was mad I didn't let the vampire break me. Caine probably promised Barcel I'd snap instantly for the vampire king to be his ally.
Too bad he didn't know I had never healed from when I broke the first time. Help wasn't offered in the ways that it should've been. There wasn't a counselor to tell me time would help, or that I'd still have rough times from the PTSD.
I just had myself to rely on. My father tried to remedy some of it, but his darkened ways were blind to the vulnerability of my soul.
He loved me. I never questioned that, but I struggled being who my mother wanted me to be while under his care.
The creator and I had many talks about my twisted ways to avoid speaking the truth. Though, he couldn't brand me with sins from the devious ways I figured out to get around them.
I had to, though. For my father's safety, I had to learn how to not speak the truth, without telling a lie. It came in handy when others asked what happened to me.
Being the missing child on the news wasn't something that disappeared from one’s past. Some still recognized my name all these years later.
People struggled with personal boundaries, so I had to build a wall around my damaged mind to keep from falling apart. My secrets and memories became guarded, just as my father requested of me.
"Where did you learn to fight like that, Lyra?"
I didn't answer. Silence was my first attempt with anyone to evade the truth.
"Speak," Caine growled. He fisted his hand more into my hair as he turned to expose my neck to him. I gritted my teeth, trying to fight the sting of tears.
"Did it bother you that I wasn't as fragile as you planned? Was Barcel upset, knowing your words were empty to your deal?" I threw him off by goading him in return. Asking a question in reply was the simple way to rework a conversation.
He forced my body to slam into the metal ladder. I grunted as the sting swept over my abdomen. I bit back the cry that wanted to escape after the air left my lungs, but I knew Caine wanted that. He loved inflicting my pain.
"Tell me the fucking truth, you little virgin whore."
"Virgin whore? How does that nickname work when one is the antonym of the other?" A sick smile spread over my face, knowing I displeased him.
One thing no one would ever understand was my sick need to be hurt. I thrived on Caine's anger in ways that were toxic to my soul of light. I couldn't help it, though.
If he ever found out I enjoyed his roughness, he'd probably stop. I couldn't have that because I needed to feel this. I was addicted to his wrath, violently taking me every day.
Maybe it was my need for attention because I had been absent from the world for too long. Maybe it stemmed as some kind of Stockholm Syndrome because of what happened to me.
No matter what it was, I craved Caine's brutality.
"Why do you always think you can be mouthy with me, Lyra?"
"Why do you always act like it's a surprise?"
His nose breathed an angry breath as he allowed it to follow the hollow of my neck. My own breath caught when he nipped at the sensitive nerve right below my ear.
The sensation caused goosebumps to raise where his lips lingered. The cool of the room couldn't compare to the heat of his breath touching an intimate spot.
"Why is it you're so responsive to me, Lyra?" Caine's free hand found my hip as he pressed his erection into my lower back. We played with fire often in the quiet moments between us, but he'd never tell Axel about them.
It was part of our warped game.
His fingers dug into the flesh of my side. My grip tightened on the bars, trying to survive his cruel game I couldn't say no to.
Dizzy, my head began to swim with the arousal my belly was beginning to stir with. The heat gathered inside me, lowering to my core. I could smell the mint of his breath as his firm lips stayed close to my ear.
"I've learned to never run from a predator," I whispered.
Caine chuckled, letting go of me.
The cool air caged me where his body left mine. Quickly climbing up the ladder, I got to my level. I could only stare at the ceiling, shifting my thighs as I tried to ease