Credence

I turn to leave, but then I stop and ask, “Do I have to still be up for morning chores?”

He narrows his eyes in confusion.

“I mean, since mine go later at night now?”

His eyes go round, and he bares his teeth, whipping out his hand and smacking me on the ass.

I laugh and rush out the door, closing it behind me.

But not before I catch his smile as he shakes his head.

I like his smile. We so rarely get to see it. I blow out a breath and make my way to my room, but a scent suddenly hits me, and I stop, looking to my right.

There, in the narrow, dark stairwell leading up to the third floor, an orange ember burns bright and a cloud of smoke drifts out from the black.

My smile falls.

Kaleb. I glance at Jake’s door, gauging his bedroom is well within earshot of the stairwell. How long has Kaleb been sitting there?

He moves, the floorboards creaking as he stands up, and I straighten as he emerges from the darkness, staring at me as he takes another drag and then drops the butt to the floor, stepping on it with his bare foot.

My stomach coils, and I shoot my eyes up to meet his again.

“What?” I ask.

But of course, he remains silent.

He walks toward me, and I move, backing up to my room, but he shoots out his hand and blocks me. I hit the wall, dropping my wet clothes as he comes in close, bearing down.

Shit. So what is he thinking? We’ll go out to the shop and finish what he started weeks ago? I’ll be easy now?

His warm body and bare chest hover close, and I turn my face away, almost shivering at his hot breath on my cheek.

Bending down, he picks up my red panties that are still damp from the shower, and stands back up, rubbing the material between his fingers as he stares at them.

A moment of guilt hits me, but I don’t know why.

I grab for the underwear, but he yanks them away, and my stomach hardens like a wall of bricks. I slap him.

He jerks a little but doesn’t falter.

I grab for the panties again, but the fabric tears as he pulls his arm away. He balls my underwear in his hand, his eyes angry and on fire as he slams the fist into the wall by my head. I suck in a breath, cowering on reflex.

What did I do? Like he actually cares.

Everything I felt a moment ago with Jake is gone. I straighten, ready to shove his son off me, but before I have a chance, Kaleb grabs me.

Ta

king me by the arms, he backs me up into my room and pushes me down on the bed, pinning me there.

“Get off,” I growl, fighting his arms, but he’s quick to keep hold.

He rears up a little, and I barely have a moment for realization to dawn before I turn away and squeeze my eyes shut, his spit landing in my hair.

Tears immediately spring to my eyes, and my chest swells with a cry.

He grabs something off my nightstand, and when he drags it across my forehead, I realize it’s my marker.