Terror at the Gates (Blood of Lilith, #1)

by Scarlett St. Clair

“Defiance,” he said, a thin smirk curling his mouth. “I like it, but you’ll never find a husband with it.”

but men had a hard time wrapping their dicks around the word no, and since our world valued them more, we were the ones who suffered.

“Was that supposed to hurt my feelings?” I asked. “You have feelings?” “Fuck off.”

I dropped my gaze and laughed. “You know the problem,” I said slowly, so he could keep up. “It takes over two inches to satisfy me.”

useless. Faced with my abuser, I’d become that same scared girl who’d run away from home two years ago.

My feet just carried me in that direction while my mind went blank, incapable of thought, crippled by a sense of dread. For a long time, I didn’t know what it was like to wake up without anxiety or fear. Those feelings ravaged me now.

“What will you give me?” I asked. “What do you want?” This motherfucker, I thought. “You aren’t brave enough to give me what I want,” I said.

“What are you thinking?” I whispered. He shook his head once. “That you’ve fucked me up, little love.”

I probably should have let him go without a word, but I was angry, and I felt like stoking this flame.

“You’re such a daddy.” “You only get to call me that when you behave,” he said.

“You gonna stab me?” he asked. “Would it make you talk?” “I guess it depends on how you used it,” he said.

“You don’t think I carry you wherever I go? You are unshakable. A menace. Sometimes, I think I would do anything to fuck it out of you, this goddamn defiance, even though it won’t work. Even though it’s what I adore most about you. I guess I just think it would be fun to try.”

Last time, I’d frozen. But last time, I hadn’t been prepared to face my abuser.

“You are such a fucking brat,” he said. “You like it,” I said. “I do,” he agreed, grasping my jaw and pulling me close. “But next time, I’m going to fuck you like I don’t.”

I liked the way he tempered dominance with tenderness. I needed both.