Loving cruelty (8)
I believe the answer is:
sadistic
'loving cruelty' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
This is all the clue.
(Other definitions for sadistic that I've seen before include "Enjoying inflicting pain" , "nasty" , "Liking to inflict pain on others" , "Enjoying others' pain" , "Describes one who delights in inflicting pain" .)