he won’t give me any. Not unless I do something for him first.
That same maniacal laugh greets me as he reads me like a book. “Thirsty?”
I glare back at him but don’t miss the way he doesn’t answer my question. I’m not surprised.
“Come on, my sweet Peach. You love this game, remember?”
My lips pull into a thin line while I shove down the fear that overwhelms me. Because he feeds off that fear. He savors it like a fine wine and loves to watch it ferment over time until there’s nothing left of the original fruit. Which is exactly what he’s done with me in the past. And what he’s trying to accomplish all over again.
“Baby….” His voice trails off as he inches closer to me before running his fingertips along the side of my cheek. “You know the rules. Give me what I want, then I’ll give you what you want.”
He’s right. We’ve done this before, and I didn’t come out the victor the first time. So how the hell am I gonna survive a second round?
“How did you find me?” I ask while silently praying he’ll take the bait and let me change the subject. The blood is slowly draining from my arms, making them tingle in protest.
“You thought I wouldn’t recognize you? You’ve been traipsing around my streets in your little shorts and your flimsy tank tops. You’ve been in my bars, my grocery stores. Yet you weren’t sleeping in my buildings, which meant you were trying to lure me out. Isn’t that right, Peach?”
His eyes dance with amusement before he sits next to me on the edge of the dingy mattress.
At least it doesn’t reek of urine.
“You know, if your bear hadn’t intervened at the bar, I probably wouldn’t have noticed you. I was trying to lay low. But I guess luck was on my side, wasn’t it?” He blows out another plume of smoke, making me cough as it taints the air around us.
“I almost took you back there,” he continues. “To the basement. For old time’s sake.” My eyes widen with fear. “But first, I want to know if you popped that little cherry between your thighs. The one I was ordered to let you keep.” His voice is calm, collected, but there’s a slight flare to his nostrils and a dark glint in his eyes. The beast inside of him is begging to come out and play. To use me as his toy.
“Answer me, Peach,” he growls.
My panic rises, but I don’t know what to say. I’m not sure I could find my voice even if I tried.
Cocking his head to the side, his gray-tinted tongue darts out between his lips before he runs it along his yellow teeth.
Then he takes a final puff of his cigarette and presses the hot, ashy end of it to my collarbone.
My entire body contorts in agony as a tortured scream claws its way up my throat. I try to wrench away from the boiling contact, but my cuffs hold me hostage, leaving me with the slight scent of burning flesh wafting through the air.
“Stop!” I beg. “Stop it!”
A satisfied smile stretches across Sei’s face. “Answer me, Peach. Did he touch you the way I touch you?”
I shake my head back and forth. “No. He would never touch me the way you touched me.”
His gaze narrows. “Shall we check? Just to be sure?” He hesitates before grinning like the cat who ate the canary. “I have a better idea. Let’s play a different game.” Raising his index finger into the air, he motions for me to give him a minute, then disappears from the room. My breathing is staggered as I wait for him to return, terrified about what his game might entail.
I just want to go home.
A sob wracks my body as the image of Diece comes to mind instead of the apartment I was living in before I was taken.
He’s my home now. And I was stupid enough to even question it.
I just want D. I want him to hold me. To tell me he loves me. To tell me it’s going to be okay. But it’s not okay. I can’t fight Sei. I’m not strong enough.
With a gasp, the word strong sparks my memory before Diece’s deep voice accompanies it. You’re stronger than you know. Braver than you think. And just broken enough to accept me.
He was right. I do accept him. Flaws and all. Because he accepts mine without hesitation. And maybe I