Pet: A Dark Menage Romance Read online

  I dialed the same number I’d called before and barked into the phone.

  “You found her yet? You fucking need to. Right now.”

  I listed some locations off the top of my head, fighting the urge to smash my fist into a streetlamp.

  “Fucking find her! NOW!”

  Seventeen

  Pet

  Running away was proving to be difficult since I didn’t have anywhere to go.

  I wandered around town aimlessly, pissed off with myself for not taking my phone or anything else when I left. Not that I had any money to speak off.

  I ended up at the library, the only place I felt safe enough in. I hid between the bookshelves and picked out some of my favorite classics.

  The Little Princess, The Secret Garden, Rebecca.

  Enough to distract me for a few hours.

  I curled up on an uncomfortable chair in the emptiest part of the library, pulled my legs up and ignored people’s stares as I opened Rebecca and started reading. It only took me a few moments to fall into the world I’d found solace in so many times before, and I accepted the distraction gratefully.

  Daphne du Maurier’s words pulled me in and I forgot about my surroundings for a blissful hour, until my stomach reminded me it was time to eat.

  When I looked up from my book, I realized I wasn’t alone. And when I saw who was standing in front of me, blinding rage ripped through my body.

  “How long have you been standing there?” I asked, my voice shaky.

  “Long enough to see you’re not going anywhere.” She gave me a playful smile, and I wanted to smack it off her once-again-pretty face.

  I got up and stacked my books, trying to get past her, but she grabbed my arm and wouldn’t let go.

  “I’m here to help,” she said.

  “Like fuck you are,” I sneered. “Get your filthy hands off me.”

  “You’re jealous for no reason,” she told me. “It’s been a long time since… since I was King’s pet.”

  I nearly spat in her face.

  “Oh, I’m sorry,” I snapped. “I guess you’re his Angel now.”

  “You don’t know anything,” she said.

  “I know enough. Let the fuck go!”

  Someone shushed us and gave us a mean look. Angel just rolled her eyes and half-dragged me out of the library. She took my books and placed them on a random shelf and I seethed with anger, not wanting to make a scene. We left the library and she didn’t stop dragging me along until we were in the street. Then, I finally ripped my arm out of her grip and glared at her.

  “You’re literally the last person I want to see,” I told her.

  “I know.” She gave me an apologetic smile. “But I’m here to help. Even if you don’t understand, Sapphire.”

  It felt odd hearing my name from her lips. The lips that had been begging for King’s cock the last time I heard her talk.

  “My only purpose in your relationship is to help,” she said. “I know you don’t get it, but trust me. I’m not here to steal your man.”

  “As if you could,” I rolled my eyes, but my bravado was false.

  She really was beautiful, and so much sexier than me. Even I could tell that. Fuck, a lamppost could tell.

  “You need to go back home to him,” she said, and I shook my head.

  “I can’t deal with it right now,” I said. “And I don’t like you meddling.”

  “He sent me,” she protested.

  “Fucking great,” I muttered. “Got someone else to do his bidding, once again. What, am I not worthy of him getting me back by himself?”

  “You’re one angry girl,” Angel laughed.

  She looked at me with a bemused expression, then extended a hand. I stared at her with contempt.

  “My name is Maria,” she said. “I thought you should know, since I know yours.”

  I glared at her as she pulled my hand towards her and shook it. Her laughter was melodic, and she linked her arm with mine.

  “Come on,” she smiled. “I’m buying you a drink, and then we can get you home.”

  I had the feeling I wouldn’t get anywhere if I objected.

  She took me to a cafe. Not even a fucking bar.

  I kept glaring at her as we ordered our drinks, two Cokes with ice and lemon.

  “I don’t like you,” I told her.

  “Yeah?” she licked her straw. “I think you’re a fucking peach.”

  “King thinks so,” I grinned.

  “He has awful taste.” She sucked her drink through the straw. “Ever since he dumped me.”

  Knowing that he’d dumped her gave my heart palpitations. Good. Bitch fucking deserved it.

  “I think we could really be friends, you know,” she said and I burst out laughing. After a moment, she joined in, and we giggled for what felt like ages.

  “You’re not going to touch him again?” I asked her.

  “I do what he tells me to,” she said. “And what we did was for your own good.”

  “Sure.” Another eye-roll. “You don’t have feelings for him anymore?”

  She toyed with her straw and I wanted to stab her in one of her pretty brown eyes.

  Kind of.

  Not really.

  “Why did you agree to come get me?” I asked.

  “He asked me to,” she shrugged.

  “That wasn’t my question.”

  She let go of her glass and glared at me.

  “When King asks you to do something,” she said. “You say yes.”

  Well, she had a point there.

  “I’d really prefer it if you stayed out of my life,” I said, and she gave me a long look.

  “I think you could use a friend,” she said.

  “Yeah? And you think you’d fill that role well?”

  “I’m saying it wouldn’t hurt to give it a try. I know all of this is new to you, I’m just trying to help. So, if you let me…” She reached for my hand and laid her palm on top of it gently. It felt all kinds of weird. “I think we’d make a great team.”

  “I’ll think about it,” I muttered.

  There was something about her that I liked, now that I saw her as Maria, not Angel. She seemed almost… sweet. Caring. Of course, my judgement wasn’t always spot-on with these things.

  “Let’s take you home,” she suggested, and I shook my head.

  “A little while longer.” My voice was soft and shaky, so she just nodded and ordered us another round of Cokes.

  Somehow, she managed to involve me in a conversation that had absolutely nothing to do with King.

  We talked about anything and everything from our favorite movies to the best skincare brands we liked to use. And finally, we touched on the subject of school, and it made me curious.

  “You’re a student?” I asked her, and she shook her head.

  “I finished two years ago,” she said.

  “What’s your degree in?”

  “Drama,” she grinned. “I’ve always wanted to be an actress.”

  I looked her over. On second thoughts, she might have what it takes. There was something about her – she was beautiful, yes, but a bit unusual with that wild hair. Her skin was a sharp contrast to her dark hair and eyes, pale and almost creamy. She really was beautiful, but there was more to it than that. Almost like a charisma, something I would never have. I assumed that’s what attracted King to her in the first place.

  “I can see you as an actress,” I told her, and she beamed. “Have you done much work?”

  “A few ads,” she said. “And I have a spot on a TV soap opera.”

  “Which one?” I asked. My mom used to be obsessed with them. I bet she would’ve freaked if I told her I met an actress from one of her favorite shows.

  I tried not to think about the fact that we weren’t even really talking at that point.

  “Pembroke Pines,” she said, and I giggled.

  “That’s like, the cheesiest one of them all.”

  She stuck her tongue out at me.
“It’s a solid show!”

  “I’ll bet,” I teased her. “So, what’s your role?”

  She looked at me with a wicked sparkle in her eyes, then leaned over and told me over our drinks, her voice hushed.

  “I play Debra McMillan’s long lost daughter,” she told me, and I nodded. Debra was one of the older members of the show. She must’ve been on TV for decades. “I come back to her in her dreams and then she starts seeing me in real life, too.”

  “Exciting,” I raised my eyebrows bemusedly.

  “BUT!” Maria grinned. “What she doesn’t know… is that I’m a ghost!”

  I gasped and faked a fainting, and we both giggled.

  “I’m really excited about it,” she said. “They’re talking about giving me a permanent spot on the show as well.”

  “Yeah?” I gave her a doubtful look. “They’re giving a ghost a permanent spot on the show?”

  She laughed. “Stranger things have happened.”

  “True,” I nodded.

  Like this friendship.

  “Hey,” I said in a small voice, toying with the lemon slice in my empty glass with the straw. I couldn’t really look at Maria, but I could feel her eyes on me. She probably knew what I was going to say before I even opened my mouth. “I kind of want to go home now.”

  I thought she’d make a big deal out of it, with ‘I told you so’ and meaningful looks, but she merely nodded, took her wallet out of her bag and pulled out some money. She left it on the table, winked at the bartender who’d been in awe of her since we’d walked in, and offered me a hand to help me up.

  I stared at her for a second. This gorgeous, selfless Amazon that was willing to help me, even though I was with the man she presumably still had feelings for. What a strange creature.

  I took her hand and got up. She linked her arm with mine and we walked out of that bar, feeling everyone’s eyes on us as we sauntered through the door.

  Eighteen

  King

  When the doorbell rang, I practically fell over myself to get to the door.

  Before I opened it, I tried to regain some composure. I couldn’t let her see me weak.

  I cracked my knuckles and pulled the door open, a neutral expression on my face.

  My Pet stood in front of Angel, with her hands demurely clasped in front of her body. She couldn’t quite look at me, her eyes trained on the floor and her cheeks blushed a red so deep it could’ve been scarlet.

  I couldn’t even look at Angel, even though I owed her as much. I could only stare at Pet and battle with the desire to shake her. Make her tell me all her secrets.

  “Thank you, Angel,” I said without looking at her. “You can leave now.”

  She didn’t say a word, merely turned around and walked out of there on her fuck-me heels. Not before she gave Pet a gentle nudge in my direction, though.

  Pet stumbled into the apartment and I stepped aside so she wouldn’t have to touch me. She was shivering.

  I closed the front door and locked it, then walked to the sofa in the living room. She just stood in the middle of the room, looking like a lost little lamb. It was making my cock all kinds of hard.

  “Pet,” I called out. My voice was so fucking rough, strained and tired like I’d been up for days. “Come here.”

  She looked up at me and her bottom lip trembled. She didn’t move, just wrung her hands in front of her. Her eyes were terrified and it made me scared. I wasn’t scared very often.

  “Come on.” My voice was gentler now. Sweet. Caring. Nothing like me, but everything she needed in that moment. “Come sit on my lap, Pet.”

  She made a half-hearted attempt to move, but it felt like she was glued to the spot. Her eyes danced over my features and the room felt oppressively hot.

  I tilted my head to the side and stared back. I patted my knee and motioned for her to come with my finger. It made her moan out loud.

  “I’m not going to ask again,” I said gently.

  She dragged herself over to me and practically collapsed on my lap. I pulled her on my knee and ran a hand down her back, making her fucking shudder. She wouldn’t look at me, covering her face with those dainty little hands instead. Fuck, she was making this even harder. All I wanted to do was bend her over my lap and punish her tight ass for making me wait. But, like always, I didn’t have a fucking clue how I was supposed to punish someone so damn broken.

  “I’m sorry,” she whispered, and I stroked her back some more. I couldn’t say a word. Made myself shut up. I knew if I did speak, I’d tell her off, tell her how much she fucking meant to me already. And I couldn’t have her knowing that.

  “I had to get away,” she said, and I peeled her dress off her shoulders. Her skin erupted in goosebumps under my fingers and it was so hot my fingers shook with the need to bruise her.

  “It’s okay,” I lied. “I understand.” I didn’t. “I’m glad you’re back now, Pet.”

  “Why didn’t you…” She finally looked up at me, those big blue eyes watering and making me ache for her. “Why didn’t you come find me yourself?”

  “You didn’t want to see me,” I told her. “I thought someone with no ties to the situation would be better.”

  “Yeah, but… her?” She laughed bitterly, and my hand moved from her back to her hair. I smoothed over her messy waves. She was really heart-stoppingly beautiful like this. So much better than when I got her all dressed up, primped and primed to perfection. This was the real her, and the rawness of it made my balls swell painfully.

  “You don’t like her?” I asked her, teasing a little.

  “She’s ok.” She shrugged.

  “You should give her a chance,” I told her. “She’s a great girl.”

  Suddenly, Pet threw her arms around my neck and straddled me. I pretended it didn’t make me want to push her panties aside on the spot, and held her waist instead.

  “I hate that you think that,” she muttered against my ear, and my grip tightened. “I want you to only want me, not her.”

  “I do only want you,” I said.

  “You fucked her,” she whispered.

  “Because you weren’t ready for me,” I said. “And neither was I.”

  I’d never be fucking ready for her, either, but she didn’t need to know that.

  “You need a friend, Pet,” I told her. “I think she’d make a good one. And you know I won’t touch her anymore.”

  “How would I know that?” she asked, moving away and staring at me with hurt eyes. “I don’t believe that for a second.”

  “No?”

  I pulled her dress down in one motion and ripped her bra off. She didn’t make a sound, but her whole body shivered as I ran my hands down her front, between her tits and down to her stomach.

  “You should,” I told her roughly. “She’s not you. And all I want is you.”

  “Prove it,” she begged, and I groaned.

  “Gladly,” I told her. “But you will give her a chance. I want you to have a friend.”

  She glared at me and I grinned, my fingers tugging on her nipple. Her eyes rolled back and she arched her back, pushing her little breasts into my face.

  “Say you’ll give her a chance,” I told her.

  “Fine,” she gritted out, and I squeezed her nipple harder.

  “Say the whole thing,” I said.

  She glared at me, but not for long. I pulled her nipple towards me and her hips bucked against my lap.

  “Please…” she muttered.

  “Say it.”

  “I’ll give her a chance,” she got out.

  “Good girl.” I twisted her nipple between my fingers and she twitched on my lap. It probably hurt. Good. “Tell me what you want me to do to you now.”

  “Anything.” This time, she was quick to answer. “Anything you want, please…”

  “Tell me what you want,” I repeated. “Right now.”

  Her glazed-over eyes focused on mine and she tore at my hair, leaning closer and giggling in m
y ear.

  “I want you to make me cry,” she whispered. “I want you to make my makeup run and show me what happens when I misbehave.”

  “How?” I groaned.

  Her nails dug into my back and she moaned in my ear. Her whole body was begging to be fucked, writhing on my lap.

  “I want you to fuck my ass,” she whispered, so softly I could barely hear her.

  It made me really fucking hard.

  I practically growled as I pulled her up. My hands went into her hair and she breathed with relief when I dragged her to the bedroom by that pretty blonde mane.

  I let her go and she crumpled to the floor in front of the bed. On her knees in a second, hands behind her back in the next. Eyes on me, mouth slightly open.

  “Like this?” she asked me.

  “No,” I growled. “On your back. On the bed. Right the fuck now.”

  “Why?” she asked, and I gave her a single look that made her scramble to her feet and lie down like a good girl. I tore at the rest of her clothes, her panties ruined in seconds. She lay back shaking and I stared at her for so long she started to sob.

  “Please,” she begged. “Don’t just look at me, I can’t take it. Do it… do something!”

  I took off my clothes as slowly as I could. Blazer, tie, shirt, pants. My boxers last. My cock sprang free and she writhed at the sight of it.

  “Master, please,” she whispered, and I shook my head.

  “No,” I told her. “None of that shit today.”

  I climbed on top of her and she cried harder. Her tears were streaming down those pretty cheeks, and she looked too fucking young to be in that kind of situation. I felt like an old fucking pervert.

  My cock pressed against her pussy and she howled. Really fucking howled, like an animal. I could’ve torn her apart in that second, and it took every cell in my body to hold back before I attacked her like a savage.

  I pushed inside her so slowly it felt like a punishment, and I fucked her with measured thrusts, slow and steady, making her go crazy. She didn’t even say a word, it was all those primal little sounds she couldn’t hold back anymore. She felt unbelievable like that.