"You aren't as much of a monster as you think," she whispers.

My eyes open, cold and hard as I grab her hand and force it away. "I know what you're doing."

"You always do." She smiles up at me sadly. "You always know what everyone is doing, though. They are all full of evil intent. Lies and shady motives. Isn't that right, Santiago? Nobody can be trusted. Not even your own sister apparently."

"Did she give you the lipstick or not?" I demand.

"Of course she did." Ivy sighs. "But it doesn't matter that she gave it to me because that woman in the footage was someone else. Someone dressed just like me. Someone who wanted to look like me that night."

"Convenient," I mutter. "But not even remotely believable."

"God, you are such an—"

I cut her off with a violent kiss, arching her head back to devour her mouth. Ivy freezes momentarily but then surprises me when she starts to devour me too. We are two rabid creatures, clawing at each other with staged hatred but desperate for more of this toxic attraction between us.

I nip at her lip and draw blood, and she digs her nails into my arms, moaning softly as I savor the copper crimson on my tongue. I'm hoisting her into my arms, and she's wrapping her legs around me as I carry her to the bed. I can't get her naked fast enough. Buttons are scattering, cloth ripping as I work to free her of the barrier to the sweetness of her flesh.

Her tongue is in my mouth, tasting me as I spread her over the mattress and mount her. She's struggling with the zipper on my trousers, and I pause briefly just to watch as she grunts in frustration, desperate for my cock. I've never been so hard in my life as I am when she finally gets it free and strokes me in her palm.

"Take me because you like it," she pleads, her eyes meeting mine. "Not because you need a baby. Not for any other reason. Just because you like it."

I indulge her, the notion of babies a distant thought in my mind as I resume control and settle my body against hers, thrusting between her legs. She arches into me, fingers slipping under the hem of my shirt to press against the skin on my back. I let her have it. Just this once. The same thing every addict tells themself.

Tongues and teeth and hips collide as we come together. I fuck her into the mattress, and she hangs on as if her life depends on it, groaning out my name when she shatters around me. A muttered curse leaves my lips, and it's my undoing. I'm coming inside her. Spilling all of my frustrations in the pulsing throb of my cock, emptying within her for the sole purpose of exactly what she said.

Because I like it.