Page 68 of Hellebore

She gasps, the sound sharp and broken.

“Move, Briar.” I warn, pulling her harder through the trees, my hand locked around her arm like a shackle. The forest closes in around us, dark and ancient, and the hunger in my chest only grows sharper with every step. She belongs here. With me. In the shadows I have prepared. She needs to understand that or staying here will be a nightmare for her. A nightmare I won’t mind living in just to be near her forever.

I push open the heavy front door of the mansion. The thick scent of old stone and damp wood fills my lungs as we step inside. Cold air clings to the walls and settles heavy on my skin. I start toward the basement stairs, my boots echoing sharply against the floor, but Briar pulls back hard. Her fingers dig into my arm with desperate strength.

“No—” she screams. “No, Drystan, please! Not the cell again!” Tears stream hot down her face. “I’ll do whatever you want, but please don’t⁠—”

“Whatever I want?” I murmur. My voice stays low, rough in my throat.

“Yes!”

She gives a sharp tug and stops in front of me. Her hands move frantically to the hem of her sweater but I catch her wrists, my fingers wrapping tight around her skin. Her pulse hammers, going wild beneath my grip.

“Briar,” I say, forcing my tone calm even as the hunger twists sharp in my chest. “I won’t fuck you like this. I told you. When we do, when we fuck, it will be something special. Not some type of trade.”

Her mouth falls open. Embarrassment and fear mix raw in her eyes. Her cheeks burn red under the dim light of the hallway.

“You shouldn’t have left,” I whisper. The words scrape out heavy. I pull her with me down the stairs. My hand stays locked on her arm, feeling every tremble that runs through her body.

This time she follows without fighting. Her head hangs low. Her eyes fixed on the cold stone floor. Each step echoes through the empty corridors, the sound swallowed by the thick silence of the mansion.

I stop at the cell door. The iron feels icy under my palm. The faint smell of metal and old concrete drifts out from the darkness inside.

She walks in without a word. She gathers the blankets and pillows with slow, defeated movements and curls up on the stone bed. A soft sniff reaches my ears as her back trembles slightly under the fabric.

I release a long breath. The air feels thicker in my lungs as I watch her. I step out and lock the door behind me.

Why did she try to leave me?

Why did she run?

The questions burn through my mind, dark and relentless. My fingers tighten around the key until the edges bite into my skin. I will protect her from the world outside these walls. I will make her happy. I will give her anything she needs.

Anything except a life without me.

Chapter Twenty

BRIAR

Ican’t stop shivering. The thick blankets Drystan left behind press heavy against my skin, one folded beneath me and the other draped over my body, warm enough to chase away the chill of the stone, yet the tremor runs deeper than cold. A dark sensation crawls at the back of my skull, persistent and heavy, whispering that something truly terrible waits just beyond this moment.

I don’t think I will ever leave this place.

Drystan is insane. He placed cameras throughout my house. He watched me shower. He watched me touch myself in the privacy of my own bed. The memory burns hot through my chest and between my thighs at once.

But you knew he was watching and still touched yourself while the video played, my mind reminds me. You watched him lick you and let your fingers move faster.

I am no better than he is. I allowed him to touch me. I wanted more. He came all over me and instead of disgust I felt a rush of dark pleasure. The sight of that six-foot-seven massive man, his eyes burning with raw lust and desperate yearning, left me aching in ways I cannot forget.

Why do I always attract such fucked-up men? Maybe because I am a little fucked up myself…

Yes, I am. But I would never lock someone in a cell. Not someone I claimed to love. Not someone I said I wanted to protect.

I wonder if Drystan was there when it all happened. If he would have stopped them. Stopped the one who—no. I cannot go there. If I let those memories surface now I will drown in them and never come back up.

Will Lucille search for me? And if she finds this place, will he hurt her?

My thoughts drift to the twins. Their skull masks. Their combat gear. They stood shorter than Drystan, perhaps six-five, but broader and more heavily built, with tattoos visible along the lines of their necks. They carried the same unhinged darkness in their eyes.