Cellar Door

Makenna’s eyes lose that sexy, unfocused haze, as she stares right into me. She grips the handle of my hunting knife in her left hand, the blade poised at the artery in my neck.

Fucking hell. I should’ve seen that coming.

She licks her lips, still so entici

ng. “Who has the control now?”

17

The Sickness

Makenna

The knife in my hand feels heavy; the handle too big for my palm. Despite my unfamiliarity of the weapon, I hold it steady. I knew there’d be one second where Luke would drop his guard, and I took it. I acted.

Now I can’t waver.

“You’ve always had the control,” Luke says. His gaze flicks over my face. “From the second you looked into my eyes in that alley, it’s been all yours.”

I swallow hard. My hand trembles. “I didn’t lock myself in this cellar,” I challenge.

“No. But you wanted answers. And this was the only way to get them.” Every time he talks, the blade jumps, a red line forming where the steel touches his skin.

His heavy hips rest between the apex of my thighs. The weight of him bearing down, the pressure and feel of his hard want still prominently pressed to my sex, makes this situation all the more dangerous.

Am I in control?

I have the weapon. All I have to do is run the blade across his neck. But there’s a threatening, heated ache that pulls at my attention, making me question why I’m stalled.

I’m not a killer.

When it came time, I might have pulled the trigger at the warehouse. I was wrecked. I was weak and scared and craving vengeance.

But after everything I’ve uncovered…what am I craving now? Justice? Retribution? Who should pay for all this pain?

“I just want to leave,” I say. “That’s all. Just let me leave.”

Luke’s gaze wanders over my features, a delicate and slow search. “There’s the door. You can walk out any time you want.”

“I can’t.”

“Why?”

I want to close my eyes, not see his face…that beautiful face marred with scars. But I can’t take my eyes off him; I can’t falter. “Because you’re on top of me.”

“So kill me.”

The key. I go to reach for his pocket, and he snaps my wrist against the mattress. “Your choices are telling about you, Makenna. The way you could’ve easily stolen the key and escaped, just like this, at any other time. Yet your hunger for the truth won out. How are we any different? How are you any less a monster than I am? Do it. You wanted revenge. Take it now.”

I tighten my grip on the handle. “I’m not like you.”

His smile is knowing and beautiful and slices right through me. “Do you want to flip for it? Heads, you slit my throat. Tails, I fuck you.”

I drag the blade a millimeter, the red growing. “I can do both.”

“I can promise, both will be satisfying. Addictive, even. There’s a fine line between lust and loathing.” His hips thrust against me, and a deep throb robs me of my reasoning. I release a breath, and he stops. “I’m curious…if I fuck you hard enough, if I could snap you in half, solving my dilemma for good.”

“Give me the key,” I manage.