Together, we climb the stairs and stop in the living room. He drops onto a worn couch, settles me beside him, and kisses the top of my head. I watch him shove on socks and boots before slinging me over his shoulder.
His love surrounds me, sinking into my pores with every step he takes.
When we stop at the farmhouse’s front porch, Knox firms his hold on me.
“Skylar,” he speaks in a low voice.
“Yes?”
I wish more than anything that I could flatten my hands on his back and rub him. Can’t. They’ll be here any moment now.
“Remember what I said? No matter what goes on in there…” Groaning, he slides me off him and to the ground. “No matter what they do, you stay quiet, Trouble.”
He presses two fingers under my chin, tipping my face higher. Letting me bathe in his intensity and the power he radiates.
“You can cry silently. That’s it.” He puts a thumb to my mouth, rubbing the still-damp slit. “Twist your lips into a snarl, for all I care. You don’t make a sound, you hear?”
I hear him. Him…and the footsteps heading toward us.
Every ominous step fucks with my psyche further.
Fear. Desire.
Violence.
I want to murder every single person in that farmhouse—my sister included.
“Skylar.” Knox brushes my hair to the front of my body. When he takes too long, I realize what he’s doing. Hiding the hickeys and bite marks. “Promise me.”
Even with all these feelings raging inside me, I find it in myself to give him the one thing he needs. My word.
As quietly as I can, I whisper, “I promise.”
25
SKYLAR
One second, I’m staring into Knox’s hazel eyes.
Next, his hand snaps around the back of my neck like a collar and drags me to his side.
Neither pain nor surprise registers. There’s no time for feelings, only survival, as the farmhouse door swings open wide.
“I thought I heard voices.” A grinning Jett fills the doorway.
His jeans and flannel shirt are crumpled. Greasy hair clings to his forehead.
Disgusting on the outside as he is on the inside.
“Yeah, you heard right,” Knox growls at him. “I was telling her to stop fighting me.”
“Strange.” Though Jett’s lips are stretched, suspicion bleeds from him, polluting the air surrounding us. “Doesn’t look like she’s fighting you now. And you’re early. I knew something was up.”
“She’ll need feeding soon,” my captor and savior says as if it’s the most natural thing in the world. “Didn’t want to mess up her schedule.”
“Hmm.” Jett’s green eyes dart between Knox and me.
Knox rolls his eyes. “You gonna let us in or what?”
