C1 ONE

I Am in Blood

ROSE

I am in blood

Stepp'd in so far, that, should I wade no more,

Returning were as tedious as go o'er.

— William Shakespeare, Macbeth

Dear Diary,

Some memories should never be allowed to take root in our minds.

Some days should never greet the sun.

Some moments should never be lived.

HANDCUFFS BIT INTO my wrists, pinching the tender skin. I blinked, but saw only black as my eyelashes brushed around the dark cotton covering my eyes. Loud music filled the room, drowning out any other noise, making it impossible to hear where he was. The sheet concealing my naked body had been pulled back, exposing my spread legs and hard nipples. I yanked at the cuffs tightened around my ankles and felt them bite into me.

Pain. I need more pain. I struggled, yanking my wrists until they bruised, kicking my legs until the metal cut me.

The leather whip landed against my thigh, and a wave of light burst through my mind as the pain pushed at my power, feeding it.

I tried to ask for more, but a gag blocked my tongue. Instead I moaned and pulled at my chains harder. Deprived of sight, of movement, of the ability to talk, I was at his mercy. We’d never taken it this far, but I needed it and Derek knew it.

Somehow, this dark sexual game fed us both. His alpha core responded to the control, the implied ownership of my submission. My power needed more to stay satiated and safe, to allow us this contact.

Another slap of the leather. My body arched, and I groaned again. There would be marks from this, I knew. He comforted me with a feather over the line of pain, blending it with pleasure, confusing my senses. As his teeth bit down on one nipple, his fingers dipped between my legs, teasing at the wet, swollen nub of flesh there.

Pain. Pleasure. Ecstasy. They swirled inside of me, claiming me.

His strong naked body, skin hot to the touch, pressed against me.

As I came, he released my bounds, freed me from my restraints and then slammed his hard cock into me, splitting me in two as my limbs came back to life, nerve endings on fire.

My hips rose to meet his, legs locked around him, arms pulling him closer. Our lips met, tongues exploring each other as bodies merged into one. My nails dug into his back, returning some of the pain he’d given me. He slammed me harder, deeper, his cock filling me, stretching me, going so deep.

His hard chest pressed against my breasts, muscles flexing with the effort of fucking me.

We came together this time, exploding in a rainbow of light, a shower of explosive sensation.

“I love you, Rose. Forever.”

My heart burst with emotion, with the love I felt for him. Overpowering. All consuming. The kind of forever love that was impossible to describe. Tears clogged my throat. “I love you, too, Derek.”

A final thrust and he collapsed on me.

Orgasms pulsed through me in waves, his cock still hard inside me as his lips grazed my collarbone.

Love. Connection. The incredible bliss of being one with the man I loved more than life consumed me.

Then. Something.

Darkness.

Fear.

Panic.

When my power pushed forward, still hungry, still demanding, I tried to push him off of me.

My heart, already beating hard, stalled, skipping beats, losing its rhythm.

No. No. NoNoNoNo!

I screamed his name, then bit my wrist until I could taste my own blood, but the pain wasn’t enough anymore.

He looked down at me, confusion clouding his beautiful blue eyes. Then, awareness dawned, but it was too late. My power held onto him and wouldn’t let go.

I finally pushed him off of me and threw myself off the bed, away from his flesh, away from all contact, but it didn’t matter.

A dark band of energy connected us, and I could see my demon within sucking out his life.

“No! No. Stop. Not Derek. No!”

I reached for the scissors on the desk in our room and used the sharp side to dig into my thigh until blood pooled out. “Use my pain. Please. Leave him alone. Feed on this.”

I cut and cut, but I couldn’t break the band of power between us. The scissors, slick with blood, slipped from my hands and fell to the ground just as Derek collapsed on the bed, his eyes clouded with white, his face lifeless. Dead.

I thought I knew pain, thought I’d felt it when Mother betrayed me and planned my death.

When Sandy died and her puppies were slaughtered.

When Derek and I broke up.

When I’d robbed his brother of his soul.

But nothing could have prepared me for this kind of pain.

The kind of pain that tears out your soul and leaves you an empty husk.

The kind that gnaws its way into you, eating through everything and never leaving.

The kind that steals your breath and clenches your heart until you think you’re going to die.

The kind that comes from killing the man you love.