Nightshade (Nightshade, #1)

by Keri Lake

“I would sooner watch the world and every creature in it burn to the ground than to raise my hand against you, Lustina. You are the only thing that matters to me.”

“The only torment I wish to inflict is my own. Touching you, and knowing that you will never belong to me. You will never be mine to keep from the world.” Fingers curled into her dress, he pulled her against him, stretching her arms still caught in the binds. “I want to be good. If for no one else, then for you.”

“The next time they have me tied to these very chains, I shall think of you, here, like this. And I shall imagine all the ways I would have you. You will be my mercy.” “Will such thoughts bring peace to your punishment?” “It will not. But it will anger them to know how much I enjoy their suffering.”

“Was it enough, My Lord?” “It was everything. I will never desire another after this night.”

“How does it feel to sin in the very church where holy men take their vows? To be taken like an animal in the home of the Holy Father?”

“I have lived as a starving man in your absence. One who’s grown tired of the futility in searching for your beauty in others. They were never what I wanted. What I craved.”

“You will give yourself to me, Farryn. And you will willingly watch me devour every inch of you like it’s my last fucking meal.”