8. Sina #2
The way he said it was like fire on my skin. A caress I didn’t want but couldn’t ignore.
His baby-blue eyes glowed, bright and feral. And I… I had no idea what to do with myself. My heart raced, my stomach twisting, every part of me suddenly aware of all four of them—their presence, their energy, the way each one pulled at me differently .
Fuck group therapy.
Unless it involved them taking turns with me. My core throbbed, and all three men leaned in closer. No, Sina. You can’t have a wild orgy with four random men. I folded my arms, trying to slow my pulse.
“What the hell is happening to me? This is some fucking voodoo, I swear.”
Harlow laughed low, his fingers growing bolder along my forearm, tracing slow patterns with his fingertips.
I felt myself leaning into his touch before I even realized it.
Ice curled in my chest, frustration tangling with something dangerously close to loneliness as I gritted my teeth against the sudden prickle of tears blurring my vision.
It wasn’t fair. He wanted me to admit I wanted them.
For what? What reason could he possibly have?
My thoughts began to spiral until my gaze drifted to Rafael. He spoke then for the first time, his voice calm but firm.
“ That’s enough. ”
Harlow’s grin widened immediately, amusement flashing across his face. “Relax, big guy. I’m just talking to her.”
Rafe didn’t reply, his gaze lifted to Kiron who stood with a hand extended toward me.
My gaze flicked to his open palm and then to Rafael’s encouraging nod before I tentatively placed my smaller hand in Kiron’s.
For some reason I refused to examine too closely right now, the only person I trusted in this room was Rafe.
Kiron helped me to my feet, guiding me away from Harlow while his free hand rested lightly on my lower back.
The contact grounded me more than I wanted to admit.
I felt dizzy, dazed, and when Kiron’s fingers closed gently around my elbow I could feel the heat radiating from him even through the thick fabric of my sweatshirt .
“What are you doing?” Harlow growled as he rose to his feet, glaring openly at Kiron.
“You’re pushing her too much. I’m the one who found her. She’s mine ,” Kiron said evenly, his voice calm but threaded with something dangerous.
Mine.
A whimper tore past my throat before I could stop it.
The word ripped open memories I fought every day to keep buried.
Logan’s split throat. Keith’s cruel eyes.
The basement. I shook my head sharply, forcing the images away before they could swallow me whole.
No. I wasn’t anyone’s anything. I would never be owned by anyone ever again.
Harlow chuckled darkly, that low ominous laugh sending goosebumps crawling over my skin. “Are you seriously claiming her for yourself right now? Go ahead, Ki. Try telling me I can’t have her. You do realize it’s only going to make me want her more, right ?”
His words ignited a blaze of rage inside me so fast it almost made my vision swim.
How dare he. How dare he push me into spilling my feelings and then turn around and treat me like some prize immediately afterward, knowing exactly how I felt about that kind of thing. How dare both of these assholes.
Kiron with his caveman bullshit. Mine . The word had triggered something in me I refused to say out loud, and unfortunately for him, it looked like Harlow was about to be the one to feel the full force of my anger.
Fuck that. And fuck him.
I yanked my hand free from Kiron’s gentle hold and stepped directly into Harlow’s space, fury pulsing hot and sharp through my veins.
“How dare you.”
My hands slammed against his chest, shoving him back as angry tears burned my eyes. I didn’t give a fuck if I triggered him. He was triggering me, damn it . They all were .
“You force me to tell you about my past and then treat me like an object?”
I shoved him again, his mouth parting in surprise before something that looked suspiciously like shame flickered across his face. But I wasn’t finished.
“What am I? A prize to be won?”
“No, Sina, I didn't mean–"
“Save it,” I snapped, cutting off any excuse he had on the tip of his tongue.
A bitter laugh tore out of me as I swiped a stray tear from my cheek. “I thought you might be different. I was wrong,” I scoffed, dragging my sleeve across my face. “It’s not all men,” I mocked sarcastically.
Nope. I was done.
Whatever had just happened in this room had left me raw and exposed in a way no therapy session with Dr. Bloom ever had.
And there was no way in hell I was sticking around long enough to see what kind of damage that kind of vulnerability could do to me.
My feet carried me toward the door on autopilot.
“Sina, wait,” Kiron said, panic threading through his voice.
I couldn’t look at him. If I did, I might crack open completely, and I was done feeling vulnerable and exposed tonight. I took a step back. Then another.
“If she wants to leave, let her. She knows how to find us,” Dr. Petrelli said, far too calm for my liking.
I reared back like he’d slapped me. I did want to leave.
Didn’t I? So why did some broken part of me ache for someone to come after me anyway?
To stop me. To make me stay. You don’t even know them, Sina. That’s crazy.
And that , ladies and gentlemen, was exactly why I was in therapy to begin with.