To everyone who helped me write this book. My family, first and foremost, because the poor bastards lived on toast and Weetbix. My husband (honestly not sure how I still have one tbh), My PA Sarah for organizing releases and teasers, my PR guru Candi for being a fucking wizard, my editors! Ellie and Paige for continuously polishing my words, to my best girl Amelia Hutchins for always being my person. It’s scary to know there are two of us in this world…
To Jaymin and Tate and the Oh Write! Sprint room! Damn. This book definitely wouldn’t have been done had it not been for you both.
To my ARC team, the bloggers who take the time out of their schedules to read early copies of our books, THANK YOU! To my Wolf Pack! Gang, gang! Love you guys.
To my sissy Amie, I love you. I love your friendship and your soul.
Last but not least, to YOU! Oh, Reader. Thank you for reading my book. I promise not to hurt you too much…
To myself. Because I just lied. It’s going to hurt.
To the kids who were told that they would never amount to anything because they liked breaking the rules.
Fuck the haters.
I typed this with my middle finger.
She stared at me from across the room. It was the exact reason why I loved her. She was reckless with her need for me. She didn’t give a fuck who was watching. I felt it, she sure as fuck felt it, and I’m one thousand percent everyone in this goddamn room felt it.
My glass was half full. Whiskey. The kind that resembles love. Burns you right down to the core of your guts all while discreetly destroying other bodily organs in the process. Love was a distraction to destruction. Nothing more, and nothing less. My knee wouldn’t stop jiggling and my palms started to sweat. I simply wanted to fucking kill someone. The room was too loud. The music too fucking messy. Even the band playing looked like they were three seconds away from OD’ing on coke. This wasn’t what I expected at all from Ruby La Rosa. Do I even still know her? I don’t have to know her to still love her. I was fucked the second she sank her poisonous fangs right into my jugular.
“Look, if it’s any consolation, she looks happy, right?” Poppy leaned into me, resting her head on my shoulder. Lights pulsed rapidly to the music, and I watched as her hand slowly lowered down his arm, resting in the palm of his hand.
My thumb twitched. I rolled my heavy steel ring around and around like a dial that controlled my temper and it was about to conflagrate.
“Happy?” I turned to face Poppy, ignoring everyone else around the table, including the owner of the hand that’s resting on my upper thigh beside me. “You and I both know that is not her happy. That is her…” I paused, reclining against my chair and resting my arm on the one beside me. “That is revenge.”
Jade interrupted across the table. The centerpiece was excessive, so I could only see the outline of her face. “That is no choice.”
Whacking away the grabby hands from below, I stood up from my chair, finishing my whiskey.
“Where are you going?” Khaos whined from beside Royce. I ignored all of them. Moving to the other side of the room, I strolled past Victor. The closer she got, the more I needed to fucking obliterate something. Preferably her.
One step.
Two.
Three.
I brushed past her just as her back was about to rub against my chest, our eyes colliding. Seconds passed before I finally dragged them away from her and headed through the back of the room, where an exit sign flashed above the door. Instantly, the cold air wrapped its frosty fingers around my throat as I shoved the door open. The fucking suffocation of everyone in that room.
Of her in any room.
“What is it? Is something wrong?” Her voice was like a flame that continued to burn too close no matter how much I tried to blow it out.
I reached around her little body and forced the emergency door closed behind her.
“Wicked!” She spun around, pushing on the door again before turning back to me. “You did that on purpose.” A glare flashed across her fiery honey-colored eyes. “Why? Why do you fucking do this and make it harder on both of us?”
My hand slid down the wooden door, bringing our bodies closer. She sucked in a breath, her eyes falling to my lips. “You’re making this worse than it needs to be.”
Shaking my head, I brought the base of my finger to the side of her head, running it down her cheek and over her swollen lips. “Nah, but I’m about to.”
She parted her lips, and I slid my thumb between them, watching as they wrapped around the base. I retracted, lowering my lips down onto hers while grabbing her from her thighs and shoving her wedding dress up over her hips. Gripping on to the lace garter around her thigh, I tore it off and forced her against the door with my hips.
Her legs wrapped around my waist as I sucked on her tongue, swallowing her cries like poison, one I was willing to rot for. I slid my hands up the backs of her thighs, up to her ass, and spread her cheeks wide as she fumbled with my zipper, her hands working frantically between us.
“You wanted this,” she breathed into my mouth between tiny nibbles. “To fuck me in my wedding dress knowing I was marrying him.” My hand found her throat and I forced her head back so hard it bounced off the wood.
I glared down at her, just as she took out my cock and wrapped her tiny hand around the base, slowly stroking me between each breath. My hips bucked forward, riding her palm like I had her pussy. “You can marry whoever the fuck you want, Ruby. You’re always going to be mine.” I tensed around her throat. “Say you’re mine.”
She didn’t answer, her tongue sliding over her lip, hiding a wicked grin. Ruby was everything but easy. She’d work you up until you’re curled in a fucking corner, weeping your eyes out. But she wasn’t always like that. The hand that feeds you soon becomes the very same that takes you.
I reached into my pocket and grabbed the little metal object, pulling it out and pushing the tiny button on the side. The blade flicked out and I brought it to her throat, watching as the purple vein beneath her thin skin bounced beneath my touch.
“Say it, Ruby.” I hovered my lips over hers, groaning when my cock throbbed in the palm of her familiar hand. “You can be his wife, but you’ll always be my little slut.” I traced the outline of her vein with a steady hand, watching as blood pooled over the small incision.
Her legs tightened around my waist as I adjusted her body, whacking her hand out of the way and spitting on mine. I reached down between us, covering her smooth pussy with my hand and dipping my fingers deep inside of her. Her hips hitched forward and I squeezed her waist, forcing her down over my cock. Her pussy tightened around my girth as I leaned forward and ran the tip of my tongue over the drop of blood gliding down her tanned neck, stopping at the curve of her delicate collarbone.
Pulling out, my eyes drifted closed as I felt her clench around me, fucking her harder until her body was jerking up the door. Her fingers found their way into my hair, forcing my face down onto hers. Our eyes collided as she rode over my length, holding me in place and paralyzing me with a simple fucking stare.
“You don’t fucking matter,” I growled over her lips, sinking my teeth into the bottom one before resting my head against hers. “I’m fucking you for me, not you. You’re gonna just fuck me until I say stop, because that’s all you’re good for. A tight fucking pussy with big ass tits.” I slammed into her so hard I could feel the curve of her cervix. “You’re just a dirty little whore that will always belong on my dick.” I slowed my pace but kept the thrusts forceful. “This how he fucks you, hmm?” I asked, pulling back just enough to search her hazel eyes. They’re damp from unshed tears, her cheeks pink, and her hair wild around her face. “Show me how he fucks you so I can fuck you harder.”