Why?
“What are they doing to her?” I ask, wishing I understood, but the more he fondles me, the more I’m losing control over my own body.
“This is her punishment.”
“She doesn’t deserve this,” I retort, but I can’t even say it without slurring the words.
“You’re just like her,” he murmurs into my ear, peeling away my dress from the top until my nipple is almost exposed. “A sinner always desires more.”
I shake my head, but my body betrays me as he grips my thighs and shoves his hand between my legs. The more he touches me, the more I wish I would just stop fighting, that I would just give in, because it would be so much easier. Let him have his way with me. Let him take and take until I can only moan and beg for more.
“Your warm, wet pussy tells another story,” he groans.
Suddenly, he rips me away from the room and throws me back into the hallway. I stagger against the banister, my breasts almost falling out of my dress as I suck in the oxygen. Eli slams the door shut to Anna’s room, then grabs me by the arm and hauls me to mine.
“Wait, no,” I say. “Please don’t put me back in there.”
“You should have thought of that before you went snooping,” he growls, and he throws open the door and drags me inside, shutting the door behind him with a kick. He throws me down onto the bed and says, “I told you to stay out of our business.”
I crawl up. “You only said not to go near the corridor underneath the stairs.”
He paces around in front of me. “And did you listen?”
My lips part, but I don’t know what to say. I don’t want to give myself away.
He frowns and stares at me for a moment, rage marring his face. “Stop. Lying.”
I nod, swallowing hard.
“You aren’t innocent,” he adds. “And neither is she.”
My pupils dilate. “But what did she do to deserve that?”
He scoffs. “That’s none of your business.”
He sighs and rubs his forehead, pacing around again until he finally stops and points at me with his index finger. “You squandered your privilege.”
Suddenly, he turns and marches off, and I shriek. “No! Wait! Don’t leave me here, please!” It sounds more like a cry. “I promise, I won’t do it again.”
He pauses at the door for only a second, a hand clutching the doorjamb, fingers digging into the wood. After giving me a single glance filled with agony, he storms off.
Eli
I go right back into my chambers, but as I slam the door shut, nothing can quell the storm raging inside my head. I grab the nearest lamp and smash it to pieces against the wall. The noise makes me come to a full stop. I stare at the damage I’ve caused and the pain I’ve instilled in both our hearts.
It’s been right in front of me, and I’ve been too blind to see.
I’m growing weak.
Easy.
Vulnerable.
And if there’s anything I don’t like, it’s that.
But the way she looked at me, so full of despair, made me pause. I wanted her to be punished for snooping in our business, but when she realized what was going on, it was like all hope had left her.
And then she turned to me with that look in her eyes that completely destroyed me.
The minute I caught her, I had wanted nothing more than to strip her in front of Tobias and Anna, to claim her right there and use her in any way I saw fit. But that look … it undid me, forced me to come face-to-face with my own actions. With my own sin.
I saw in her the things I wished never to see.
And it hurt me.
Why?
I knew what I was going to do and why I was there, yet I still couldn’t go through with it. I’ve lost my touch.
I go to my knees and pick up the shards, but one of them cuts into me. I stare at my hands as they shake with rage, and droplets of blood drip down onto the carpet.
This is what I’m supposed to do. Punish the weak, the insubordinate. This is my purpose in life. How my father taught me to live.
Yet … when I look at her, all of that unravels right in front of me.
Maybe Tobias was right. Dragging someone into this House solely because of my own selfish needs may not have been the smartest idea.
Still, I can’t go back.
This is the way it is now. There is no going back. Not from any of this.
She is mine, and she will suffer for her sins.
As will I.
Amelia
For hours, I just sat there with my head buried between my knees, my hands covering my ears so I wouldn’t have to hear the noise coming from next door.