Page 84 of Heartless Sinner

“Nah, sane has never been your type.” He traced a drop of water down my shoulder with his fingertips.

His touch was gentle, such a contradiction to the man who’d beaten Cory only hours ago.

“You and I grew up in the same world.” He brushed his swollen lips over mine. “You like the messy shit. The chaos. The highs and lows. The games.”

He kept his mouth close enough that every word warmed my lips. “That’s why I can’t convince myself you don’t belong in my world anymore. Everyone keeps telling me you’re out of it. But I refuse to accept it.”

For a second, the only sound between us was the running water. It felt like we were having a conversation we’d never allow ourselves to have anywhere else.

Like somehow, standing half-naked under running water made it easier to tell the truth.

“I’m not First Lady material,” I whispered. “Your words, remember?”

He shut his eyes, and for a second, the familiar arrogance settled back over him like armor. “Before the assassination, you were exactly that.”

When he opened them again, the armor was gone. “Now, this is the only way I get to have you. In secret. By force.”

My hands trembled. I blamed it on exhaustion. His injuries. Anything but him.

Definitely not because every time he dropped his guard like this, he fucked with my head.

“And what happens when I stop being your Fawn?”

“Then we go our separate ways,” he said as water dripped from his lashes.

I’d known that answer was coming.

It still fucking hurt.

“Good,” I lied. “That’s how I want it.”

I looked away, squeezing body wash into my palm, realizing that somewhere between washing his hair and arguing with him, I’d forgotten the washcloth.

I slid my palm slowly over his chest, soap catching in the thin hair dusting over it. Even with how carefully I touched him, he still winced.

“Will you promise me something?” I asked him.

He guided me over another bruise as we washed away the dried blood. Crimson swirled down the drain.

“No,” he said quietly. “I won’t make you a promise.”

I frowned, skating my nails over his shoulder. “You don’t even know what I was going to ask you to promise.”

“I’ve never promised anything before …” His hand rested over mine. “Except for one.”

“What was that?”

“It was a promise to myself that I’d choose you as my Fawn.”

For a second, I forgot my hand was still pressed to his chest.

I didn’t know if it was the sweetest thing he’d ever said or the cruelest.

Before I could ask, the old pipes groaned, and the water turned freezing. I jerked at the temperature change, my teeth now chattering.

“Come on,” he said, reaching past me to shut off the water. “Can’t have you turning into an ice cube on me.”

He wrapped a towel around my still-clothed body before grabbing one for himself. The shower had done him some good. He looked steadier now.