Page 164 of Black Light: Cured

“What?” I snap, needing to get away from him so I can collect my thoughts.

However, anytime I try to move, there’s either a submissive or a Master in the way, blocking my

exit. I stare at them all, recrimination in my glare. How is it the same people that drank that expensive

whiskey with me are all thwarting me now?

Like an injured animal, I prowl about, seeking a weakness I can exploit; however, any time I try to

push past a submissive, their Master stands behind them, closing the gap.

“I love you,” he says. Those three little words hang in the air, piercing my already-shattered heart

until I’m sure I’ll break down and start sobbing.

I don’t want to be here when that happens. I don’t want him to see just how much he’s hurt me,

how much his words cut me to the quick. It’s bad enough that he’s even here in the flesh, the man I

can’t get out of my head, but now he’s just spouting nonsense.

“You left me.” Just saying the words releases a sob from deep in the back of my throat. “You put a

fucking note on my pillow. You disappeared and ran off to Dallas. For what? Some job? More

money? Did it ever occur to you what you’d be leaving behind?”

“Yes.” His tone is soft, barely audible above the murmured whispers in the crowd. There’s pain

there, a longing I’ve never heard before, and it makes the fissure grow that much wider. “I thought

about you every day I was there. I couldn’t get you out of my mind.”

“And so what? You just decided to stay there for a month to wallow in your feelings while I

stayed behind, unowned and unloved?” My voice cracks and wavers, but I’m far past caring. He hurt

me worse than anyone ever has before, and he needs to know that. I don’t care if hearing my pain

causes him to hurt; it’s the least he deserves.

“Lila. Please.” His voice is harsh, raspy, and thick with emotion.

“Please what, Aiden?” I watch as he winces at my lack of honorific, and inside, it feels good to

see him squirm. “Do you know how many nights I sobbed into my pillow, trying to figure out what I

did wrong? Trying to understand what was so fundamentally bad about me that you had to run away?”

I catch movement out of the corner of my eye and watch as several of my friends, both Dominants

and submissives, bristle. They’ve all been very clear about how they feel in regard to others talking

down about themselves. But that’s not what’s happening here. Far from it.

Clearing my throat, I dig deep, pulling out the last vestiges of courage I have inside me. “But

that’s when I realized that there’s nothing wrong with me. You made the choice to leave a good