bleeding?

Chasing away those horrible thoughts, I closed the distance between us. Ily sucked in a breath as I dropped to my knees on the thick, patterned carpet behind her and planted a large hand on her lower back.

She flinched.

My cock reacted, feeding off her distress.

I wished I’d asked Q how he tamed his darkness.

How he earned a wife who didn’t hate him.

I needed to know.

Needed to learn how to cage this sickness…before it kills me.