Stroke of Midnight

I take a deep, calming breath as my mind begins to plot and plan. The Morellis may think I’m a weak little princess they can manipulate and terrorize into obeying.
There’s only one man I allow to terrorize me into obedience.
Winston Constantine.
It’s time for the princess to save the villain…

Whirling around, I glare as Scout enters the room followed by his matching monster clones. They’re all dressed in tuxedos, filling out the material like grown men. In another world, a girl would grow weak in the knees at seeing them like this—handsome and dressed to the nines. My knees are weak for a whole other reason

Me: Are you having fun?
Winston: Endless amounts.
Me: You just miss me.
Winston: Don’t flatter yourself.
Me: Liar. The stylist had to leave.
Winston: Should I send another?
Me: I’m not a complete idiot. I can do my own hair and makeup.
Winston: Send me a picture.
Me: I’ll trade you one.
He sends me a selfie of him scowling. Tons of photographers are milling about behind him in a luscious courtyard. It makes me laugh because he seems miserable. In return, I send him a smiling selfie of myself.
Me: I still have to throw on some makeup and my dress. The limo will be here at five.
Winston: I can’t wait to see your face all made up knowing I get to make you cry it off later when you’re choking on my dick.
I send him some emojis sticking their tongue out.
Me: I’ll send you a picture when I’m done. I expect endless amounts of praise.
Winston: You’re the only girl I know who shamelessly begs for compliments. They don’t count when you force them out of people

As much as I’d love to crawl into his lap and watch the video we made last night, I do need to shower and dress. If I want to look the part of Winston Constantine’s personal assistant and lover, I need to put some effort into it. I don’t need to give his mother any added ammunition on what will be a hate brigade against me. I have enough haters.
After a quick shower, I pull my wet hair into a messy bun, knowing the stylist will want to dry it. I forgo the makeup and pull on some undergarments, all the while listening to the hot sounds of our feral lovemaking from the night before. Winston looks good enough to eat with an erection straining in his slacks as he leans against the doorjamb watching my phone with an evil smirk on his face. Once I’m dressed, I walk over to him and peek at it. He’s at the part where he’s in my ass, pounding into me like he hates me. My skin burns hot at seeing the two of us together. It makes me want to watch the whole thing.
“We could be late,” I murmur, peeking at him through my lashes.
His jaw clenches, and his blue eyes flash. “As much as I want to make you cry, little girl, and destroy your sore asshole, I have responsibilities. If you please me tonight at the birthday bash, I’ll reward you with my dick down your pretty throat.”
I lick my lips. “Promise?”
“I always follow through on my threats,” he rumbles, his lips curling into a sinister grin. “You, of all people, know this.”

fore he’s extricating himself from me. Win’s not the best cuddler. Apparently, he’s even worse when he’s stressed

I crack my eyes open and squint at the fully dressed figure looming over my bed.
Winston Constantine.
My villainous lover.
“What time is it?” I grumble. “When did you get up?”
“Some of us get up with the birds.” He snatches the blanket and yanks it off my body. “Or should I say one particularly loud bird. How do you sleep through that noise?”
“It’s not noise. He’s singing.”
“He should take lessons. Get up and showered.” His fingers brush over my stomach where the Sharpie still stains my skin.
Winston’s Dirty Whore.
“I’ll drop you off at your house on the way to the Constantine Compound,” he says, making his way over to my closet. “Call me if your idiot brothers give you trouble.”
“Step,” I mutter. “Dad and Manda will be there getting ready too. And her stylist.”
“Good.” He pulls a dress off the hanger and tosses it onto the bed. “Wear this and the sandals you wore to dinner the other day. The nude Jimmy Choos. I like the way they make your calves look.”
I sit up on my knees and drink in his handsome appearance. He’s back to wearing another impeccable suit without a hair out of place. There’s a certain rigidity to him that I understand to be nerves.
Climbing off the bed, not bothering to cover my nakedness since he’s seen it all, I approach him and hug him from behind. He’s stiff at first and then relaxes slightly.
“Happy birthday, Win.”
He allows me to hold him for all of thirty seconds be

Satisfied by my answer, she cuddles against me and soon falls asleep. I can’t relax, though. The last girl I slept with on the regular almost twenty years ago, I learned she betrayed me. I barely survived it back then. I certainly won’t survive it this time.
Because as much as I thought I cared about Meredith . . .
It was only one tiny sliver of the way I feel about Ash.
This bratty, needy girl in my arms is going to destroy my life, and I’m going to fucking let her.
And Mother will rub it in my face once more

”
“Meredith just wanted my money. Dad knew, and Mom proved it.”
“I’m sorry,” she says. “Technically, I want your money too. Your mom is going to hate me.”
I stroke my fingers through her messy, wet hair. “But you’re a greedy girl. You want more than money. You want my fucking heart like it’s negotiable.”
“I’m tenacious.”
“Needy. The word is needy.”
“You like it,” she taunts.
“As long as you keep letting me whip your ass and then fucking it, I’ll tell you whatever you need to hear, baby.”
“For the record, Win, I can tell when you feed me bullshit lines and when you mean it. You mean it a lot more than when you don’t.”
“You think you know everything, little girl.”
“I know enough.”
“Go to sleep.”

the deal, Cinderelliott.”
Crawling into the bed with her, I wrap an arm around her and bury my nose in her damp hair. I like how her small body fits in the curve of mine. My dick likes it too, hard again and pressed against the crack of her ass, but I don’t try for another round. She’d probably pass out mid-fuck. And as kinky as I am, I don’t want to fuck an unconscious girl.
“Win?”
“Go to sleep.”
She smacks my arm, and I grin in the dark.

My dick is hard as stone again, not ready for our time together to be done.
“Win,” she begs. “You promised to cuddle after.”
“We’re not done yet.”
I smear my come leaking from her all over my dick. Then, I remove my fingers from her hole to replace it with the tip of my dick. She screams in pain, but I slide in much easier than my first encounter here. Easily I glide in and out despite the way she clenches around me. I smack her sore, red-striped ass as I fuck her without remorse.
“You’re the most beautiful girl in the world,” I croon. “Fucking gorgeous.”
She melts like I knew she would. I caress her ass and hips and back. Sweat drips down my temple as my nuts tighten. This time, my release is less of a fucking waterfall. Still, it fills her tight ass up with me.
The time for wild and ruthless is over.
I made a promise.
Gently, I ease out of her. Her body shudders as she cries softly while I turn off our recording. I walk into the bathroom and then start the shower, turning it to hot, before I fetch my girl. She’s still in the same, awkward, used position. With a playful smack to her ass, I urge her to roll over. Then, I scoop her into my arms.
“My little girl needs babying,” I tease, dropping a kiss to her puffy lips. “Don’t you?”
She nods, clinging to me. I carry her into the walk-in shower and under the spray. Once I set her to her feet, I dote on her like she clearly craves. I wash and condition her hair first. After, I soap down every part of her sore body. My own body I wash quickly.
“What do you need?” I ask, hugging her to me.
“This.”
I stroke my fingers up and down her back. “You make me fucking insane. So insane, baby.”
“Yeah?”
“I go crazy with the need to destroy you so I can put you back together again.”
“As long as you always promise to fix me after you break me.”
“I’ll try.”
She snuggles closer. “I’m going to fall in love with you, Win. It’s going to hurt, isn’t it?”
Because she doesn’t think I can love her back.
“It’s going to hurt. Everything with me hurts.”
Her body trembles and she sniffles. “I like your brand of hurt.”
“I’ll never be a Prince Charming,” I remind her. “I’ll always be a villain both in and out of bed. I can offer you a bitter taste of sweet, but it’ll always be brief and fleeting.”
“You’re not as mean as you claim you are, Constantine.”
“No, I’m much worse, brat. Much worse.”
We remain quiet for a long while, her clinging to me and me massaging her back. Eventually, I grow tired of standing and help the exhausted girl from the shower. It amazes me that such a simple effort, such as toweling her dry, has her gazing at me with stars in her eyes. She truly craves this gentle coddling after. I guess, in a way, I kind of like taking care of her too. Absolves some of the guilt for making her cry.
Once we’re dry, I tuck her into bed and then turn off all the lights.
“Win?” my needy girl cries out.
“Yes, brat?”
“You’re still going to sleep with me, right?”
I chuckle as I finish locking up for the night. “All part of the