fucked up from all of this. How could she not be? I grip my hair and lean back against the counter with my eyes closed. I have no fucking right to ask her to do a God damn thing.
What the fuck am I even doing? She’s gonna be gone in a week or two. I’ll never see her again, and not treating her like a… like a slave could get her hurt when she goes back to them. “She’s been trained extensively.” Abram’s words echo in my head. I fucking hate him. I hate him for telling me to do this. I hate him even more for hurting her.
“Are you my new keeper?” Ava asks, and it breaks me from my thoughts.
I look back at her, not knowing how to answer. I don’t want any part of this shit. But I don’t have a fucking choice.
I say the only words I know that are true. “You’re mine. I’m going to take care of you.”
Her eyes widen slightly in shock, and her bottom lip trembles. She asks with a shaky breath, “Are you going to save me?”
My heart sinks in my chest. I want to save her. I feel a pull to protect her...and I will, for as long as I can. But I don’t know how long that will be. And I won’t lie to her and give her false hope. I press my lips together and shake my head no.
Her head drops as she noticeably swallows and fights the urge to cry. Her shoulders turn inward as she pulls at her fingers. I feel like absolute shit. I’ve never questioned being a part of the family. Never in my life. It was the way I grew up, and the way we got shit done. Yeah we did some fucked up things, but in the long term, everything made sense.
But this? Fuck this. I don’t want any part of it. There’s not a damn thing okay with this shit.
But I can’t save her. Abram hunted her family down. He did that with all his competitors. They fucking took off and went into hiding, but he found them. If he wants you dead, you’re dead. There’s no other way around it. Right now she’s alive at least. But if we took off? If I decided to be her knight in shining armor? We’d both be dead. It would only be a matter of time. Shit. I might be dead regardless. I’m not looking forward to turning his job offer down. I rub the back of my neck and let out a heavy sigh as she straightens her shoulders and tries to compose herself.
“Finish up. It’s getting late,” I tell her, once she seems to have settled some.
My eyes travel down her body, not at all in a sexual way. She’s beautiful, but she’s not well. She’s thin and the light shines off of several small scars on her body. One is noticeably larger though, and looks like a bite mark on her shoulder. There are more small scratches on her hips and shoulders, and some look like they were left by fingernails--from digging in and piercing her skin while holding her down.
I have to close my eyes and look back to the floor. I can’t imagine everything she’s gone through. I can’t imagine what she expects from me. But I’ll do everything I can to make this easy for her. I want to protect her from that shit and take away the pain she’s in. I don’t know if I can, but I’ll at least try.
There’s no doubt in my mind. If I could save her, I would.
Ava
I look at the cuff on my hand and then back to Kane. He locked one cuff around my wrist, and the other around the bedpost before going into the bathroom to shower. He takes another step into the bedroom, drying off his hair with a towel. Boxers hang low on his hips and my eyes stare at the deep “V” carved from his rock hard abs that taunts me. His muscles are still faintly covered with droplets of water and my fingers itch to feel his body. To run my hands along the smooth lines. If there’s no other truth in this world, Kane is the epitome of man candy. My cheeks flare with a blush and I have to look back down at the bed, then to the cuff.
I’m not sure why I have these feelings toward him. I shouldn’t. I haven’t