Page 38 of Once Upon a Fable

What an absolutebastard.

What a messed-up, dangerous man.

He didn’t speak as he glanced down at his groin and noticed the stain of what he’d just done. His jaw clenched until every tendon in his neck stood out. His face turned thunderous. For a second, he raised a fist and looked like he’d strike me to death.

But then, a wash of absolute shame coated his face. A shadow of conflict and shyness. With a snarl, he stormed to the door.

Fumbling for the key, he wrenched it open and almost fell through it.

He slammed it shut a second later, followed by the scratch of metal and the clunk of a lock.

Sighing hard and giving in to the hot wash of tears, I rested my chin on my knees and cried.

CHAPTER TEN

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OUT OF ALL THE things I’d done.

Out of all the years I’d been alive, and all the things I’d seen, experienced, and endured, the worst was closing my eyes. Worse than masturbating on that girl. Worse than all the black images of fucking her against her wishes.

I’d lost control.

I knew that.

But in the darkness, all alone, I couldn’t focus on that. Couldn’t come to terms with how easily I’d broken.

If I closed my eyes, the nightmares came.

If I went to sleep, the memories were waiting.

If I let myself relive what I’d done, the thirst for her became fuckingunbearable.

Night for me was the worst kind of torture. Sleep would always be my nemesis.

Therefore, instead of seeking rest and willingly giving myself over to the blackest pits of my mind, I stayed awake.

I lay in my single, sunken bed with just a worn sheet over my nakedness and stared at the lacy cobwebs in the rafters.

My hands never unfurled.

My body never relaxed.

I lay in a state of explosive readiness. Ready to slaughter anyone who came after the girl imprisoned in my cellar. Ready to leap from this room and spill blood in the corridors.

She couldn’t leave.

I knew that.

She was locked below. Completely captive. Her very existence relied on my generosity.

I could keep her for however long I wanted, or I could kill her and end the misery she’d created, or I could fuck her until I cured my sudden insanity.

Regardless if help did come for her, she wasmine. Like I’d told her in the cell, this washerfault. She’d trespassed. So didn’t that give me the right to do whatever I wanted?

Seriously, what are you thinking?

I groaned and glowered at the shadows.