Page 39 of Dark Tangled Truths
I probably won’t do much damage, but if I’m going to be bruised in the morning, so should they. I hold my breath, waiting for the sound of them arriving, but then there’s nothing.
Fuck. I peek my head out and see nothing. The bikes are farther away, and I’ve done nothing but run myself out of breath. Where are they?
I squint into the darkness. There! That shadow moved. Didn’t it? I turn to look the other way and again, nothing. My fingers shake. It didn’t take them this long to get me either of the times before.
I inhale and step out into the open again. Turning around, I scan the entire woods surrounding me. How the hell are they hiding? Why are they hiding?
Is this like the final act of a horror movie where the fed up heroine goes to face the monster? But in this case, I’m going to fuck my monsters.
This is so stupid. Those heroines are so stupid. I don’t have anything to defend myself with, but these aremymonsters. They aren’t the boy trying to frighten me because I rejected him years ago. They aren’t my ex trying to make me want them.
These boys are mine. It doesn’t matter if I hide from them because they’ll find me. They always find me. So I walk in the direction I came from. Because my monsters won’t hurt me, not really.
But they want me in a panic. They want me scared. But I’ve never been scared of them.
I can pretend, but I trust these boys with everything. My heart, my body, my desire.
They’ll take care of me, and I’ll take care of them. The guys off to the sides appear first, but I keep walking forward toward the one I saw first.
He comes out from behind a tree, stepping into my path. The others close in on me. Tilting their heads oddly in their helmets. I swallow, because it’s still creepy.
“I don’t want to run,” I say. My voice is breathless, but audible.
“We’ll take you then.” Damon. A shiver runs down my spine as he closes the distance between us, but he leaves five feet. Enough room to dart away if I want to.
The fear continues to trickle along my spine, but desire swells with it. I wet my lips and turn to Cam. As they get closer, I can tell the difference in their stature, their build. I know every inch of their bodies. The helmets remain on and they don’t say more.
“You were never monsters to me.” I look at Hawk. “Maybe that’s why I was so surprised you talked to me that first day. Who was I to draw the attention of the Devil’s trio?”
They all stand a few feet away from me, waiting.
“I was afraid of what it meant. I had no idea what Chase had done to you. Had no idea what you would want from me. But it didn’t matter. I needed you to shake up my life. To break down the walls I’d built to keep everyone out.”
I let out a huff of breath. “I don’t want to keep you out. You make me whole. You let me breathe. Even when you hunt me in a forest. Even when you fuck me roughly. Am I going to fight you tonight?”
Damon cocks his head. It’s so odd in the helmet. Almost alien.
I straighten. “Yes, because I want you. I want you to make me into what you need. What you want. I want to be captured andforced into submission, because I love you and what it does for me.”
Cam lifts his helmet off and tosses it to the side. Hawk follows. They’re still a ways away from me. I stare at Damon. He slowly raises his hands and takes off his helmet.
The smile on his lips and the shake of his head should be a warning. Instead a little shiver of anticipation ripples through me.
“Little devil.” He drops his helmet and lifts his gaze to mine. Even in the darkness, I feel his eyes on me. “I never wanted you submissive. You’ve always taken what we give you, but I’ll always make you mine.”
They all take a step toward me, and I shrink away instinctively.
“You sure you don’t want to run, goody?” Cam laughs like he’s entertained.
Fear forces my hand. That coiled up tension inside me waiting for something, anything to happen.
“You sure you aren’t afraid, baby girl?” Hawk smiles, and he’s so close I can see the white of his teeth. The tension ramps higher as they step closer.
Damon laughs, dark and menacing. “Run, Evan.”
It’s like my survival instinct was waiting to kick in. I run, but I don’t turn my back on them. I aim for the space between Damon and Cam and take off.
Part of me expects Damon to capture me, so I don’t go directly between them, which was a mistake as Cam grabs me and lifts me off my feet.
