Page 63 of Wallflower

“Sure, if you want to look at it that way.”

“And what if you don’t deliver on your end? Am I stuck here, then?”Gods, shut the fuck up, Rose. You’re being a snappy bitch.

“If that happens, I’ll pay.” His fingers feather over the curve of my hip, the reverence of the touch luring me in like a fool.

Rolling over, I look up at him. “Really?” Fuck, I sound pathetic…desperate. That’s what men want though, isn’t it? A woman who knows when to be soft and when to fight? When to be needy and when to be independent? Maybe that’s always been my problem. I’ve only ever been the quiet, moldable one. Even my anger is executed in secret. Only now, on this trip when I’ve been channelling my fearless sister, have I developed a backbone. It’s like we swapped brains.

Ripley nods. “I just need more time. Can you be a good girl and give me that?” He rises from the bed, crossing to the exit slowly.

“Like I have a choice,” I grumble, trying not to pout. I want the fuck out of Bleakcrest. Once I am, I’ll do whatever Ripleywants if he’ll get Chelsea out too. I’ll stay with him forever, never run, if he lets her go.

Looking back at me as his hand lands on the door knob, he says, “Don’t be so eager to cuddle up with me, Rose. Not every time will be like this. When you’re healed, I won’t be gentle.”

“What does that mean?”

“Your pain, your tears, your pleasure… They belong to me, and only me. So, until you aren’t injured by someone else’s hand, I’ll play nice.”

“And when I’m healed?” A delicious fearful shiver runs through me thinking of all the possibilities.

He opens the door. “Then I’ll really make you scream.”

The door clicks shut at my back, electronic lock sliding into place of its own volition. I’m thoroughly annoyed that someone was watching…well, listening to us, and decide to go in search of Maximus before leaving for the night.

But first, my head falls back against the door, eyes closing. I need a moment to gather my thoughts. My shit’s been rocked, the foundation of my desires jackhammered. Rose created a fissure, and intends to slither herself deep inside it.

The thought isn’t at all detestable.

It concerns me.

Her touch is like fire, but in a way no one else’s has been. It doesn’t hurt. When the darkness creeped in, she pulled me from it, rescuing me from the monstrous shadows. Shedding light inthe complete absence of it. The thought of her comforts, warms, sending something new and addictive flowing through my veins.

Rose’s abrupt muffled scream rings through me, snapping me to attention. Something crashes against the door, shattering, as panic swells within me. Is someone in there? Is there another entrance? I wouldn’t put it past Maximus to have a secret passage to every room for emergencies.

Facing the door, I debate whether to break it down or call out for her.

She shrieks, the sound guttural and terrifying. “Fuck you, you slimy, conniving cunt! I fucking hate you! If I ever get out of here, I’ll enjoy every second of watching you choke on your own blood!”

Who is she talking about? And why does it make my dick hard? She’s got a little violent streak, and it makes me tingle.

I don’t think she’s talking about me. Though, she did call me a bitch earlier.

Even if it was, I’d deserve it for leaving her here. She was so hopeful for escape, and I can’t deny I want to take her back to my place and hang her frommychains, but there’s so much more to this than her.

My hand lands on the doorknob, twisting slowly, meeting resistance. “Rose?”

“I assure you, she’s fine.”

Turning, Maximus stands there, phone in hand. He flips the screen toward me, showing me Rose’s room. She’s alone, having a rage induced fit. Broken glass from a vase of roses is shattered by the door, the blankets I just replaced are ripped from the mattress. Her back is bleeding again, the renewed flow soaking the oversized t-shirt that was left out for her to sleep in.

I really should go back in there. Comfort her to some extent, since her touch both soothes and unsettles me.

It’s what a good man would do.

With Maximus here, I have to be emotionless, dark, depraved. “If you can ensure she won’t hang herself, we need to have words.”

“Certainly. Something not to your satisfaction?”

Side by side, we stroll down the hall. “I thought you understood she was to be unsullied after our deal was brokered? Then I find out she wasn’t.”