Dark Oz

by Geneva Monroe

“Not me. Give me a romance any day, the filthy kind where the smart-mouthed heroine gets railed by three guys at once.”

Nothing about me was hopeful. Hope looked at me and rolled her eyes. If anything good ever came to me, it was because I made it happen, not because I hoped for it.

“Okay. Given that you beat her face in with a snow globe, it’s probably an overstatement to say you were taking it. Let’s try this: why don’t we start with your name? Because right now, I’m running out of things to call you, and I’m just gonna settle on Sugar Tits for lack of anything more fitting.”

“Sugar Tits?”

“Absolutely. I’m positive you’d taste as sweet as cherry pie. You’re ...

“I don’t even have pants on. I doubt you need to worry about me pulling a weapon on you. So how about you stop swinging your big gun energy around.”

“Ok, Princess. Just remember, I don’t need this to kill you.”

“Careful, Dan, this one is a firecracker. She’s bright and fun to play with, but if you choke her, she’ll blow your fucking hand off.”

“Come on, Thea. Don’t let this Neanderthal scare you. He’s got a big roar, but deep down, he’s nothing but a coward.”

“You are just full of surprises, is all. Seeing a man taking a knee to the dick shouldn’t have been hot, but fuck if that wasn’t the sexiest thing I’ve seen all night.”

“Only all night? Maybe I should be trying harder. Let me know if you need an encore.” I pointedly looked down at the swelling line of his zipper.

“What happened to there’s nothing to be afraid of here, Thea? Have you actually met the assholes you live with?”

“Turns out you actually are a Princess or as good as this fucked up country has for royalty.”

“Nothing is yours anymore. Make no mistake, Princess, Eastin might have paid the bill of sale, but we collected the merchandise. You were ours the moment you sat your sweet ass in our cab. That air you’re breathing might feel like freedom, but it’s not. If I wanted to tie you up and mail you off like a pretty little package, I could. You can make all the demands you want, but it doesn’t change the fact that you don’t have any control here. I do.”

“You hurt her again, and it won’t be Thea ending up in pieces. I will fucking tear you apart.”

“Princess, I wouldn’t touch you even if you were on your knees begging to choke on my cock.” Lies. All Lies. Her puffy lips wrapped around my dick, tears leaking from her eyes as she begged for air, was just about the sexiest thing to ever cross my mind.

“Heh, of course you will,” Danny scoffed. “Typical spoiled princess. I bet men kiss your feet everywhere you go.”

“Be careful, Princess. This is me playing nice,” Danny called to me. “Though something tells me you don’t really want it nice.”

“I wouldn’t know what nice looks like,”

“I’ll have to see what I can do about that.”

“Filthy, beaten women do it for you?”

“Strong, impossible to crush spirits do. Beneath those bruises, Thea, yes, it does it for me.”

“Come over here, and I’ll show you exactly what you do to me and the many, many ...

“How about instead you help me with the hard-to-reach places?”

“Fuck, Thea.” His hands settled on my hips, drawing me closer, but it wasn’t flirtation coloring his words anymore. “Oz damn, as much as I want to play—” He sucked in air, one hand slipping over my ass cheek. “—and I really fucking do—” I looked over my shoulder, expecting to see hunger in his eyes, but instead found devastating rage. “This is so much worse than I realized. I’m going to beat Danny purple for throwing you to the ground like that.”

“How could anyone do this to you—” The fingertips of his free hand ghosted over my throbbing side. “—when all I can think about is dropping to my knees in devotion?”

“Flirt later. I’m not about to be doing this all night.”

“I wasn’t fli...

“I was,” Crowe said wit...

“Every word out of that brainless head is a flirtation, Crowe. She knows it. I know it. The fucking old ladies that work the community garden down the street k...

I let the soothing chill of the ice pack carry me away. This world was still too painful, too raw, and I didn’t want to be here anymore. I wanted to sleep. I wanted to escape into dreams that would hopefully save me from the nightmare that had become my reality.

“Darling Thea, I never pretended you could trust me. I said you were safe with me. Those two aren’t the same thing. So long as you had that stone around your neck, you were a walking homing signal. The vault will block the beacon. You wanted me to keep you safe, and that is exactly what I’m doing. You’re going to need to wise up to the fact that with safety comes a loss of some of that freedom. Temporarily, at least. Danny won’t want to keep you forever.”

“Why don’t you tell me what had you screaming loud enough I could hear you from the office upstairs.”

“I couldn’t possibly have screamed that loudly. We’re in the basement.”

“I guarantee you I can make you scream loud enough to wake the entire Eastern Territory, even from the basement… also, when you throw the soap dish at the button on the interc...

“The first day at his new school, he took an epic beating from a little punk, bitch. The kid broke his arm and busted his face over something as silly as a name. After that, Dandy dropped the D and became Danny.”

“What happened to the bully?”

“Curre...

“At the moment, he has his legs wrapped around the most beguiling creature he’s managed to ensnare in quite a long time.” The wrap of his ...

“I want so badly to lay you out on this counter and show you how very nice I can be.”

“Do it,”

“Darling, your body can’t handle the things I want to do...

“The ways I would bend you…”

“Are you wet for me, beautiful? Does that pussy ache for my touch?”

“All that time locked away on the Farm. Has a man ever explored your body? Has anyone ever held you in their arms until you were trembling beneath their touch? Have you ever been stroked so completely you forgot how to breathe?” His ankle wrapped around my lower leg, forcing my stance wider. “Tell me I’m the first to hear you gasp their name.”

“When I make you come, I want you to scream my name loud enough the boys upstairs hear you. Show Dandy who you really belong to.”

“Say my name, beautiful, and I’ll give you what you want.”

“I don’t know how you can call me that. I look like something stuck to the bottom of your shoe, the kind that you can’t tell what it is anymore but there are tiny bits of gravel stuck to it.”

I moved behind her, pulling her hair back and kissing her neck just above the mark I had left. Our eyes met in the reflection. “You don’t get it. The fact that you went through this—” My hand skimmed over the dressings on her back, over the swell of her ass, and down to the bandages taped to her legs. “—and came out on the other side with fists still swinging is what makes you beautiful.” I placed a finger to her chin and turned her face to mine. “All of this—” I hovered a soft kiss over the suture tape on her cheekbone. “is temporary. Long after the bruises have faded, your fight will still be what fuels your beauty.” I raised my hand back to her ass, squeezing the cheek appreciatively and sucking in a breath through my teeth. “Of course the rest of this doesn’t hurt.”

“And Crowe is what, playing house downstairs? For all we know, he was made, and there are teams of hitmen zeroing in on our location right now. But I’m sure to that missing brain of his, now is the perfect time to get his dick wet.”