Total pages in book: 131
Estimated words: 123575 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 618(@200wpm)___ 494(@250wpm)___ 412(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 123575 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 618(@200wpm)___ 494(@250wpm)___ 412(@300wpm)
“I expected that.”
The walk to Aries’s cell is silent, tension building with each step. Every muscle screams in protest of the movement, my muscles sore and joints stiff from yesterday’s violence. I do my best to ignore the discomfort, focusing on the confrontation ahead.
Aries is awake when we reach the observation window. He sits on the edge of his cot, wrists and ankles bound by chains that allow limited movement and zero chance of escape.
The evidence of the fight with Arson is reflected on his face. A split lip, bruised cheek, and a cut above his eyebrow that probably needs stitches. No matter what, he’s still beautiful, still the man I dreamed of for so many years, even if it feels like I don’t know him right now.
“Well, isn’t this touching?” he greets us, his mocking voice carrying clearly through the intercom Arson activates. “The happy couple comes to visit.”
Everything inside me says this is wrong. This isn’t the man I longed for and lusted after for two years. I step closer to the glass, aware that Arson watches us carefully.
“Why?” The single word holds all my confusion, all my hurt.
Aries’s eyes—identical to Arson’s but somehow colder—meet mine with casual indifference. “What is it that you’re asking? Why did I fuck you? Because you were there. Because I knew it would hurt him.” He nods toward Arson. “Plus, you’ve been begging for my dick since you were sixteen. A man can only resist for so long.”
How could he… how could he talk like that? It hurts. It hurts so fucking bad. I press my palms against the glass, needing its solidity to keep myself upright.
“Stop trying to make me hate you. Stop with the games. Why did you leave me there?” My voice cracks as all my emotions threaten to break free. “Unconscious. Hurt.”
He merely shrugs, the chains rattling with the movement.
“I don’t recall you complaining when you came all over my cock. It’s not like I left you unsatisfied. You served your purpose, and I was done. I didn’t count on my brother showing such attachment to you, so in the end, you were the distraction I needed to get out of here.”
Cruelty seeps from his pores, its stench so heavy I can barely breathe. This isn’t the Aries I thought I knew. No, this is the man he was all along. The man hidden behind careful distance and polite rejection. This is the real him, the one without a mask.
“Oh, come on. What did you expect?” Aries asks, leaning forward as far as his chains allow. “I can see the disappointment on your face, Lil. What did you think would happen? That I would announce my love for you? That I would sweep you into my arms and care for you?”
I blink back tears, trying to hold my emotions in. A mockery of a smile appears on his lips, clear satisfaction at the pain riddling my features.
“You spent years tempting me, begging me to fuck you, and now that you got what you wanted, you aren’t happy?”
“That’s not it.”
“Then what is it? It’s not my fault you expected more. Your virginity didn’t mean shit to me. I don’t do gentle. I don’t do slow. I fuck, and that’s what you got. Fucked.”
I don’t know how much longer I can stand here and let him cut me with his words. I struggle to reconcile this man with the stepbrother who always seemed so careful, in control, and noble in his distance.
“I thought—” I begin, but he cuts me off with a harsh laugh.
“I know what you thought. That I kept my distance because I cared too much, right? That I didn’t fuck you earlier because I wanted to protect you?” He shakes his head, and his eyes, the same eyes I’ve dreamed about, pierce mine with a blistering cold that I feel in my bones. “I kept my distance because you were another obligation. My father’s new wife’s damaged daughter. Another Hayes family burden. And I didn’t want to be responsible for breaking you.”
Arson steps closer to the glass, tension radiating off him, and I know he wants to step in. He wants to stick up for me, but this is my confrontation, my illusions to lose.
“Then why?” I press harder, desperate for some explanation that might hurt less than this brutal dismissal. “Why did you warn me about him?” I gesture toward Arson. “Why tell me he was dangerous if you didn’t care about me?”
“Because he is dangerous.” Aries’s eyes shift to his brother, and some unreadable emotion flickers there. “This is nothing more than a game, so anything that hurts him is worth doing. Even playing protector to you for a moment.
Making him believe that you might put a wrench in his plans. It’s manipulation.”
My fingers curl against the glass, and I wish we were face-to-face. I wish I could hurt him the way he’s hurting me right now. “So that’s all I was? A weapon in your fight with each other?”