Page 25 of His Ruin
An abrupt and dangerous chuckle is squeezed from my lungs. “Oh, really?”
“Yes,” she holds her ground, staring at me with those big, gorgeous eyes of hers. “I should get to experience everything. Like parties, boys—”
I close in on her, my palm twitching to close around her delicate throat. “What the fuck did I say about boys, Melody?”
She meets my stare head-on like the stubborn thing she is. “You can’t stop me.”
I step back, rolling my shoulders. I look away from her, sniffing before I bend and hoist her up over my shoulder. Her legs kick, and I bracket an arm across them as I stalk through the mansion. Eyes burn into us from all angles, and I can feel my sister’s hard smacks across my back as she screams at me to put her down.
As soon as we leave the sweltering home, the cool nighttime air greets us, and I can finally fucking breathe. I carry Melody to my bike, letting her slide down until her feet touch the asphalt. There’s only a beat before she rears back her elbow and slaps me clean across the face. It isn’t hard enough to sting or illicit any reaction from me, but it makes my blood fucking pump. My dick is hard, throbbing against my leg as my jaw works.
“Feel better?” I ask quietly.
She breathes deeply, her chest rising and falling with her pants. “No.”
“Good,” I snarl. “Get on the fucking bike.”
Melody swallows, her eyes welling with tears. “How could…” a croaked sob cuts her off before she sucks in a breath. “How could you do this to me?”
I snatch my helmet off the handlebars before shoving it onto her head. I flip the visor up, grabbing the lip of it before yanking her so close to me that I can smell the warm honey and vanilla body wash she’s used for years. It’s embedded into my fibers and woven into the material of my mind—forever a piece of her that I’ll always cherish. She always smelled like pure sugar and candy.
“You’ll forgive me one day,” I say quietly.
Her eyes crease with her pained expression. “Fuck you, Kaden.”
It’s a stab straight to my heart to hear those venomous words aimed at me. I never thought I would be on the receiving end of Melody’s hard-to-earn anger, but here we fucking are.
I release her before tossing my leg over the bike. I never wanted her to come near this thing, but desperate times call for desperate measures. “Get on and hold on tight to me.”
She stands unmoving in the driveway, her shoulders shaking with silent tears before she meekly follows my lead. She settles in behind me, but doesn’t wrap her arms around my waist as I instructed. I rev the engine, shooting us forward until her hands quickly fumble around my abdomen, taking fistfuls of my shirt with her.
It’s a dick move, but I won’t have her being reckless at a time like this. She can be angry with me all she wants once she’s home safely.
As my bike purrs through the night, she stays as far away as her hold will allow. It’s her first time ever riding one, and I doubt she’s enjoying it. Not with our argument so fresh.
We pull up the long driveway to our home, and all of the lights are off. There’s no more sign of movement. Mom always goes to bed early so she can wake up before her morning shipments hit the store. Which means it’s just Melody and me.
As I roll to a stop, I barely kick the stand out before my sister is shoving away from me and hopping down. She trudges through the yard, pulling my helmet off before tossing it to the grass roughly. She crosses her arms over her chest, tucking her shoulders in as I growl and follow after her.
“What the fuck has gotten into you?” I call.
She whips around, her eyes rimmed red. “You never let me do anything!”
I point a finger sharply at my chest. “I’m trying toprotectyou, Sunny!”
She uses the sheer sleeve of her shirt to swipe at her nose as sadness pierces her eyes. “Protectme from living my life, Kaden!”
“Living life isn’t getting fucking drunk at a house party!” My voice crescendos, hitting a note I haven’t dared to use in front of her since we were kids.
Her eyes round as she sucks in a breath. When she speaks, her tone is a soft, melancholy song, laced with something that makes my heart feel like it’s being shredded in two. “I’ve never even kissed a boy because of you, Kaden. I can’t do this anymore.” She shakes her head before turning on her heel and shuffling towards the front door.
Something snaps in me. I don’t know what it is, but it’s whatever keeps me sane. The very thing that’s prevented me from locking Melody away all these years. It fractures before my very eyes, unleashing something horrible and sick.
She’s mine.
She can’t leave me.
I close the space between us, a haunting, condescending laugh bubbling past my lips as we step into the foyer, and I slam the door behind me.
