Page 105 of Hide And Seek

He raised a brow, a faint smirk tugging at his mouth. “You like the décor in there or something?”

“I think I just got my period, if you really must know,” she snapped.

“Shit, sorry,” he said, the smirk vanishing. “Of course you can use it. Take your time.”

She brushed past him without another word and disappeared into the bathroom, the door shutting a little harder than necessary.

I stayed near the cabin doorway, suddenly very aware of how small the space felt.

Rhys set the food on the small coffee table that sat in front of the sofa. Then he looked back over at me, his expression softening slightly. “Hey,” he said. “Are we okay?”

My stomach began to churn. “What do you mean?”

“You just…” He hesitated, like he was choosing his words carefully. “You seemed a bit off with me this morning.”

I forced a faint smile, even as my pulse began to spike. “It’s not you,” I said, shaking my head. “It’s just everything that’s going on here. I’m scared all the time, and it’s really getting to me.”

Rhys studied me for a second longer, then stepped closer. I didn’t shy away from him this time. Instead, I made myself reach for his hand first, threading my fingers through his like it was the most natural thing in the world.

“We’re fine,” I added softly.

His grip tightened slightly around mine. Then his gaze dropped, focusing on the point where our hands met.

“Huh,” he murmured. He glanced back up at me, something unreadable flickering in his eyes. “Your pulse. I can feel it.”

My chest tightened. “Oh?”

“Yeah. It’s racing,” he said. His thumb pressed lightly against my wrist, like he was testing it. Measuring. “Really racing.”

I swallowed, my throat suddenly dry.

“You really are terrified,” he added, almost under his breath.

His gaze shifted, locking onto mine. Then he stepped even closer, and my back hit the wall before I even realized I’d moved.

“Wait…” he murmured, voice dropping. His eyes flicked over my face, searching, reading. “You’re not just scared, are you?”

Heat flooded my face before I could stop it, and the corner of his mouth curved. "You're turned on right now."

It wasn’t a question.

I opened my mouth to deny it, but the words stalled before they could form. Because he wasn’t wrong. As terrified as I was in this moment… I was also living in one of my deepest, darkest fantasies.

I’d always loved the idea of a man who could tear the world apart without hesitation, but would never turn that violence on me. Loved the idea of something dangerous and unhinged balanced against the idea that I was the one exception. The one person who’d be spared.

But that was the problem. I didn’t know for sure that Rhys would never turn on me. Yesterday he’d told me that all he wanted was to keep me safe, which implied he’d never hurt me… but if he was actually capable of every terrible thing I was starting to suspect, then that meant there was probably no line he wouldn’t cross. No guarantee that I wasn’t next.

So that was where the fantasy cracked apart. Where it spilled into the real world and stopped being something safe that I could control.

Rhys leaned in then. For a split-second, my instinct was to pull back, just like last time, but I didn’t. Because if I hesitated or flinched, or gave him even the slightest hint that something between us had shifted… he’d know.

His mouth found mine, and I kissed him back, matching his energy. Trying to make it feel real instead of what it actually was, which was calculation layered over panic.

His hand slid to my jaw, tilting my face slightly, deepening the kiss just enough to make my pulse spike even harder. I hated myself for it; for the way something hot and traitorous twisted in my core, responding despite everything I suspected.

This was wrong. All of it was wrong. But my body didn’t seem to care. As long as Rhys’s mouth was on mine, it was easy to forget where we were and what was happening. Like if I just leaned into it hard enough, I could pretend this was normal. That he was normal.

ThatIwas normal.