Prologue

He took a long drag of his cigarette, eyes fixed solely on the girl lying defenseless in his bed. 

Crushing the end of his cigarette in the ashtray he made his way towards his destination. 

The fragile-looking girl in his bed. 

Sitting beside her on the bed, he leaned closer. Those grey pits vehemently peered down at her. 

This human girl was the most intriguing thing that ever happened to him. He hates humans to the core. But ever since he dragged her into his life, things were going haywire. 

His fingers ghosted over her flushed cheeks which had stains of tears.  

His thumb pressed on the pouty lower lip. Her bottom lip was more plump than the upper lip. He loved to suck and nibble on that specific part. The urge to bite, bruise, and devour.

Her pale soft skin looked delicious and flushed. Her long eyelashes caressed her cheeks. Those hazel pearls that resembled the dunes of a scorching desert were confined from him. He yearned to see those adorable dimples that kissed her cheeks every time she smiled. 

He f*cking despised to confess it but she was slowly creeping into his veins like the red of his blood despite all his efforts to stay away from her, his eyes often ended up searching for her while he craved her floral scent that appeased the beast inside him. 

But the rage that filled his veins like an erupting volcano at the moment was beyond control. She pushed him to his limits. He was repressing fine enough but this little kitten had to snuck away with her lover knowing fully well she only belonged to Aiden Whitlock. 

That f*cker was at the warehouse beaten by Cole and Enzo. 

Aiden glanced down at the road rash on her elbows which she got when tripped over upon seeing him. 

The soles of her feet were wounded as well. The doctor had treated her wounds. She lost consciousness because of sheer panic and stress of being caught but that didn't mean he'll be lenient with her. 

His voice lowers against her earlobe. "Wake up, kitten. How long are you planning to slack off your punishment?"

He pinched her bottom lip hard enough for her to wince as she shifted and a hiss of pain escaped her. 

Her eyes fluttered open and she blinked twice to clear her vision, then all of sudden she was alert and he could bet- a zap of fear ran down her spine screaming at her neurons about the danger looming over her. 

"Good morning, kitten." He mused and her stomach coiled up in knots. 

It was two in the morning. The mocking in his tone was evident.

He saw the reel of changing emotions on her heart-shaped face. From confusion to shock- panic- horror and finally off the charts fear. 

"What did I tell you would happen if you defy me?" Her breath stifled at his deadly words. 

"A... Aiden-"

Horror struck her soul when he pressed something cold under her chin and tipped her face up so their gaze clashed. It was a gun.

"Don't make me repeat myself," The deep gravel of his voice reverberates through the room leaving no space for her to breathe.

Her chest heaved up and down at a wild pace yet her breathing was sparse. Whenever he was close she forgets the simple basic function -like breathing- out of fear. 

"Y... You'll punish me," She stuttered those words. 

A sadistic smile graced his lips as he pressed the barrel of the gun further into her skin. 

She couldn't control the burst of fear shrouding her soul. Tears followed suit. 

"Open your legs," He commanded in that dark deadly tone that left no space for any negotiation and meant disciplined business. 

"P... Please," She stammered trying to scoot away from him but in one swift move, he grabbed her delicate throat in his calloused palm. 

That mere act fueled terror in her veins. She clutched his big veiny hand with her small ones trying to free herself from his brutal grasp. 

"You want me to choke you while I f*ck you into oblivion?" The snarl that ripped through the air laced her skin with goosebumps as she shook her head. 

"I believe I failed to tame you into submission. That's why you f*cking escaped with that f*cking c*nt!" His hold tightened on her throat to the point she couldn't breathe without force. 

Her eyes broadened and tears slid down her temples. "You're a m...monster," She choked and a sinister smirk teased his sinful lips. 

"Aww kitten, you just found out?" He mocked. 

The most terrifying part was that his expressions remained nonchalant almost blank, if not for his body shaking in rage his dead eyes gave nothing away. 

And it was his calamity that had her skin crawling in dread. 

"Let me go..." Her chin wobbled but he only grinned like a maniac causing chills to erupt in her very cells. 

"You are mine, Ava. The moment I approached you. You were mine. Mine to ruin. Mine to cherish. Mine to f*ck." He had a scathing glint in his eyes as she trembled in trepidation. 

She was scared out of her wits. 

"I'm not yours," She mustered up the courage to speak. 

This was the same man who broke her heart. Trampled on her freedom and killed her soul. Now he claims that she was his. 

Over her dead body. 

"I wasn't asking, kitten. I was enlightening you because you seem to forget it, do you suffer from short-term memory loss?" His deep voice floated in the air and landed on her constricting chest as he poked the barrel of his gun into her temple. 

Her eyes closed and her breath hitched. 

He trailed his gun down her body and pushed her legs apart with the barrel. He got in between her legs with ease, still holding her down. His hand on her throat restricted her air supply and killed the little of the struggle left in her. 

Ava was shivering. His eyes zeroed in on her quivering items. His favorite. Her pouty lips trembled and her chin wobbled. The sight that always pulled the strings of his heart. 

The latest realization of her tears weighing heavy on his chest had baffled him in the past few days. What he started as revenge and curiosity was going down the drain. Ava had reached for the feelings inside him -which he never knew existed- and yanked them out. 

Despite how mad he was at her. He was appalled that the idea of hurting her didn't sit well with the organ that beats within the walls of his ribcage. 

Ava Carlton was slowly molding herself into his poison and cure simultaneously.

One thing was sure, if he destroyed her, he wouldn't be left unscathed himself.