Incipient A Dark Paranormal Romance - Bianca Scardoni Page 0,41
me?” he murmured as he continued to stroke my cheek. It was almost as though he knew that his touching me was making the pain more bearable.
“I couldn’t,” I said, closing my eyes as tears dripped out from the corners. “And I wouldn’t have even if I could.”
His eyes darkened in vexation. “Why the hell not?”
“You know why.” I tried not to blink as though the gesture might give my leaky eyes a break. “You’ve already done enough for me, Trace. I’m not your responsibility, and I can’t keep pushing you away with one hand and pulling you in with—”
“This is different,” he quickly cut in. Without stepping away from me, he turned slightly toward his best friend. “Ben, can you give us a minute?” he asked, his jaw muscle pumping profusely.
Ben made a face like he thought that was a bad idea. “Are you sure, man? I don’t think those chains are going to hold her much longer if she keeps pulling at them.”
“I got it,” he said firmly and ducked his chin a nod.
“Alright…I’ll be upstairs if you need me,” he said wearily and then looked over at me. “I’m sorry, Jem. I did what I thought was best.”
I nodded, because I knew he only wanted to help me, and he did. “I’m sorry for putting this on you.”
“Nah,” he said and chucked me under my chin. “That’s what friends are for.”
I tried for a smile as I watched him leave the room and then shut the cellar door behind himself, leaving me alone with Trace and the disturbing feeling of Dominic’s words scratching through my insides.
“It hurts so bad,” I said as I tried to move closer to him but was abruptly halted by the chains.
At this point, the only thing that was making me feel even remotely better was his touch, and I was willing to do just about anything to get it.
He closed the small gap between us as though knowing exactly what I needed. With his hand still pressed against the side of my face, he circled his other arm around my waist and leaned me back against the wall. Momentarily lulled, I rested my cheek against his palm and closed my eyes as he traced small circles with his thumb into the small of my back.
I could still feel Dominic’s words scratching inside my head, beating me into obedience, but the longer Trace stayed beside me, touching me the way he was, the more the pain and compulsion became manageable. The easier it become to resist his call.
“How long do you think this is going to last?” I asked after a while with my eyes still closed tightly.
“I don’t know.” His tone was clipped, as though he were pissed off and having a hard time hiding it.
I chanced a peek at him and met his troubled gaze. “Are you mad at me?”
“No,” he said, but his expression was saying something entirely different.
“You look mad,” I noted, my voice strained from all the wailing I had done earlier.
He worked his jaw before answering. “I don’t like to see you hurting like this,” he said lowly, his gaze cutting to the chains that were restraining my arms. “I swear to god, Jemma, I’m going to put his face through a wall.”
I looked up and met his fiercely protective eyes. “That isn’t going to solve anything,” I pointed out quietly.
“No, but it’ll make me feel better,” he said distractedly as his focus skirted back to the chains. Removing his hand from my face, he grasped the thick looped metal and tugged, testing out its solidity.
The more he played with the chains, the more his body inched away from mine.
“Trace?”
His gaze slid back to mine easily. “Yeah?”
“I need you to keep your hands on me,” I said, my cheeks flushing as the pain slowly amplified.
“Right. Sorry.” Grimacing, he immediately pressed his body against mine and wrapped both arms around my waist in what must’ve looked like an intimate lover’s embrace. “Is this too much?” he asked tentatively, his mouth only a mere inch from mine.
I shook my head, breathing in his spicey scent like it was the cure to the bubonic plague. “I’m sorry about all this. This is probably the last thing you wanted to be doing tonight.”
His gaze dropped briefly to my mouth when he answered, “It could be worse.”
“Yeah? How so?” I mean, he was literally stuck in his best friends’ cellar, cuddling the girl who shot him down the night before.