Fear skitters down my spine on icy fingers when he finally answers.
“You’ve belonged to me for a long time, Adeline. I’m not letting you get away now.”
I don’t respond. Can’t respond. Because what the fuck do you say to that? I can try begging him to let me go again, but I know it will get me nowhere. I can try fighting, but he’s a hell of a lot stronger than me. I can demand answers, but I damn well know he won’t give them to me.
That leaves me with what?
A whole lot of nothing.
Especially in my current condition.
Once again, I have to play this smart, but look where the fuck that got me when I thought I was doing it with Grant.
I had one more day.
One...
And now I’ve somehow jumped from the frying pan directly into another psychopath’s fire.
I’m beginning to think everybody in my life is seriously deranged.
“You need rest, especially with your injuries, so I’m going to put you back to bed, change your bandages and let you get some more sleep. Later on, you can get a shower, and I’ll bring you something to eat.”
Another humorless bark of laughter. “Is that the plan now? You’ll take care of me and make all my decisions?”
I crane my neck to look up at his face, try to ignore how his eyes cause my heart to pound harder, how my thoughts race to remember what those cruel lips can do to me.
“Are you trying to be the hero now, Ari?”
A shadow passes behind his eyes, his mouth thinning into a line. He doesn’t look away from me, though. Just stares as if looking at me for the first time.
“I’ll never be a hero. Don’t ever fool yourself into thinking that. I’m the demon, remember? You depicted me perfectly in all those photographs.”
My heart beats hard with a painful thump.
Voice softer, he steps back. “Get in bed. I’ll bring you something for the pain.”
“I don’t want your drugs,” I snap.
“You’ll take whatever I give you.” His fingers capture my chin, gentle instead of hard, dominant instead of forceful.
Tipping my face up to his, he searches my eyes.
“I’m giving you ibuprofen for the swelling, but really, if it were anything else, what can you do about it? You’re not leaving this room, and you’re staying in bed until you’ve healed enough that you won’t hurt yourself more. Don’t mistake me for someone who won’t get what he wants. That would be a stupid decision on your part.”
A tremor runs through me.
“What happens if I fight?”
His eyes darken, mouth pulling into such an arrogant smirk I can feel it in my bones.
Dipping his head down, he speaks against my ear, his hand clamping down on my hip to keep me from moving.
“I’ll tie you down,” he whispers, voice deep and haunting.
“Doesn’t matter, I’ll still fight.”
Ari grins against my cheek. “You don’t want to do that, love. Just the thought of it turns me on.”
My body goes still against his, the honesty of his threat making me burn in ways I shouldn’t. But then, Ari has always made me burn, even now that I hate him.
Fingers releasing my hip, he steps away again. “I’m the demon. Don’t forget that. Now get in bed. I’ll be right back.”
I want to tell him to fuck off with his demand, but I’m so tired and in so much pain, I lie to myself and pretend there’s no fighting against him just so I can crawl under the covers and close my eyes again without hating myself as much as him.
Everything hurts.
Even the parts of me that aren’t bruised and beaten.
Ari returns to the room so quietly that I jump when I hear him set a glass of water on the table beside me. The mattress dips as he sits down, his hand opening to show me the two pills he has in his palm.
I have a flashback of Grant and those damn sleeping pills he made me take every night, my stomach rolling with the memory.
Ari must intuit my thoughts. Then again, he can’t know why I’m thinking them. I’ve never told him what Grant was doing.
“It’s only Ibuprofen. I promise you.”
What does it fucking matter? It’s like he said earlier. He could be handing me cyanide, and there isn’t a damn thing I can do about it.
I take the pills, swallow down the water and hand him the glass.
Without saying another word, he changes the bandages on my face with tender hands,