Page 18 of Vows From Hell

It didn’t happen.

He was on top of me within seconds, and I had no idea how to react. I couldn’t for a few seconds.

His hands came beneath me, hugging me tightly as he buried his head in my chest. Even with his heavy breathing, I couldn’t feel all of his weight on my body. He was controlling himself better than I thought he would.

“If you continue to say things like that, I can’t guarantee I’ll remain sane.’’

“As if you’ve ever been sane.’’

He chuckled darkly. “True as that may be, you didn’t get the chance to know just how fucked up in the head I am. You don’t know the lengths I’d go to keep you chained by my side.’’

“Careful, your possessive side is showing.’’

Micah ignored me, and briefly, silence surrounded us. Our hearts beat in a matching rhythm, and it sounded like the most beautiful melody. I wished I could pause the time and remain like this forever. In peace, with this sick and twisted man on top of me.

“It’s in your best interest to take my warnings seriously, Bambi.’’ His voice was barely a whisper. How could a whisper sound so threatening?

“Or what?”

I knew I was pushing him. However, if there was anything I truly knew about this man was that he liked his buttons pushed. The only way for me to find out something was to push beyond the limits, and then some more.

“Or I might truly go insane. This world is meaningless if you’re not by my side. I’m tempted to gouge the eyes of every man you’ve ever encountered.’’

I couldn’t stop a laugh from slipping.

“You keep count of all the men I’ve ever encountered?”

Finally, he looked up at me, resting his chin in between my breasts. I started to melt beneath him as his scent filled my senses. This tenderness and the feeling of safety were enough for my mind to go blank.

“Of course,’’ he responded immediately. “How else can I keep you safe? Even if it’s from the shadows, a day hasn’t gone by without me checking in on you.’’

I remained silent.

“So, you can’t leave me, Bambi. I’m nothing if I don’t have you.’’

Who the hell was this man?

Was Micah always this vulnerable?

The man I remembered, the man who was intensely engraved in my soul, was a hot-headed, act-first, think-later type of man. He always got what he wanted, no matter what he had to do to acquire it.

But the man I was seeing right now was softer.

Vulnerable.

Miserable.

Desperate.

The same man who once told me desperation didn’t look good on me.

It was only then that I realized how antagonizing these past three years had been on him. He was suffering. He was watching me, stalking me, and taking care of me from afar in his own way, and for reasons unknown to me, he was unable to approach.

He was in pain too.

Yet, no matter how much I wanted to keep him by my side, I couldn’t find it in me to care.

The forgive-and-forget rule was for those unable to take revenge on people who hurt them. It was the easy way of making yourself seem like the bigger person.