Page 86 of Crucible
What is he talking…like, a day?
If so, thenyes. God, yes.
After a while, it became a part of me. I stopped noticing when it happened or even being bothered by it. It was my dirty little secret.
My dark desire.
It doesn’t mean I don’t hate them all the same—even if Seth, Khalil, and Thorin are giving me what I’ve never been brave enough to speak aloud, let alone ask for. I always thought it would bemychoice if I ever gave in to it.
Lowering my hand only once I’m done coming, I close my eyes when he sinks balls deep again and empties them inside me. I can still feel him coming when he reaches down and starts rubbing my stomach. That uncomfortable feeling returns as I remember our earlier discussion.
“I like this look on you.”
“What look?”
“Your belly swollen.”
My fight-or-flight response kicks in before I can fully understand why, but when I try to crawl away from him, Thorin wraps both arms around my middle and holds me still.
Oh, God, he makes me take it.
Every drop.
“Thorin…you can’t…please.”
Leaning forward, he sinks his teeth into my shoulder and continues filling me up.
When it’s finally over, he collapses on the rug, but he takes me with him, tucking me against his side while he catches his breath. I’m forced to cuddle my rapist while he enjoys his fucking afterglow.
I think I prefer Khalil’s kindness of kicking me out of his room after he’s done with me.
Ten minutes pass without either of us saying a word.
I don’t like how comfortable I’m getting wrapped in his muscles and warmth, so I break it. “How long have you?”
Thorin seems to know exactly what I’m asking. “I never had the urge until you.”
“So I’m special then,” I retort dryly and roll my eyes. “Lucky me.”
He gives me one of his exasperated sighs. “You asked, Aurelia.” When I don’t respond, he takes my chin and forces me to meet his gaze. “Come shower with me.”
I cringe away from him. What he’s asking is out of the question. It’s too intimate. I can’t risk him blurring the truth of what we are to each other. “Why?”
Thorin’s already standing and helping me up when he answers. “Because I said so, wolf.”
“That bear you killed,” I say as I grab Khalil’s robe from the couch and pull it on. “What did you do with it? Did you…eat it?”
Thorin grabs his discarded clothes and starts for his bedroom. “No. You’re standing on him.”
I’m wearing one of Thorin’s T-shirts andnothing elsewhen I leave his room alone an hour later. I’m freshly showered and feeling like I own my body again. Thorin’s still inside his room getting dressed for another day of making sure I’m never found.
At the same time, Seth is coming up the stairs from the basement, looking worse for wear. There are dark circles under his eyes, and his black hair is sticking up at different angles as if he’s been gripping it.
Seth’s eyes widen when he sees me, and then his gaze drops to my throat, and he pales.
I know what he sees—the purple bruises left from his hands around my neck. I guess I don’t have to question if he remembers trying to kill me.
And then it dawns on me that in the last twenty-four hours, each of them have found a way to leave their mark on me—Thorin on my shoulder, Khalil on my breast, and Seth on my neck. All temporary, but unwanted, nonetheless.
