Beautiful Fiend (North Shore, #1)

by Lola King

“Not even gonna kiss me goodbye?” “Stop,” I whisper, eyeing the street. “Anyone could see us. Neither of us needs the Kings to know what happened last night.” Not caring about anything I just said, he grabs the back of my head and smashes his lips against mine. “If anyone has anything to say. They can come to me. I will gladly settle it with them.”

“Don’t play smart with me, little bitch. I didn’t want this deal between you and Caden in the first place, and I’ll kill you myself if you start bringing us more trouble than you’re worth. This is my crew, and I take care of it. So let me not catch you causing us problems anymore. Or Caden’s little protection on you won’t matter. I will fucking kick your ass and send you back to your crew broken beyond repair.”

his giant of a boyfriend settles on the armchair and nods at all of us. He’s not exactly a talker. Sam is a big guy with dark eyes and dark hair, full of tattoos, and always silent. Not exactly the fun type. Lik and he balance each other perfectly since my stepbrother can hold a conversation with himself for hours on end.

“Caden King cornered me and started a fight out of nowhere. I was on NSC grounds. I was no threat, and he had no reason to do this.” “What?” I choke. “Are you for real? Are you okay?” “Do I look okay? I’m fucking pissed,” he seethes. The anger in his voice makes me tremble. “Y-yeah, but did he hurt you?” “No, of course not. He might be good, but I don’t go down easy. Plus, I don’t think he wanted to hurt me. No, he wanted to warn me.” “Warn you?” “Yeah, to stay away from you.

“I care beyond friendship, Billie. You know that. How long do you intend on making me wait before you reciprocate those feelings?” I gulp and push at his chest. “I can’t give you a timeline on feelings,” I say softly. “I love you deeply. And I know we’ve been walking a fine line between friendship and more. But I don’t think it will ever go beyond that.”

I heard

“Stay away from Rose,” he orders calmly. “Let me handle her.” I shake my head. He’s in love with the girl. He’s always been, and she will cause absolute chaos in his settled relationship. But the true reason I know they’re heading for failure? Her brother is Sam’s best friend and he would never allow this.

should deal with it tonight.” I grab my phone to see a message from Caden. He sent me a picture of his lower lip. It’s split and there’s dry blood on it. Caden: I need a magic kiss.

He’s fine. There’s no need to worry because he’s not even on the North Shore right now. I sigh in relief and put my phone beside the lamp before turning it off. It’s late, and I just want today to be over. I close my eyes but can’t find sleep for a while. Eventually, my body gives up on worrying about Caden, my family, and the feud that will forever separate the Kings from NSC.

“I was so patient with you. Ready to minimize who I was, just so I could fit into that tiny box of things you can handle without breaking apart.” My gulp is loud in the room, and he brings his hand to my throat, grazing it with the tips of his fingers. “Now, I’m going to hurt you.”

“There were kids in that house. Do you understand that?” he hisses with fury. “I-I don’t know what you’re talking about.” My guilt doubles at the mention of children. “I’m talking about the fire your crew started at my house, you little bitch.”

“I’m talking about how my nieces could have died tonight if I hadn’t come home just in time to run inside the house.”

His nieces are just kids. Children who could have died in a war they don’t even understand. “My dad’s dead,” he drops just before ripping my panties off my body.

“This is going to be so hard for you. The fact that you will enjoy what I’m about to put you through.” "You don’t have to—” His hand against the side of my face cuts me off as he pushes my head harder against the mattress. “I told you to shut the fuck up.”

“I tried to be patient with you, baby. I tried to take my time and do good by you.” I feel tears spring to my eyes as he tells me what could have been. “And you just went behind my back and betrayed me.”

And gone is the woman who hated him so much she couldn’t find any of this erotic. She’s been replaced by the woman who moans loudly against her own underwear as he starts moving inside her.

He violently fucked me without asking for my opinion tonight, yet it’s as he leaves his mark on me that I genuinely voice out my refusal. “Please, Caden…everyone will see.”

“Isn’t that the whole fucking point, little bee? For your entire crew to see that you were in the arms of the enemy, being fucked senseless and coming hard on my dick while they were trying to take us down?”

“You had your chance to go out with the nice version of me, and you fucking blew it. So don’t go crying to your daddy anymore because if something happens to my family again…what I did to you tonight will feel like the sweetest sex you’ve ever had in your life.”

“Caden, I promise you I didn’t know what they were going to do,” I choke on a sob.

you knew they were going to do something,” he says. He sounds so disappointed in me, so betrayed. “And you chose not to tell me. See, after Jade jumped you, I told everyone they’d have to deal with me if they touched you. You? You just let them come at me wit...

“Don’t leave me like this. Just stay. Stay, and we can talk through it. We can make this right. If you leave now, it really…it truly feels like…” His smirk sends a chill down my spine. “Like you were my victim?”

“Please…” “You look beautiful when you’re broken,”

It hurt, it was violent, and I enjoyed it much more than I should have. But at the end of the day, I still can’t process whether I was attacked. I don’t feel like it, and a part of me is ashamed of that.

It hits me just now that I’m protecting him because I want him out of here. Because we share that need to leave this godforsaken town, and we understand each other. Which isn’t something I have with Xi.

“Your guilty King is Caden,” Lik says loudly enough for everyone in the room to hear. “And he didn’t hit her. These are love bites. He leaves them on every girl he fucks.”

“I could have given you everything you wanted,” he says low. I peer up at him, a sob constricting my throat because we will never be the same way we once were. “But not everything I needed,”

Only Caden can give me what I need, when what I need is him. Him and the way he doesn’t care when he forces me. Him and his dirty mouth and brutal tendencies. Him and his beautiful face and body. Him and the way he softens for me, turning away from the violence to open up to me. My savage enemy. My beautiful fiend.

“Good night,” he smiles at me. I get up and then fall back right away, my legs not carrying me. “Whoa,” he exclaims as he catches me before I fall. He’s up now too, holding me against him. “You alright there?” “I don’t know what happ—” My vision narrows, and I can’t finish my sentence. What the hell is happening?

Fuck he drugged her

I’m still conscious enough to understand we’re not heading to the hospital, but there is nothing I can do about it. Fear envelops me, yet I can’t seem to consciously understand I’m scared.

Monday night was meant to be a punishment for her. I was raging and feeling betrayed, and I wanted to hurt her. Not only did she enjoy herself in the process, but I only plunged myself deeper into my infatuation with her.

Billie Scott fits perfectly with my violent tendencies, and now I’m fucked.

I could make her come over and over again before planning our future together. Her, me, and even that murderous dog of hers. Fuck. I can really see us building something together away from here. All that because I finally pushed her past the breaking point. And instead of breaking, she flourished into precisely who I needed in my life.

The present I brought for her, a new pair of MMA gloves. Hers are old and falling apart. She’ll need these for her fight tomorrow.

“Has Sawyer not told you? I’m joining your side. I’ve been wanting to go after Billie for months, but Xi never allowed me. I don’t have to do anything he says now. I’ll just have some fun before joining the Kings.”

“Everyone. Who. Touches. Her. Dies,” I seethe. There’s still some life left in him, so I stab the piece of glass further into his throat. “Now fucking die.”

the cutest snore I’ve ever heard in my life is coming out of her mouth. I do something I realize I’ve come to love. I slip a hand in her hair and close my own eyes. Caressing the soft strands over and over again soothes me slightly.

“I get the message. I’m a fucking idiot, and you’re a hero. Can I leave now?” I stand up from his bed and shoulder past him. He grabs my arm and tugs me back, dropping the bottle and wrapping a mighty hand around my jaw. “I’m no fucking hero, Billie,” he grits out with fury. “Don’t you know that yet? I’m your worst nightmare. I’m the villain who will save you only to use and abuse you for his own pleasure.”

“Did you?” I force past my pouted lips. “Did you assault me last night?” He chuckles and shakes his head, his smile freezing every single atom around us. “Of course not, baby. I plan on doing much worse to you. And when I do, I want to feel you fight and hear you scream.”

“Caden,” I whisper in disbelief. “These gloves are almost a hundred dollars. That’s too much. I can’t accept them.” He smiles softly. “Don’t make me force you to accept a present.” “But…how?” He shrugs and runs a hand through his hair. “I have a bit of money saved. I wanted to do something nice for you.” I gulp. “Thank you. I…wow. Thank you.”

I don’t feel physical pain as she rains punches on me. No, only the horror of my dreams shattering into pieces. Only the understanding that I will never leave this shit town. That everything I held onto, my reason to live and keep going, is burning to ashes.

“Billie, come on. This isn’t the end of the world.” No, it’s the end of my world. Everything I worked so hard for. All the early morning runs, the hours at the gym, the dieting, the no alcohol and drugs rule. My whole life was built around professional MMA. And just like that, it’s gone. So what do I live for now? Where’s my ticket out of the North Shore?

He’s the man who took a piece of my soul and crushed it under his stupid boot. The man who took a chunk of me for himself and never intends on giving it back. And when I tried my best to protect myself from him, he shattered my safe space and forced himself into my life. The worst part is that I’ve been stupid enough to enjoy it.

“Are you sure you want to push me away when I’m trying to help? Because there’s no option in your life where I’m not part of it. Accept that I’m trying to care for you or be forced into accepting it. No promises that I’ll be gentle for the second option.”

“You fucking ruined my entire life, Caden.” I twist, but he doesn’t let up. “The illegal shit when I should be focusing on my career. The bullying like we’re in fucking high school. Demanding every single one of my waking minutes. Demanding my mind and my body. You play me like a game, use me like a toy, and now look at me. I’ve got nothing.”

“I didn’t need you yesterday,” I rage. “No one was there when you assaulted me. I picked up the pieces and put them back together. Just me. I can do it all over again. But you’re the one who made me weak. You’re the one I missed training for. You’re the one I slacked on the hard work for. I regret everything. You were the biggest fucking mistake I ever made.”

“Let’s make a deal,” he says into my ear. “If I can’t make you come, I’ll leave you alone. But if you come undone for me, little bee, I will take it as an invitation to never, ever, let you go. Sounds fair?”

“Scream my name when you come, baby. I can’t have you forgetting who owns you.”

Caden holds me by the waist as he drops kisses on my eyebrow, my cheek that is starting to swell, and finally my cut lip. “Magic kisses,” he finally says softly.

I’m saving to leave. I never spend money on things that don’t help me toward that goal. But Billie is different. A queen deserves all the gold in the world.