Sweet: A Dark Love Story by Kit Tunstall, R.E. Saxton Page A

protecting her from? The only other person on the island was himself, and while he’d like to think he didn’t want to hurt her, that wasn’t true. He wanted to devour her, to suck up all of her goodness and her innocence, to reduce her to something he used for pain relief and sexual satisfaction. He wanted to ravage and destroy her.
    But that wasn’t all he wanted. He also wanted to protect her and coddle her, to cuddle with her and support her. It was the strangest confliction of desires, and he was no closer to having sorted them out now that she was in his possession than he had been for the last four years he’d stewed over his plan, orchestrating each move carefully, and manipulating events so she would come to him.
    Had he really thought the dark desire filling him would be lessened by her proximity? Shouldn’t he have foreseen it would only worsen his obsession, feeding his addiction to visualizing and fantasizing about the dark scenarios racing through his head? Had he really thought having her throat between his hands would remove the temptation to steal her breath, or regulate it only on his control and to his satisfaction?
    If so, he’d been a deluded fucker.
    His lip curled with self-deprecation as he acknowledged that fit him to a tee. He had been a deluded motherfucker, but even knowing he had been wrong, and that having her wouldn’t quench his dark needs, but would only feed them, he couldn’t regret initiating the plan and having her in his house.
    She was at his mercy, and he had to ensure that he kept some for her. He could lose himself in her cries of pain and pleasure, but he could also lose her in the process. What good would it be to cling to the empty shell of her if he destroyed whatever it was that made him respond so forcefully to Kat?
    With a tired sigh, he slipped into the bed next to her. His lips twitched as he imagined her outrage when she woke to find him beside her. As expected, she had wedged the door shut against him, so it was going to be an unpleasant surprise for his Kat when she discovered there was no means of escape from him. Wherever she went, he would find her.
    More importantly, he wouldn’t allow her to escape to start with. Right or wrong, she was his now, and though it only fed demons roaring inside him, rather than soothed them, he still surrendered to the bliss of holding her, tightening his arms around her as she curled against him in her sleep, displaying a trust that she would never show when she was awake.
    The thought cut through him, but he didn’t know how to change that. He had lost any chance to woo her gently, but that had never been what he’d wanted from her anyway. From the time he had really become aware of her and focused on her, he’d always wanted to own and control her completely.
    Now, he matched his breath to hers, holding in an exhale until she released hers. As soon as their breathing was in sync, a sense of peace filled him, and he was able to battle through the insomnia that usually troubled him, sinking into a restful slumber within a few moments, his arms still holding her tightly, determined to keep her even in his state of unconsciousness.
    ***
    Declan woke up before her, and the sunlight streaming through the window made her dark hair shine like polished onyx. He wrapped several strands around his fist, rubbing the locks between his thumb and forefinger. It was oddly soothing, but even more arousing .
    He wanted to see all that dark hair falling over him and onto his pillow as she rode him, but he knew they weren’t there yet. Soon, he hoped she would be completely compliant and give in to the attraction she felt without resisting or trying to do what she considered the right thing, but Kat needed more breaking first.
    He was in a tender frame of mind though, and in no mood to break her at the moment. Last night had been dark and thrilling, but today he wanted to show her another side. With that in mind, he slid down the bed as he