Fear The Reapers: A Dark Mafia Romance (Lovesick Villains Book 1)

The fallen angel tasted like heaven. When she crashed into me, I had no intention of interacting with her. My body was still buzzing from my session with Johnny, and I wanted to avoid her until I was ready. The release was so much sweeter when I had a few days to heighten the need for pain. But something about seeing the sticky scarlet substance drip down her flawless creamy skin changed my mind.

When my thumb swiped that blood from her lip, a few things happened I didn’t expect. Her delicate tongue swiped at the last remnants of blood on her lip and revealed tiny silvery scars. It was a minute detail that most who have never dealt with pain would never notice. The scar tissue there told me she had been biting into that same spot for years, a clear sign she was used to hiding her pain.

I bet if I examined her palms, she’d have four crescent-shaped scars in each one, from years of her nails digging into the flesh. I recognized the scars that only years of pain and frustration can bring. She was a fighter.

My eyes locked in on her, seeing her in a new light. The look should have intimidated the fuck out of her, but it only seemed to make her hold her head higher and jut her chin out further. She eyed me hard with a mixture of fear and excitement as she took in the blood splattered across my body, but instead of pulling away like I had expected, her body leaned towards me. It appears darkness enticed the little thing.

It was an interesting twist when Tristan came in and broke up all the fun. I didn’t want to hurt her. Not right away, at least. No, she was strong. So much stronger than what I had expected. I would need more time. Luckily for her, all we had these days was time.

After washing up, I headed downstairs to find her frustrated, staring at Cyrus and Tristan as they held a private conversation. Tristan only spoke openly around us. It was the reason my brothers and I were the only ones who lived in our home, and the staff stayed in separate quarters on the property.

Initially, we thought of keeping the girl with the staff, but we didn’t exactly employ the most virtuous men. We don’t allow anyone to touch what is ours, but having her live with them would be like throwing her to the fucking wolves.

Frustration marred her features as she scowled at the two of them and strained her neck trying to listen in on their conversation. She wouldn’t hear anything. Tristan was always careful with strangers.

I descended the last few stairs and made my way towards the three of them. The sound of my incoming steps had the entire room on edge. She couldn’t see it, but I recognized the look in my twin little brothers’ eyes. Me coming near her made them nervous.

They assumed I was going to attack her and because of my track record, I couldn’t blame them. Before my interaction with her upstairs, I probably would’ve done exactly that. But she was different. Special. She deserved much more than that.

“Where the fuck is Atlas?” Cyrus asked, crossing his arms over his chest.

Out of the corner of my eye, I caught Tristan’s subtle movement as he stared me down and mimicked his twin’s pose. Subconsciously the two were more connected than anyone else would ever understand.

“He’s taking care of some business. Don’t worry about it.” I said, silencing their worries with a lie.

Truthfully, Atlas wasn’t answering any of my calls either. I had no clue what he was doing. I checked in with security and they reported he took a drive a few hours ago.

It was clear Atlas wanted to stay off the grid.If he were in any real danger, he would’ve called. Out of the four of us, he was the most responsible, so if he needed a little time away, I’d cover his ass.

“Should we wait?” Cyrus asked, nodding his head towards the girl.

“No, let’s just get this over with.” I said, advancing towards her eerily still body.

The girl had some sense of survival in her, after all.

“Don’t you fucking touch me.” She hissed, her eyes morphing into rounded orbs as she shot up from her seat and backed up against the wall.

“Relax, Stevie,” chastised Cyrus with a smile, “we aren’t going to hurt you… yet.”

The name Stevie didn’t match the woman standing in front of us. It was masculine and rough when this woman exuded femininity and softness. Long, midnight hair, pristine creamy skin and delectable curves that begged to be bit into. She was a fallen angel, if I ever saw one.

“What are you guys planning to do with me?” She asked, her chest heaving despite the calm tone in her voice.

She was good at hiding it, but I could see the panic sinking in and the sick sadist in me loved watching her squirm. I stepped forward, ready to play with my meal just a little. Atlas had already given us strict orders on what we could and could not do to the girl, but that didn’t mean we couldn’t have a little fun at her expense.

Tristan recognized the look of mischief in my eyes and stormed out of the room without another word. He hated the beast that dwelled within me because it reminded him so much of the one he had to face almost every night as a child. I couldn’t take that pain away, but at least my beast would ensure that no one ever fucked with any of my brothers again.

“Turn around.” I ordered, my features completely void of emotion.

To my surprise, she did what I asked without a word of protest. I could see the fire in her eyes the moment the order left my lips. The tightening of her fists and the slight tremble of her body told me exactly how she felt about following my orders. So, I didn’t understand why she was following them so easily. Just how far would she allow me to push her?

“Take off the jacket.” Cy ordered, smiling smugly to himself.

“No.” She countered, focusing her eyes on one of the few blank walls in our home.

“Do as he says.” I hissed, letting all the playfulness leave my voice.

After a few beats of silence and to both of our surprise, she moved. Slowly, she pulled off her jacket before crushing it into a ball and flinging it at the couch. Such a little fighter, even when she’s giving in to our demands.

She moved to wrap her arms across her chest in an act of silent protest, and it was then that I noticed the white bandage wrapped around her forearm.

“Who did that to you?” I growled as rage licked across my skin.

Based on the blood pooling on the bandage, the wound was fresh. My brothers and I were the only ones allowed to fucking touch her. Whoever he was, he was a dead man.

She met my question with silence, but she knew what the fuck I was talking about. The moment her fingers grazed the bandage, her entire body froze. Neither of my brothers would have harmed her so soon. That narrowed the suspects down to the assholes we employed.

“Answer him.” Cyrus bit out, both of our eyes locked on her now trembling form.

“No one.” She mumbled, her back still to us.

Gritting my teeth, I charged towards her. I’d had enough of her fucking games and she was going to speak up whether she liked it or not. Tris could easily check the footage to find out who did it, but this was a game of wills and our new pet needed to be house-broken.

Cyrus, seeing my approach, moved to block her from my wrath, but I shoved him out of the way. Strength-wise we’re evenly matched, but he knows my cruelty knew no bounds, even with my own flesh and blood. I gave him one last warning glare. Stay out of this.

Once he recognized the look of death in my eyes, he knew that there was no point in trying to fight. Our girl had sealed her fate.

He stepped aside, the look of defeat written all over his face. Without him in my way, my thoughts centered on one thing and one thing only. Making her break.

I told myself that the anger rolling through me had everything to do with her defiance and nothing to do with the fact that somebody hurt her. She was nothing to me, nothing to any of us, just a toy and a symbol of our ruthlessness.

Standing mere inches behind her, I offered her one last chance to change her destiny.

“Give me a name.” I hissed, my furious breath cascading across the nape of her neck.

“No.” She responded, jutting her chin out further.

My hand tightly wrapped around her throat, as if it had a mind of its own. Not enough to cut off her air supply, but enough to give her the fucking message. We were dangerous men, and this little defiance act of hers wouldn’t get her anywhere.

“Sure about that, Angel?” I taunted as I pressed my body against hers. “It would be a shame to lose your life over such a tiny request.”

I could feel the muscles in her throat struggling to pull in gasps of air and hear the steady thrum of her pulse as fear crept into her thoughts. Good, be fucking terrified.

From my vantage point, I could see her milky breasts rising and falling with each labored breath she took. The feel of her trembling body writhing against mine went straight to my cock and before I knew it, its rigid length had pressed firmly against her soft ass.

I expected her to cower. To break into tears and beg for forgiveness. What I got instead was anything but. Her head lolled back to rest against my chest and instead of squirming away from my cock, she pressed her ass into it even harder. Almost painfully so.

She grabbed my free hand and placed it on the zipper of her black corset top, and guided it down, letting the fabric fall to the floor in a heap.

Too thrown off by her behavior to continue, I released her throat and attempted to pull away, but she wasn’t done yet. She grabbed my hand and placed it on one of her firm tits, encouraging me to squeeze and massage her heavy breast. Not one to resist temptation, I flicked my thumb against her pebbling nipple and grinned, feeling her body convulse against me. My other hand reached up to grab her jaw and force her to face me. I wanted to see that angelic face of hers react to what I was doing. But before I could latch onto it, she turned her head and slipped my index finger into her soft mouth. She moaned, sucking on it as she deliciously swirled her tongue up and down its length.

I forgot we had an audience. Forgot where we were and how this started. I relished in the feeling of her. Of her soft, delectable body pressing so close to mine. Of the way her tongue lapped my finger with so much enthusiasm, you’d swear she was expecting it to come.

She may have looked like an angel, but this girl was a sinner at her core and I couldn’t wait to defile her. I wanted her to look as wicked on the outside as she was on the inside. I-

Clarity hit me the second I heard Cyrus clear his throat.

“Fuck.” I grunted, roughly shoving her away from me.

What the fuck was I doing? I didn’t give a fuck about seeing her naked or taking her to my bed. This was about breaking her will. Not an audition for how well she could suck my cock.

She turned to face me; her face contorted with anger.

“Oh, come on, why’d you stop? We knew where this was going. I was just making it easier.” She said in a mocking tone as a bitter smile formed on her lips.

My eyes roamed her bare upper body unabashedly. Lingering on the creamy skin of her breasts before traveling towards her smooth navel. It was then that I noticed what she was really trying to show us. There, just below her navel, was a word etched in angry silvery scars. Whore.

My jaw ticked.

“This is what you wanted, right?” She asked, pulling my attention away from the jagged scars. “Well, take what you want. As you can see, others have. But just know, you can’t break me.”

She gave me an icy glare as she jutted her chin out further and waited for my response. I had to give it to her. The girl was good. She had almost won my cock over with her little stunt back there, but if sympathy was what she was after, she would never find it in me. I was the Reaper that had no conscience and no soul, and while her naivety was almost endearing, it was time I showed her how cruel our world really was.

“What?” I asked, raising a thick brow with a blank expression. “Were you expecting me to feel sorry for you?”

She said nothing as her hollow eyes stared into space. I continued.

“Did somebody do bad things to the poor pretty girl?” I mocked, slowly circling around her stiff body.

I was pushing her, but I wanted a reaction. Wanted to see the pain marring her beautiful face. Then I spotted it. The slight tremble of her lower lip that was so small, I would’ve missed it had I not been scrutinizing her every move. My words were affecting her after all, and the sadistic bastard in me wanted to see more.

“I’ll bet it was mommy’s boyfriend.” I said with a dark laugh. “Is that it, Angel? Did mommy slice you because you fucked step daddy?”

“Fuck you.” She spat, finally showing some spark behind her haunted eyes.

“No, thanks.” I retorted, looking at her with disdain. “I prefer my pussy pristine.”

Energy crackled between the two of us. Hers, angry and venomous. Mine, lethal and cruel. But if I dug deep down, beneath the emotions I was letting her see, there was something else filling the depths of my chest too. Something unexpected. Something that felt a lot like respect.

She refused to back away, as did I. It was as if our egos had tethered to each other in a game of tug of war with neither side able to gain an inch.

“I bet you still like shouting Daddy when you get fucked.” I taunted, inching my face towards hers.

She closed her eyes as a single tear trickled down her cheek. I stared at it and paused, baffled by my reaction. I’d won. I’d pushed her beyond her breaking point. I succeeded. I should feel satisfied, but all I felt was disappointment.

“Enough.” Cyrus bellowed, pushing me away from her. “Stevie, grab your shit and go back to your room.”

Keeping her eyes firmly locked on the ground, she grabbed her clothes and left. She refused to look at me again, but I could almost see the hate seething off of her shoulders. She hated me. Good. She should hate me. It meant she knew exactly what kind of man she was dealing with. The problem was, after that show, I had no idea who I was dealing with.