I couldn’t look away because I was both intimidated and mesmerized.
He didn’t reach for his drink. His eyes were reserved for me, like I was the one half naked. After a few minutes of the fire burning in the hearth, of the rising intensity of his presence, he spoke. “Let me take you to bed, chérie.”
I shifted my gaze away and forced myself to stop staring.
He grabbed his glass and took a drink.
The more time I spent with him, the less I viewed him as the boss, the man in charge of this hellhole. He became someone else entirely. Now he was this sexy stranger I should stay away from, but his magnetism continued to draw me in, deeper and deeper, into an invisible black hole from which there was no escape. Even if I could run out the door and hide in the wilderness, his pull would still reach me, because it was innate. His branding iron had seared me, and that mark would be implanted in my skin forever. Without touching me, he had felt me everywhere. Without sharing a kiss, he had tasted me everywhere. His fingertips were deep under my skin, wrapped around my bones. “Let my sister go, and I will.” His desire was the only leverage I had. It was a sacrifice I’d make for her, especially since it didn’t feel like that much of a sacrifice.
“I will say this once more and never repeat it. I don’t negotiate. This—” his eyes burned into me further “—is irrelevant to the world outside this cabin. My rules are not broken. Your sister is stuck here forever. There is nothing you can do to negotiate her freedom. You should take my offer and save yourself.”
I looked at him again, feeling powerless once more. He gave me that power, but then he also took it away. “Why would I want to bed the man who’s keeping my sister captive?”
“She was never a target of the Hunters. You were. The only reason she’s here is because you two were together. Blame me for her captivity if you must, but I had nothing to do with it. I can’t let her go because it will cause chaos in this camp.”
“Then why can you let me go?”
He dropped his hand from his chin and straightened. “I said nothing about letting you go.”
I shifted my gaze away, the heat burning my throat, the overwhelming weight suddenly hitting my shoulders and causing my back to bend. It was on my chest, making it hard to breathe, and the pain was so sharp that it made me whimper. Tears sprung to my eyes as my body faced what my mind couldn’t.
She would never forgive me.
And she shouldn’t.
My hand cupped my mouth as I started to cry, seeing the flames begin to blur as the moisture coated my vision. Flashbacks of that night came back to me, me with the two men who’d bought my drinks throughout the night, and Raven standing there…telling me not to go. I basically told her to fuck off. Girl, you need to chill. Your mind is playing tricks on you. I cried harder, remembering the look on her face as I said that. Stop telling me what to do. I’m a big girl who doesn’t need you to take care of me anymore.
Her response to that sealed my fate, because then I just went with them out of spite. Obviously, I still do need to take care of you because these guys have got psycho written all over them, and you’re too stupid to see that. I’m sick of this shit, Melanie. I’m sick of you making stupid decision after stupid decision. I’m telling you, I saw that motherfucker outside our apartment, and he’s gonna put you in an oil barrel or something. There’re a million guys out there, you’ll find someone new tomorrow. I covered my face with both hands, sobbing harder, hating myself more as the memory haunted me.
The bed dipped beside me, and the air was instantly different. It smelled like pine, like fresh air, like the woods after a rain. He was on the opposite of the fire, but he brought his own heat as if he were engulfed in flames. “Chérie.” He didn’t touch me, kept a foot of space between us.
I was swallowed whole by my pain. I wished my next breath would be my last.
“Chérie.” His hands gripped my wrists and pulled them from my face.