Under His Command (Devils & Pretty Sins, #1)

by Rhea Harp

Time stops for a moment, only resuming when he drags a hand down his face and breaks contact. He steps back into the street to let me get into my house, and I remember the command he issued me.

His lips start moving, but the low, dark voice fades out as I go deeper and deeper into myself, the world around me becoming a blur. A blur where all I hear are words like “Cole Finnegan was a good man,” and “I’m sorry, Dove,” and “he fought well,” and other things I wish I could just block out of my mind.

A man I’ve never had, nor that I’ll ever have. A man that sparked something in me that day, when he pulled my hair, tasted my tears, and called me his good girl.

“Oh my God!” Sterling suddenly shrieks. “Look, Dove, it’s your sexy-ass commander on TV! Hey, Bree,” she shouts over to the girl at the bar, “turn that shit up, will you? God, he really is hot.” She wiggles her eyebrows at me.

“Yes,” Rowan answers, his tone low and grave, and completely sure of himself. “Our intelligence did see this coming, since the CCSI has already attacked the northwestern villages. We were able to keep the situation under control and push back the coalition. But unfortunately, lives were still lost tonight.”

My body burns for him, even here, even now, even when it’s only his voice. Jesus, Dove. Pull yourself together.

“In my dreams, when I fuck you, you call out my name every night. Raw, and needy, and dripping with want. It’s the sweetest fucking sound I’ve heard in my life. But I need to hear it for real, Dove. Because if I don’t, my sanity is simply going to snap. And I don’t know…” He groans. “I don’t know how else to deal with it. Not anymore.” “You don’t mean that.” I shake my head as my brows knit together in shock. “I do mean that. And I intend to show you, in explicit detail, how I really wanted to touch you that day but couldn’t.” He sighs. “I know a lot of time has passed. But to be completely honest, even if you don’t feel the same way I do, that won’t stop me from trying to make you mine.” Jesus Christ.

😏😏😏🥵

“I don’t understand why or how it happened. But I know there’s no way I’m going to say no to seeing you again.”

She's fallen hard

“Oh. Isn’t that in another state? What was it…” I pause, trying to remember. “Minnesota?” “Colorado,” he gently corrects me. “We’re flying there in an hour. And returning tomorrow morning. You don’t have to worry about anything. All you have to do is come.” “So… an overnight stay.” “Correct.” “With… you.” “You and me. Alone, for the whole night… in Colorado. Yes.” I can sense a smile when he speaks those words. And then? What happens then?

🤣🤣😏😏👀👀👀

“Why does this sound like you planned all of this before asking if I wanted to come?” “Because I did. Because I’ve already decided that you’re mine.”

🤣🤣🤣

The silence is deafening, and even I have stopped shifting in my seat. It’s like a predator has just spotted me, and I’ll have the best chances for survival if I just stay still.

“You think that was for you?” “Well, you… you made me…” “That was all for my pleasure, angel. I don’t need you to do anything for me.”

My pussy clenches around his finger and I get the urge to grind myself on it. He sees it, and lowers his head in my direction, whispering, “I licked this pussy. It’s mine now. And I’m going to keep my finger in there for as long as I want. So be quiet, stay still, and enjoy the ride. Yes?” “Rowan…” I whimper, pleading with him with my eyes not to torture me like this. His finger remains unmoving, trapped inside my pussy like he has no intention of ever releasing me. Like that’s where it belongs. My muscles continue to clench around it, and I know by looking into his eyes that this is going to be the most torturous half an hour of my life.

Besides… I think… I think I like doing what he says. Listening to his commands. Pleasing him to draw praise and affection from him. It’s like a game where all I have to do is be a good girl for him, and he’ll give me anything I want. Easy enough.

“Though I promise you’ll scream when I start taking what’s mine. Because you are mine now, aren’t you, angel?”

“This skin. This scent,” he groans. “I’ve gone years trying to remember every single detail of how fucking good you felt in my arms. My hunger runs deeper than whatever you are willing to offer me tonight. I’ll have you now. And I’ll have you tomorrow. And I won’t be able to let go after that, even if I tried.”

“Sleep well, angel,” he says, while I blink hard and fast through whatever the hell just happened. It’s at this moment that I realize… Rowan King is not my hero, as younger me would’ve thought. He’s my monster. And now I serve under his command.

Last night was… intense. He had me wrapped around his finger with his low voice and his demeaning orders that made me want to beg for more of him. And that tongue. God, that tongue…

“Then make sure it doesn’t. Excuse me one moment— Angel, stop hiding like a little mouse and come sit with me,” he hollers, and my heart leaps to my throat.

“I was kind of hoping you’d walk in here naked, the way I left you in our bed. But since you chose to wear my shirt instead of yours, I can’t be too mad about it.” Our bed. “But then Sergeant Rhames…” I mumble. “He would’ve seen me. All of me.” “Yes,” he smiles. “And he would’ve hated me even more than he does. Because he can’t have you, angel. No one else can.”

“I want you to climb up on this desk and spread your knees apart. Show me everything, angel. Show me everything that’s mine, so I can start taking it.”

“Okay,” I look down at my feet. “But clearly, she doesn’t think that was the end of it. She still wants you.” “And she can continue to want me, for all I care. You are mine as much as I am yours, angel. Things are really fucking clear to me. And if you can’t see that yet, I’m going to make sure you do.” I guess… I guess I can’t argue with that.

“I just wish I got to know you a little bit more. I want all of you, not just scraps.” He smiles, his hand coiling around my neck possessively, but without squeezing it. “Good. I also want to know you. Which is why I’m taking you out tonight.”

“Be careful, Dove Finnegan. Or you might not get out of this alive.”

“You can’t go back there, angel. Not for a while.” My brows knit together in confusion. “What? Why not?” I watch his mouth move, the words registering. My bones shake with fear, and I hold onto him, not knowing how to react. “Someone broke into your apartment an hour ago. There’s blood… everywhere. And one of my men is dead.” “What…?” I stare at him with wide eyes. I bring my hand to my mouth, adrenaline rushing through my veins at the thought of my imminent death. “Which means that when you saw that orange,” he continues, “chances are they were there minutes before you saw it. I’m sorry, Dove, but I’m no longer leaving you out of my sight.”

I see all of it, but I still shake my head, sobbing as the memories come back to life. “This isn’t real. You can’t be here,” I cry out, not even caring about the pain in my wrists as I tug on the chains. But it is real. And he is here. My dead brother, Cole, is very much still alive.