Tears of Tess (Monsters in the Dark, #1)

by Pepper Winters

Would he ever stop making me hurt and heal at the same time?

“Never lie. The truth hurts less than fibs and fakers.”

“If she doesn’t want to bow, perhaps she wants to crawl.”

A cold smile tugged my lips. “No. One tried. He wasn’t successful.” His hard smile matched mine, and something webbed between us. Understanding? Respect? Something I said changed the way Q thought of me.

Slamming a novel closed, I stared at the licking fire. If I burned all his books, would that teach Q a lesson? I stood, dangling a red leather book above eager flames. Do it. My fingers refused to let go, and I slouched in my chair. I couldn’t. I wouldn’t commit sacrilege on age-old literature, no matter how I hated him.

stop you from being happy in this new life.” Taking a deep breath, her passion tinged with anger as she added, “Don’t do what I did, and pretend it will all go away. I let my owners break me. Not because I couldn’t fight anymore, but because it was the easier way to live; you never truly break. The key is not to lie to yourself, even while you fake it.”

“I’m yours. Isn’t that what you wanted?” He shook his head, temper flaring. “You’ve given up. You aren’t mine unless I make you mine!”

“There you are. Don’t switch off again. I forbid it.”

“Merde!” he swore. Standing, he scooped the bracelet from the carpet and dangled it above. “This is mine. You are mine. Get that through your head if you ever want it back.” I scrambled to my knees, reaching for it. No, he couldn’t take it. It linked to my past, linked to Brax, to who I was deep inside—the tame, sweet girl who wanted nothing more than to belong.

Be that icicle—sharp and deadly.

“Je suis vraiment désolé,” I’m so sorry, a tortured voice whispered. Kisses flurried on my hairline, never stopping. I floated through the house in his arms. “I’ll protect you. I’ll make it right.”

I brought the nightmare on myself with unwholesome thoughts, but Q showed me the life I lived with Brax wasn’t fully… complete. Brax treated me with utmost care, but never made me vibrant.

He was my master and I belonged to him.

I didn’t need his anger to become devoted. I needed his softer moments—gentle love was my undoing, not demands or threats. I was pitiful with how I needed compassion, companionship.

I’m not a sweet, innocent girl who wants cotton candy and sonnets. I’m a fighter, a slut, a woman who needed to be taught her own body.

As I stood, tied to a bed, my owner leering with sin in his eyes and promise of hurt on his lips, I changed again. The chrysalis of who I’d been cracked open, letting me fly free. I unfurled newfound wings, becoming more than Tess. I became a twisted, treasured belonging, revelling in her ownership. Who wanted Q to hurt her.

“You think you’re so fierce with your threats. My job isn’t to wrap you in shackles, esclave. My job is to unshackle you. And as much as you deny it, I’m doing a damn fine job.”

Q narrowed his eyes, our souls screamed at each other, unhindered by human words. I want to hurt you. I want to own you. I want to devour you. I want to make you mine. I’m already yours.

“Monsters find each other in the dark.”

there were limits he crossed that I never could. Had we found each other in the darkness? I may have black desires, but I loved light, too. I needed tenderness to temper pain and degradation. Was that an option?

“You may not be mine, but I’m fast becoming yours.”

Everyone knows, after captivity, a pet doesn’t survive in the wild. He should be punished.

“And the other?” “Two others, actually.” He straightened, bracing himself. His face thundered with temper, rolling with heavy clouds. “If you ever sleep with another man again, I swear to God, I won’t be responsible for what I do.

“I promise to protect you, ravage you, hunt those who hurt you, and give you the life you deserve. My fortune is yours. My secrets are yours. And I will give you the corpses of the men who hurt you.” My body hummed with the pact we made. “I promise to fight you every hour of every day.” His lips curled in a cruel smile. “Welcome to my world, esclave. I fight my desires every second.”

“You’re the first bird I released who came back. The only bird.”

He licked his lips, worshipping awe and rapture in his gaze. “Je suis à toi.” I am yours. I shook my head. “Nous sommes les uns des autres.” We are each other’s.

My chest swelled with pride. Tess left him for me. She was too much for a boy. She needed a man with a demon inside. I didn’t think I’d ever find a female beast with contorted desires like mine. But she found me.

Holy shit, who was this little animal? Did I create her, or was she always this twisted? My skin sparked with tingles. Emotions I never experienced before exploded. Happiness. True, unbridled happiness.

I wanted to lay corpses at her feet and prove I may be a monster but I was her monster.

She gave me everything I needed and more. She fed both the man and beast and she would never be free again. She was in my cage and I would never open the door. She was the key. The key to my happiness.