After the shower, Knox wrapped fresh bandages over both of our cuts.
He didn’t say a word the entire time, not even when he slid one of his T-shirts and sweatpants over me. When he pulled on jeans and a clean shirt himself, we were already lacing up our shoes.
He stayed quiet while he shoved the container with Bronwyn’s skin out of sight.
But that’s okay.
I have him. And we’re about to leave this hellhole.
“Here, let me.” I step up beside his dresser, holding my hands out to him. Hoping that this time, he’ll accept my offer to help.
“No.” Instead of handing me the new pile of his folded shirts, Knox puts them back in the drawer. He picks me up and deposits me on his bed. “Stay.”
My gaze drifts lower to his ass as he resumes packing. The denim strains when he bends, his shirt riding up to bare the smooth plane of his back while he double-checks nothing’s been left behind.
When he turns to look at me, his dark eyes are smoldering. Terrifying.
Despite the horrors I’ve endured, despite my sore body and the odors coming from our rotting siblings, I want Knox. Crave him so badly that I’m wet between my thighs.
“Bad girl, Trouble,” he grunts and goes back to sifting through the enormous duffel.
He’s right to ignore my needs. His family is monstrous, trained to hunt and kill without a shred of remorse. Once they wake up, it might be game over for us.
And since the sun is about to rise, we have to hurry.
Better to change the subject. “So, Knox.”
He stuffs more shirts into the bag, along with more of his boxers. “Hmm?”
“Have you thought about where you’d want to go first…once we’re out of here?”
“Plenty of places.” He rubs his chin, looking at the bag as if assessing what’s missing from it. “Starting with somewhere to eat once we leave here.”
“Ooh, have you ever had fast food before?”
His boots don’t make a sound as he rounds the bed and approaches me. Pushing my legs open, he stands between them. His somber expression is blank and bone-chilling in the sexiest way.
He drags his knuckles along my jawline, lighting up every nerve ending in my body.
I gulp, wishing he’d get so angry he’d curl his hand around my throat.
“No,” he says before turning away and stalking off to the other side of the room. “The nearby town only has one diner and one bar. Not that we’ve ever been to any.”
His arms flex as he grabs oil bottles, scissors, and a small knife. He isn’t dismissing me. I see it for what it is—survival.
“Do you like it, Skylar? Fast food?”
“I…”
The way he asks that brings up memories, makes me emotional for some reason.
The flashbacks blindside me, sharp enough to tighten my throat. Tears prick, but I force them back.
Knox steps in to stand between my legs but doesn’t push me to talk. He doesn’t move away either, letting me know he’s here. That he won’t leave until I speak, because I matter to him.
“I do.” The room begins to glow as dusk’s purple light slips in, and it’s then that I finally manage to breathe out the words. “Those times when we had it as a family were when I felt closest to my parents. Like those greasy little meals were some of the few moments we were truly together.”
Gently, he cups my jaw with both hands.
