God of Wrath (Legacy of Gods, #3)

by Rina Kent

Orange Mask rises to his impressive height that nearly eats up the horizon, then slowly, too slowly, his head tilts in my direction. The neon stitches glow in the near darkness as eerie silence stakes its claim. My spine jerks when his rough, deep voice echoes in the air. “I know you’re hiding. Come out and I promise not to hurt you. Much.”

And while I prefer not to faint, that’s still a better option than being interrogated and eventually selling out the one I made a promise to.

“Fuck me first,” I whisper, my voice so low that I barely hear it.

“Fuck you first?” he repeats slowly, almost as if he’s tasting the words on his tongue.

“Why?” It takes everything in me to remain collected despite the throbbing and the dull ache in the sensitive flesh of my breast. “I don’t want to die a virgin.”

The only exception is him. The one I’m doing a favor for and because of whom I’m in this predicament.

My heart gets stuck in my throat and the only thing I think about is how the hell did I not have a panic attack like I do whenever I’m in any sexual situation.

How one word, one text, from the person who matters, is more important than the whole world.

Landon King is three years older than me, so while I’m a second-year psychology major, he’s already getting his master’s degree in arts and sculpting masterpieces that galleries all over the world snatch up before they’re even complete.

There was something so sexy about a man who believed in my potential before I could reach it. Little by little, I developed a crush on him, but due to his obvious lack of interest, I backed off.

However, they did send out five invitations this time. All to students who aren’t in the Elites but are close to Landon. As in, his friends—my friends. Not me, the boys.

“How come there are five masks? I thought the Heathens was composed of Jeremy, Gareth, Nikolai, and Killian. Who’s the fifth member?” “No clue.” Anni’s brows crease. “He certainly doesn’t show up at the mansion. Only the four you just mentioned live together.”

“A year ago, you said your fantasy was to be ambushed in a dark place and taken against your will.”

“So this is how good girls like you get off. Does being used in the middle of the night like a worthless fuckable hole turn you on, Lisichka?”

My thoughts are confirmed when he stares at me over his shoulder, his eyes still in tune with the night, tapering and shimmering with that mystic darkness. If anything, they appear more unhinged. “Come back when you’re ready to be fucked properly.”

That dull, maybe not so dull, person has gotten herself the worst type of attention. Mine.

“No wonder you like to be chased when you touch yourself this gently. How about I show you how it’s properly done, Lisichka?”

Little fox. You looked like one that day at the initiation. You still feel like one with all the cunning.

“You look so innocent, but that head of yours is a fucked-up place, Lisichka. My fucked-up place.”

I narrow my eyes, absolutely loathing the heartburn flowing through my chest. It’s the injury. My doctor will be hearing about his incompetence in putting me back together.

But she did something. Something that I nearly killed her for. She called me by that fucker’s name.

And I’m harder, just at the sound of my name in her voice. What the fuck am I? A teenager with no control over his libido? Why would this fucking girl have so much of an effect on me without even trying?

“Why are you doing this to me?” I blurt, my voice hoarse and my nose clogged from all the crying. “Because your darkness calls to mine. I want to unleash that repressed part of you and toy with it, with you, like when I smeared your innocence all over my cock. I want to own you, Cecily, every part of you, what you show and what you hide beneath self-imposed shackles. I won’t stop until you’re fully, thoroughly, and undeniably mine.”

“You’re mine, not anyone else’s, fucking mine. Now, beg and say my name.”

“White-haired characters are usually my favorites in mangas and anime. They have this intelligent, wise, and reserved aura that I always loved, so I went for it. Not going to lie, it’s a pain to maintain, but it’s worth it.”

will find him. I will make him regret fucking with her. Cecily might be a toy, but she’s my fucking toy and no one is allowed to touch her. Hurt her. Or engrave a permanent scar inside her.

Not even if he buys me special editions of my favorite mangas, lets me talk about whatever subject I’m studying, and fixes me delicious dishes.

He’s looking at me as if I’m the first he’ll devour. As if I’m the only one he sees in the crowd. And that doesn’t make sense. Jeremy has never looked at me this way.

“That means it’s a possibility. I’ll believe that you were cheering me on.”

As much as I want to punish her, to eradicate the name of that motherfucker from her vocabulary, I actually don’t want to hurt her. Deep down, Cecily has become part of who I am. I can’t be the cause of her pain. At least, not outside of sex.

What started as a game of twisted lust and beastly desire is turning into dangerous possessiveness and a deranged obsessiveness I can’t put a halt to.

This is the most beautiful fucking sight I’ve ever seen. Usually, I do anything to kill any hint of softness or humanity she tries to see in me, but right now, I can’t. All I can do is stop and stare as she whispers, “Thank you.”

Wrath. It drips off Jeremy in a deranged manner as he clutches Steven with apparent nonchalance but hidden rage. The type that simmers beneath the surface and has dire consequences.

“I’m not your property, Jeremy. I’m a person.” “My person,” he nearly growls the words. “Next time you let anyone touch you, I’ll fuck you in their blood and make you come all over their corpse.”

This is the first time I’ve held her hand and I can’t help feeling that it’s small, soft, and fits perfectly in mine.

“You were jealous of Maya, and you apparently need a label to put your busy brain at ease. Will being in a relationship satisfy you?”

I spend a full minute of intense staring at the sparkling heart but still can’t find an explanation for it. One thing’s for sure, I like it, and it caught me completely by fucking surprise since it’s the first time she’s sent one.

With Cecily, she is the need. It’s not about fucking, owning, or release. It’s about her and her intoxicating scent. It’s about how she melts in my arms when I kiss her.

Cecily is neither. She’s the gray. She’s the colors. She’s every rainbow I never thought to stop and watch.

I kiss her because this is the only way I can show her how much different she is for me and how much her absence affected me.

Our perception of the past depends greatly on our state of mind during that certain event. Any type of trauma can alter not only our memories but also our perspectives and personalities.”

“I’m not a nice man, Cecily. I won’t pretend otherwise, or I’d be doing you and myself a disservice. What I am, however, is someone who’ll slaughter your demons one by one until you’re finally free of them. I’ll touch your scars until you normalize them and can live with them, because they’re part of what makes you who you are.”

You felt left out of an important part of my life, the Heathens, and you’re here because you’re not my dirty little secret.”

“No one will hurt you anymore, Cecily. You have my word.”

With time, it became so much more. I thought I was saving her, but it turns out, she was saving me from my own unresolved issues.”

“You’re the fire to my icy heart, and while I loathed that at the beginning, I soon came to the realization that I can’t survive without that fire. My feelings for you are nowhere near conventional. They’re neither proportional nor measurable, and that heart you melted and the emotions you provoked belong to you. I’d rather be smashed and broken to pieces with you than be whole without you. I’d rather remain a beast for you than become a man who has to survive without you.”

“I’m fucking crazy about you, Lisichka. I love you more than words can express.”