“I may be tortured, but I’m nothing like you.” The venom in Damien’s voice is ice, pouring between us, causing the large rift between the Thornes and the Havens to crack further.
“Does she know about the town? Does she know the secrets that broke us apart in the first place?” The look on Creed’s face tells me there are more secrets between them than I’ve heard and more that I should have learned about.
“If you want to talk, you’re more than welcome to come to me directly, other than that, Nesrin has no bearing on this world.”
“Your little sister needs to learn, Damien.”
“I’m not his sister,” I bite out, anger surging through me, but it only causes Creed to stare at me. There’s a hint of confusion that paints his expression, for a moment, before he smiles. But it’s not friendly, there’s a knowing to his face that makes me shiver with fear.
“You know, Thorne,” he says, looking at Damien. “I never once pegged you for such a bad boy. Breaking all the rules and doing it with a straight face.” This time, the laugh that comes from Creed is almost inhumane. “I’ll see you both at the dance. And I’m sure that it’s going to be a night to never forget.”
He spins on his heel, leaving us in the darkness; me shaking with anxiety and Damien shuddering with rage. His arms snake across my middle, and he holds me to his warmth.
“What did he mean?”
“He’s seen me claim you,” Damien murmurs in my ear.
Shock shakes me for a moment before I ask, “How?”
“The need for me to protect you overtook me, and I couldn’t hide the fact that having him near you fucked with my head. He saw me. One thing you’ll learn about Creed is that he’s intuitive. He can read situations easily, and because he knows me, he’s seen right through my possessive nature.”
I turn around, his arms still holding me close. When I’m finally facing him, I look up into cerulean eyes. “He knows that we’re…” The words filter off into the silence that hangs between us, but he doesn’t have to respond because I know the truth.
Creed knows that Damien and I are more than we should be.
“He won’t have you,” Damien tells me. “You’re mine. And I’m not losing that, not now, not ever.”
“Don’t say things that could change in an instant.” My voice cracks, but he sees the pain that seems to haunt me. Damien cups my face in his strong hands, holding me close. “Please, Damien, take me home.”
“If you say that in your seductive voice, I’m going to do more than take you home,” he promises in the darkness.
“Then do it.”
“On one condition,” he practically growls the words, which only seems to send heat shooting through me.
“Anything.”
A dark brow arches at my response. “Promise me you’re mine.”
“I can’t—”
“I’m not asking for love, or any of that bullshit. I want to do things to you that should be illegal.”
“I thought it would be since your father is married to my mother,” I tease, the challenge hanging between us in the night sky.
“Oh, wild rose, you’re just barely eighteen, and there are so many more illicit things that I can imagine doing to you all day, every day.” Damien leans in close, his mouth brushing along mine. His lips hot, breath warm, and his thumbs swiping along my cheeks, ever so gently, but I know that Damien Thorne is not a gentleman, he’s animalistic.
“I want it to hurt, I want all the pain, all the agony.” I look up at him, as I say this, and I swear I see fire dancing in his gaze. The corner of his mouth tilts into one of those seductive smirks that make every inch of me tremble with need.
“No more cutting and I’ll give you anything you want,” he tells me, with the promise clear as day in his voice. I nod. “Good girl.” His hands drop to mine, and he laces our fingers, as we make our way back to the house.
I don’t know what’s going to happen now, but what I do know is that Damien Thorne is slowly stealing me piece by piece, and the day he gets all of me is the day I know my heart is in his hands.
He has a power over me, an all-consuming command that takes hold of me and I can’t fight it. And losing that control is what makes my heart skip a beat while my stomach churns with nervous energy. No matter how much I try to deny how I feel about him, I can’t because Damien Thorne has engraved himself in my bones. And there’s no cut deep enough to extricate him.
But when I think about it, I realize I don’t want to.
I ache for him to be there. Inside me. Within me.