Chapter 45
Her house was quiet and dark. The only light was from the moon outside.
Adria’s bare feet padded down the stairs.
There were noises coming from the kitchen.
She moved as quietly as possible.
The room was cold, and she pulled her arms across her body.
Fear gripped her, and Adria had trouble pushing forward.
She hovered in the doorway, frozen. Listening.
Soft cries came from up ahead.
“You are not afraid of anything,” she whispered to herself. “Move your feet,” she ordered her body under her breath. Willing her limbs to move, she crossed the threshold into the kitchen.
On the counter was her mother’s cookbook. Adria ran her fingers along it. Tracing the mountain symbol on the front.
To its right lay a pan on the stove, its contents black and smoking.
The moonlight seemed to flicker in and out, and after a few steps, the room filled with a haze and Adria fell into complete darkness.
Standing still, she listened to the sounds of her own breathing and whimpering coming from the closet door ahead.
Bright light spilled from under the frame.
Adria held her breath and shuffled forward in the dark.
Hand on the doorknob, she heard soft voices.
“Honey, it’s so good to see you.”
It was her mother.
Adria shook her head. She didn’t understand.
Turning the knob, she opened the door.
Bright light flashed into her vision and she squinted into it.
When her eyes adjusted, Adria looked on in horror.
Jonathan’s body was tied to a chair, his skin cut to shreds.
His mouth was open in a silent scream. Blood poured from his open wounds and Adria stumbled back.
As she reached out to catch herself, she saw a crimson-soaked knife in her hand.
The floor around her was covered in blood.
“Honey, can I make you some breakfast?” her mother called from the kitchen. Smoke billowed from the forgotten pan on the stove.
Adria tried to call out to her, but the blood on the floor started rising, licking at her legs.
She tried to run away, but the current came fast and before she knew it, the bright red, warm liquid was at her waist and she could feel herself sinking.
“Mom!”
“Adria, I brought you some breakfast,” Seth said, just as the knife flew past his head and lodged itself in the wall beside him.
She had grabbed the weapon from her nightstand and thrown it in an instant. Adria sat bolt upright, hand still outstretched from the throw. Frozen in shock.
Time seemed to stretch longer than her nightmare, but suddenly the panic cleared and Adria realized what she had done.
“Fuck, Seth, I’m sorry,” she said, scrambling to him.
His stunned face softened, and he caught her outstretched hands.
“Adria, Adria, look at me,” he said.
She tried to move past him, wanting to take the knife down. To erase what had just happened.
He pulled her into him, lifting her chin, and she brought her gaze to meet his.
“Bad dream?” he said.
She felt herself nodding.
He brought her to the bed and set the plate down on the end table.
“Kay and I woke up early and went looking for some food. We didn’t want to wake you,” he said, moving towards the wall.
Seth worked the dagger up and down before pulling it loose. He came to sit where she was; bringing his hand back, he threw the dagger with a curl of his wrist.
The blade hit the exact spot as her throw.
Adria raised an eyebrow at him.
He smiled. “We all have our talents. I could show you some tricks. So, you don’t miss next time.”
“I could have killed you,” she whispered.
“But you didn’t,” he said.
Pulling the dagger free, he placed it in her hand. Sitting behind her, Seth ran his hand along her forearm. Bringing her hand back, he positioned her wrist as it extended behind her.
“The trick is to let go at the right time. The knife should have a full rotation before reaching its target. Don’t flick your wrist, it’s a slow, smooth motion.”
He brought her hand forward, mimicking the path she should use.
She practiced once before he touched her arm again.
“For short-range throws, like this one, you might want to hold the blade.”
He pressed her pointer and thumb into the flat of the blade’s tip.
“Try it.”
Adria pulled her hand back and tried to keep her wrist straight as she threw the knife. It pierced the air and struck the wall in front of her.
It wasn’t as accurate as Seth’s, but Adria could see the blade dug deeper into the wall than her previous throw.
“Good one,” Seth said, getting up and grabbing the knife.
He flipped it in the air, easily catching it on the blade’s end before throwing it again.
“Do you want to talk about it?”
She shook her head. “It didn’t even make sense. It was a bunch of crazy crap mixed together.”
“Dreams are like that,” Seth said, handing her the blade.
She pulled his hand close to her, and ran the tip of the knife along his outstretched palm.
“I could have hurt you,” she said, voice feeling heavy.
His pupils dilated, and she could see his breathing shift.
“That’s okay,” he said.
Adria poked the tip of the blade into his middle finger. She didn’t break skin but enjoyed the way his flesh dipped under the sharp point.
“You could mark me,” Seth said.
And Adria’s eyes snapped to meet his.
Seth flushed under her gaze and looked down. “I mean only if you wanted to.”
She tilted her head. “What makes you want me to mark you?”
Seth flushed a deeper shade of red and shook his head. “Never mind, forget it.”
Adria’s hand reached out and grabbed his chin, forcing him to look at her. She put more bite in her tone. “Tell me now.”
Seth swallowed. “I just want you to feel like you own me, too. So maybe you’ll feel comfortable being with me, without Bryson or Kay.”
Adria could feel her expression softening.
“Why do you think I don’t?”
He shifted. “At the hotel…”
The hotel they had shared together seemed like a lifetime ago.
“Seth, that was before I even knew that you three wanted me,” she said.
“Kay said you two got together,” Seth said.
Guilt crept into Adria’s gut, and she thought about the kiss she had shared with Bryson on the balcony at Vega’s.
If he hadn’t been hurt. It could have been…more.
“I’m sorry,” she said.
He peeked up at her, his long eyelashes fluttering. “It’s fine.”
The room went unnaturally still and Adria felt heat fill her body.
“Go stand against the wall,” she said, her voice dropping in tenor.
Seth looked up at her, his full lips parting in surprise, but he moved off the bed and stood against the dagger holes.
Adria brought the blade with her as she stalked towards him.
“Hands behind your back.”
Seth slipped his arms behind him and along the wall.
Adria pressed her body into his, running the hilt of the knife along his thigh and up his right flank.
When she made her way to his face, she turned the blade to face him. Swinging her hand back, she sank the blade into the wall inches from his head.
Seth’s breathing increased, but otherwise he stayed quiet.
Removing the blade, Adria ran the hilt down his opposite side. She knelt in front of him to push the hilt into his growing erection.
She pressed into him painfully until she heard a soft whine escape Seth’s mouth and he rose onto his toes, trying to escape her.
Turning the blade, she stabbed into the space just below where his cock strained in his pants and smiled when Seth jumped.
She watched as he relaxed down on to his feet and the hilt of the knife rode into his groin.
Seth shivered as she stood.
Adria let her eyes travel over his body.
“Do you know what free use is?” she asked innocently.
Seth’s gaze snapped to hers and his eyes went black. “Yes,” he said.
“For the next twenty-four hours, let’s play. Anytime I want you, I get to have you.”
Seth licked his lips.
Adria stepped closer to him. The thin fabric of her t-shirt leaving little to the imagination as she pressed her breasts against his chest.
“If I tell you to go into a bathroom, you go. Hell, if I tell you to go into a cupboard, you will find a way, understood?”
He nodded.
“And when I meet you in there, I will find you with your pants down and your hands clasped behind your back or neck.”
Her tongue traveled up the side of his face, and she nipped at his earlobe.
“I’ll have you any way I want, and I can promise you I still won’t have had my fill.”
Seth’s breathing was ragged.
Adria stepped back, pulling out the dagger.