Page 18 of Sinner's Malice
“You know why.”
Shaking my head, I sighed as my shoulders slumped.
He was right.
I did know why.
We had performed this long dance over the years, and now it was time to pay the piper. There was nothing stopping him now. The threat to me was over. I was free. Free of the binds that chained me. Free of the club, the brothers, the life that protectedme. I knew the second I ventured out of the club that I had sealed my fate.
I wasn’t stupid.
“You don’t want this any more than I do.”
“You’re right. I don’t.”
“Do the others know?”
“No.”
“They won’t understand.”
“Don’t care.”
“What do you care about?”
“Nothing.”
Well, at least he was honest.
I guess in some way, I always knew my life had ended in the desert. I just never considered what that actually meant. While death eluded me that night, I didn’t exactly comprehend the severity of my situation. The fact was, I traded one devil for another, and now it was time to pay up.
“And if I refuse?”
“We don’t have a choice.”
Sighing, I stood my ground.
He was right.
We never really had a choice. It was as if fate had set our lives on a course neither of us had any hope of avoiding. In a way, it was scary, already knowing what our lives would be like and that nothing we did could stop it. Yet, I found it comforting in a way, knowing my death began and ended with the very man who saved me that awful night.
Because I knew traveling down this path with him, there was only one ending for me. He would either save me from the darkness that lurked deep inside me or be the catalyst that finally destroyed me. Either way, there was no way either of us could deny what was about to happen.
“Say it,” he demanded. The heat from his body scorched my backside as his breath sent goose bumps all over my body. It was now or never, and yet, not even God could stop me from saving myself.
“Say what?”
“Say the fucking words, Arianwen.”
Squeezing my eyes shut, I whispered into the dark,
“Save me, Gideon.”
The second I uttered his name, he aggressively pushed me against the wall. In a moment of fear and surprise, I let out a cry as his hand quickly covered my mouth. My breath caught in my throat when he roughly grabbed hold of my hair. His powerful grip causing me to gasp as he forcefully jerked my head backwards.
“If you scream, I will rip your hair right out of your head.”
In the next instant, a searing, burning sting overwhelmed my senses. I heard my skin sizzle and burn as he pushed something into my shoulder. The pain was unlike anything I had ever experienced. It robbed me of the very air in my lungs, and my legs damn near buckled under me. Pressed against the wall by his overpowering weight, I fought in vain to bite his hand, feeling the desperation rise within me. As I struggled to free myself, my nails dug into his arms, drawing blood, fueling my determination to break away.