Our Broken Pieces - M.E. Clayton Page 0,16

true nature of mine and Gage’s relationship, I still felt exposed. Exposed and vulnerable.

I started trembling when his eyes started burning like blue flames.

I knew that look.

Gage was about to lose it.

We were in public and Gage was about to go to that dark place in his mind where his conscience didn’t exist. Now that our relationship was public, nothing was stopping him from owning me whenever he wanted to versus only acting on his desires when he needed to.

It was a dangerous thing for us to have this kind of freedom. Gage could barely control himself as it was. With this newfound...access to my body, I wasn’t sure if there’d be any chance of reining him in.¶

“Gage…”

His blue eyes danced down my body and back up before he took another step towards me and snarled, “You ever wear a skirt when I’m not around again and you’ll regret it, Mystic. I’ll make sure you never think of wearing one ever again for the rest of your life.”

I wanted to cry.

This was why I was sick.

This was why I knew I was broken.

His words were making me want to run out and buy a boatload of skirts just to force him to make good on his threat. It made me feel dirty and...just absolutely wretched.

Shame.

Shame was what should have accompanied every desire, every encounter, and every orgasm.

I didn’t want to feel like this way. I didn’t want to feel this dark need.

I wanted to be normal.

I wanted to feel normal.

Instead, I was at the mercy of a boy who was every bit as dark as I was. I was addicted to knowing that someone could see just how broken I was and wanted me because of it. Gage wasn’t repulsed by the things I craved. He didn’t judge me, and he made those disgusting desires I had feel...manageable. He made me feel goddamn beautiful, and it weakened everything inside of me that should seek help for my issues.

Graduation was going to be both my salvation and my undoing.

“Gage, we have to find Margot and Cha-”

“I don’t give a fuck about Margot and Chance right now,” he snapped. “I want to know why the fuck you’re dressed like you’re trolling for dick? Is that why Dillon thought it was okay to treat you like you were available?”

I glared up at him. “That’s not fair,” I snapped back. “I was just trying to look nice for Margot’s party. For once.”

Heedless of the curious people who were still milling about, Gage wasn’t toning down his irritation with me. He grabbed my upper arm and yanked me forward until my chest was pressed up against body. “Do you need me to fuck you, right here in front of everyone, so you finally believe me when I say you’re beautiful?”

I reared back. I didn’t really think he’d fuck me in front of a crowd of people, but it was his words that were throwing me for a loop. “You’ve never told me I was beautiful,” I pointed out.

His head jerked up and his eyes began to search the room. As soon as his eyes landed on the guest bathroom, he grabbed my hand and dragged me behind him, until we were inside in the bathroom. It had been empty, and Gage immediately locked the door behind us.

He stalked me until my back was pressed up against the counter, and then he leaned in and planted his hands on the counter, caging me in. The boy looked pissed as he said, “I always tell you you’re beautiful.”

I shook my head. “No, you don’t,” I countered. “The only time you tell me I’m beautiful is when I’m covered in your cum, blood, or bruises.”

His right hand shot out and snaked up the back of my neck, grabbing a handful of my hair, making sure it was a painful hold. I grimaced and he smiled a smile laced with evil. “Because that’s when you’re at your most beautiful, Mystic,” he replied. “I can’t stop staring at you after you’ve let me use you up. You’re fucking stunning when you’re broken.”

Chapter 10

Gage~

It was the truth.

I’ve always believed Mystic to be a beautiful girl, but she was heart-stoppingly breathtaking when she laid there, spent, after letting me defile her luscious body and confused mind. She was at her most beautiful when she was at her most vulnerable. And she was at her most vulnerable when her mind swam out of her lust-filled haze and she absorbed whatever it was I’d