Page 109

“You first.”

I swing my leg back, attempting to hit my knee into his dick but he’s too fast. He swipes my feet from underneath me and pushes me face first onto the bed, holding me down by my neck.

“No!” I protest, using all my strength to kick him away from me, but he’s too strong, too fast. Too trained for this. “Let me go!”

I still haven’t forgotten what it feels like to be pinned down by him.

“Stop fucking moving,” he grits, both of my wrists now pinned to the bed with the dress digging into my back.

I growl, snarl, and buck, arching my back off the bed, attempting to push his weight off.

“Stop being so fucking stubborn. It’ll be just like before,” he coos, voice dripping with sickly excitement. “Only this time, I’ll actually be fucking you.”

Bile rises in my throat, but I swallow it down, continuing my fight.

“Get the fuck off her!” Kain’s voice breaks through the loud pounding beginning in my ears, calling to me like a beacon.

It takes seconds for Samuel’s weight to be ripped off me.

A profound crack sounds through the room, and I scramble to the top of the bed, away from Samuel and the brewing fight.

Kain’s burgundy shirt is splattered with blood as his chest heaves, fists clenched and veins twitching. Samuel, hunched over and gripping his nose, whines in pain while Kain watches him, prepared for another hit.

“Kain,” I manage to shout, gathering his attention. “Don’t.” My fingers hands tremble as I attempt to climb off the bed.

“You fucking psychopath,” Samuel spits, examining his bloody nose in the mirror.

I stand by Kain, the electrifying warmth of his body a calming balm on me. “Get out of my room, Samuel.”

His attention snaps to me, his eyes are wild, perfectly styled hair out of place. “You’re my wife, and I will do with you as I please.”

“I’m not—” I start, but Kain already has Samuel’s collar in his grip, cutting off his oxygen, his muscles straining through the linen.

“She’s not your fucking wife, she’s not your anything—”

“She will be in a few hours, and there’s nothing you can do to stop it,” Samuel rasps, his face quickly turning red as he struggles in Kain’s grip.

“I could kill you.” Kain smiles wildly as Samuel laughs.

“They’ll kill you, too.”

“It’ll be worth it for her.”

Panic slams into me and I push at Kain’s chest, where he drops Samuel to the floor. “No.” Our eyes connect and he sees it. He sees the demand in my eyes because he gives a curt nod before cutting his gaze to Samuel.

“Get the fuck out of her room. Better yet, go home or you’ll regret it,” Kain warns.

“In a few hours, she’ll be my wife.” Samuel pushes me out of the way and stands inches away from Kain. “And if you try to get in my way, I will order them to kill you.” For a second, he looks like he’s going to say more, but he leaves instead and I slump to the floor on my knees.

I never fucking asked for this. I never asked for this life. I was punished for loving someone, and it feels like a never-ending misery. But I’m not the only one who’s suffering now. I fear that Kain is too. After all we’ve been through, our souls are one, our scars are the same.

Kain's gentle hands guide my face upwards, and all I see is pain in his eyes. “Was it him?”

My throat constricts with the words, the reality of what actually happened crashing into me. It was easier to block it out, to not think or talk about the grooming and abuse in the convent. Much like Kain with Lacey and Heath. When I told Kain, I never thought I would be seeing my nightmare again. Now those memories resurfaced in the shape of Samuel. It was easier to stay angry at the world, at Kain. It gave me fuel to block out those memories. But I broke. Kain broke me. No—not Kain. Me. I broke me. By keeping everything secret.

All that fuels me now is rage, but even flames burn out eventually. I never gave myself time to heal, and now it’s too late. The only thing I can rely on is the comfort of the hate filled cage I’ve locked myself in.

“I can’t.” My words are just a broken whisper. “You need to leave.”