Unleashing Sin - A. M. Wilson Page 0,36

goes on. “They had you tied to a chair.”

I spring to my feet and start shoving the clothes into the bag. I need to get out of here. I bunch the top in my fist and turn to leave but find Shelby blocking the exit. I try to avoid her stare, but her watery eyes are locked on me, begging me to listen to her.

“They forced you to watch while they raped me and—ˮ

I look at the ceiling, jaw clenched so hard it trembles, because I know where this is going.

I know.

I know.

I know.

It’s just a dream.

“Your sister was there. They brought her out too.”

It’s just a dream.

It was just a dream.

A sound escapes me. An unintentional one that sounds like a wounded animal screaming. It’s not an animal, though. That sound is me.

The bag slips from my hand and hits the floor with a rustle. The smell of plastic infiltrates my nose as the air rushes out. My hands clap on either side of my head, and I fall to my knees right there on the hard tile in Elias’s kitchen at her feet. My back bows, and my chest heaves painfully as I try to rid the images from my mind.

“No,” I groan, agonized.

“If you were here, I would have gone to your bed. I would have gone to you. I wanted to have you hold me,” she murmurs in a pained voice.

I’m bent over so far my forehead nearly touches my knees as I try to rein it in and control my breathing. “Why?” It’s the only word I can get out that makes any sense.

“I don’t know,” Shelby responds to my question.

I wasn’t asking why she would have come to my bed. That part is obvious. I’m asking a rhetorical why do we have to go through this? We’ve both suffered more than enough.

Heat pricks the corners of my eyes, a sensation I haven’t felt in God knows how long. I jam my thumb and forefinger into them.

“Alex.”

Her voice sends a quivering ache through my chest, but I don’t trust myself enough to speak. I’m either going to lash out again or fucking cry, and I don’t want to do either.

I don’t even hear her move, but her slender arm wraps around me from behind, clenching me tight around my upper chest. Curling my arm at the elbow, I reach for her, needing to feel the warmth and contact of another human being. It wasn’t even my dream, but it feels like it could have been. Like I’ve had a similar dream a thousand times and can vividly recall the way it made me feel.

The moment my palm connects with her skin, the agony begins to evaporate, and a calmness takes over. The coil in my chest releases and my shoulders shudder violently as I release the pent-up tension from trying to hold myself together. I start to breathe easy again.

My palm slides along her forearm until I reach her hand where it’s gripping my shoulder. I pry her fingers off. She tenses, and I know it’s because she thinks I’m going to push her away again. Stunning us both, I thread our fingers together and press our hands tighter against my shoulder.

The two of us sit silently in Elias’s kitchen for God knows how long. When my heartbeat returns to normal, I realize I should let her go and get out of here. Instead, I nuzzle my beard along her arm, and when she doesn’t pull away, I bring our entwined hands to my lips.

She doesn’t flinch when I press my mouth to the back of her hand, but her soft intake of breath sounds in my ear. It’s breathy and whispery, and fuck it all, the sensation echoes right in my dick.

“Hey, you all right?” The moment splinters with Elias’s question, the sound of his footsteps confirming he’s joined us in the kitchen.

“Yeah,” I grunt. With one last squeeze, I release Shelby’s hand. She steps back to give me room to stand. I snag my bag of clothes that I dropped and hike it over my shoulder.

Elias’s eyes narrow, but he doesn’t question further. “Going somewhere?” He nods toward my bag of clothes.

“Gettin’ outta your space is all.”

“You’re welcome to stay.”

“I know. I’m good goin’ home.” I hold my voice steady. I keep my eyes locked on Elias’s even though they’re burning to see if Shelby has a reaction to that. I don’t know what it says about me that I want her to