Page 120 of Rot In Knotty Pieces

“You finally said we. You’ve accepted that we’re together. One pack.”

My eyes widen. I had, I have. We have, but in particular, I have.

“Okay, let’s get food and get out of here before King summons another gang to come and start a war with us.”

I laugh softly and pull away. When I glance at where the body was, it’s gone. There is nothing there to indicate what happened.

The street is as quiet as it was when we arrived.

Kestrel

Sage has another house. This one is in the suburbs and is quite large. I wander in, not liking much about it. It’s too open, too many windows. Too many doors. But then I get to the main bedroom, and I pause, staring.

“This is why you chose it, isn’t it?”

Sage’s grin is positively lecherous.

“Yes.”

I step down into the recessed room, walking towards the bed that could fit all of us in it comfortably. The quilt is black, the pillows maroon, and the windows have thick blackout curtains that go from floor to ceiling. The carpet is a pale grey. It’s a calming, soothing room that, other than the size of the bed, doesn’t suit us at all.

I reach up and touch my bonds, feeling the warmth from Sage heating that path inside.

He follows me, standing so close that when I lean back, I lean against his hard chest. His arms wrap around me, and I think this is where I want to stay, safe in their embrace where we don’t have to kill, don’t have to run, don’t have to fight. I can just stay in their heat, bathing in it, surviving off it.

I reach up and wrap my arms over his, holding him to me, before I slip out and away from him, turning to face him.

“What was your family like?”

“Cruel, violent, mean.”

“Would you have wanted them to kill you when you were a child?”

He considers it.

“No, I was a fighter. I was desperate to live. I needed to.”

I stare up at him. “I couldn’t quit. If that makes sense, I had to stay.”

“I know. You’re like me. You’re a fighter.”

He closes the distance, our lips touch, so softly. Like if we kiss harder than this, we might break the fragile glass chains that are holding us together.

He cups my face, his thumbs stroking over my cheeks, gently and tenderly telling me without words how he feels.

I cling to him, my fingers wrapped up in his clothes, gripping the material so that he can’t pull away.

“I want to be inside you.”

I look up, staring into his beautiful face and those beautiful green eyes. “Funnily enough, I want that, too.”

Sage growls, and suddenly, my clothes are being torn off me. I stumble back, and my knees hit the edge of the bed. Before I can get my balance, he shoves me, and I land on my back.

He reaches out and fingers the lace bra that Rolly got me. “This is pretty.”

Sage grins maliciously as he cuts it off me and then even more so when he destroys my panties.

“Really?”