Total pages in book: 40
Estimated words: 35602 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 178(@200wpm)___ 142(@250wpm)___ 119(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 35602 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 178(@200wpm)___ 142(@250wpm)___ 119(@300wpm)
I keep my eyes firmly shut when I feel his finger make contact with my skin, gently tipping my chin back and forcing me to look into his dark eyes.
"Aren't you going to look at me?" Xavier asks, and I wonder whether or not I'm imagining the small hint of sadness in his voice.
Is he excited to see me?
Does it fill him with the same amount of trepidation and anxiety as it does me?
Does he want to be near me?
Did he miss me?
What's life like back at home since I left?
Do the dog still remember me? And you, Xavier, do you miss me every night, waking up in a cold sweat and touching the spot where I'm supposed to sleep in the bed only to find it empty?
"Open your eyes," he demands, his voice darkly decadent and dripping with venom.
There is not enough fight in me left to say no. Instead, my eyes fly open and I look deep into his. There's so much pain, pain that was once love but has turned into something ugly and vicious. I can see how much I've hurt him and how much I fucked up our relationship by following through with my parents' wishes.
But there is no escaping my actions now. Now that we're finally reunited, I have no choice but to submit to him once and for all.
"Aren't you going to say something?" he asks, cocking his eyebrow at me as we stare at one another.
My heart is racing, making me wonder whether he's feeling as on edge as I am. But I'm too afraid to put my feelings into words. There's nothing left to say but stare into his eyes and beg for forgiveness I know won't be forthcoming.
"Hello Xavier, I finally manage to get out, my bottom lip quivering as I make eye contact with him and force myself not to cry.
And that's quite the task, especially when I allow myself to think of all the missed time all the missed touches and all the times we could have spent together if it weren't for my parents. I stare deep into his eyes and wonder how he feels about me now. Whether there's any of that love left the love that we shared for one another before things went south.
I don't think he cares about me anymore.
I think everything I've done has forced him onto the other side of that emotion, filling him with hatred for me.
Xavier claps his hands together shocking me into the present. He claps again.
"Everyone out of here. Now," he says firmly, and his men hesitantly but quickly make their way out of the shed which we're in.
I realize we're still on the property of the shelter, and I can smell the smoke coming from the main building which must have burned down by now. I don't know how Xavier found me, but I assume it has to do something with the man who called me sweetheart and rudely insinuated that he was going to sell me and make a profit off of me.
Once the room is emptied, I feel even more scared. It's just us, and I know Xavier has no mercy for me. After all this time, all he wants to do is punish me. And all I want to do is jump back into his embrace and show him just how sorry I am for everything I've done to him.
"Have you been thinking about the day we'll be reunited?" Xavier asks me directly. "I wonder what it was like in your head, whether it was a dream or a nightmare. For me, it's been both. I've been thinking about strangling you. Choking the life out of you before you so much as get a chance to say you're sorry. But now that you're here, I find myself incapable of hurting you, except in the ways that you used to love. Now I'm going to turn everything that you used to yearn for into something negative for you. Our love is going to become something darker, more sinister, and more painful. I hope you're ready for what I'm about to give you, Tallulah."
"Please, Xavier," I say, forcing the words off my parched lips. "Let me go."
"You say that, but you don't mean it," he cuts me off, snapping his fingers with an impatient gaze that reveals just how angry he is about everything that happened back at his home. "Look at you, you were practically begging me to find you. I bet your little cunt is dripping for me already. I despise you, Tallulah."
That's when I realize he will never forgive me. Until the end of time, he'll keep hunting me down, punishing me in any way possible for all the crimes I've committed against him and our family. There is no running anymore. I'm already here, caught and at his mercy.