He exhales sharply and presses me harder against the wall, hands gripping my wrists.
I yank.I twist.I arch against him with rage and something else, something I’m too furious to name.
My muffled screams pour out against the tape.
“I know,” he says quietly.“I know what I did.”
I scream again.
He swallows hard.
“You want to hurt me,” he murmurs.“So do it.”
His voice ain’t cruel now.It’s broken.He bares his throat an inch, daring me.
I freeze.
Not from fear.
From power.
He sees it in my eyes.
“I said do it,” he growls.
Something flickers inside me, danger, heat, betrayal, want.
I slam my chained wrist against his jaw.Metal meets bone with a crack.He grunts, head snapping sideways.
His hand shoots out and catches my hair, twisting it in his fist.My breath catches hard.
We stare at each other, chest-to-chest, hearts racing, fury burning.
He rips the tape from my mouth.
My first inhale is ragged and wet.
My first words are a snarl.
“You wanted to break me.”
His eyes darken.“You think that was breaking you?”
“You think I didn’t see what that meant?You have someone?”My voice cracks on the last word, fury slipping into pain.“You want me to hurt.You want me to chase you.You want me devastated.”
His breath shudders.“Like you hurt me.”
“With Legend?”I say.“I still love him.”
His grip tightens on my wrists.His forehead drops to mine.His voice is a whisper carved from hell.“I want you destroyed.”
My knees weaken.
“But not like that,” he adds, voice breaking into almost a cry.“Never like that.”
I spit the words like venom.“You already did.”
But then my tears return, fresh and fast.
