Chapter 7 #3
I don’t know why but his words make goosebumps scatter up my arms. Is this a trick? Is he trying to guilt me into staying with him by telling me I owe him something else? “Why would Keller do that? To just let the property rot away untouched? He wouldn’t.”
“He didn’t.” His head drops subtly, his guilty tell. Kasen did this? Saved my parents’ house from being repossessed by the bank?
I’m in shock for so many reasons. He was the one helping his dad to send me away.
I didn’t mean anything to him, so why care if my place is knocked to the ground?
I’m not sure why but sudden sickness fills me at the thought of it burning to the ground in my fit of rage tonight.
“Why would you?” I whisper, so close to tears it’s not funny.
My fingernails dig into the side of my leg, trying to get rid of the uncomfortable churning inside of me.
“I guess I always hoped you would eventually come home to us, and when you did, I wanted something for you to come home to.”
I stare at him, not sure what to make of that revelation.
He and his family had something to do with what happened to my family, I’m sure of it.
Why would he do something nice to help us?
I know this man and I know he wouldn’t. “But you were about to knock it down,” I snap back, remembering what he told me yesterday.
It has Throne Developments’ signs all over the place.
He can’t think I’m that dumb to fall for his tricks.
He pulls into the long driveway of his stupidly huge house, passes the security gate, and opens the garage door, pulling into a spot amongst at least ten others.
He stops the car, turning back to me. “For ten years I held onto the idea that if I kept your family home, you would come back. But you never did. I had a ridiculous amount of pressure from the company; the land is more valuable than the house itself.” He runs a hand through his hair.
“Maybe I should have waited longer, but earlier this year, I gave up on you ever coming back and signed the contract for the latest apartments to be built.”
His words hit me like a punch to the gut, knocking the air out of my lungs.
I stare out the front windscreen. I can’t look at him right now.
What he’s saying is sweet, the kind of gesture the old Kasen I grew up with would have made.
But I know it’s not real, not really. This is Kasen Throne, after all.
He didn’t hold on to my family’s house in the hope I would one day come home.
There has to be more to this. Who am I to him?
Just some kid he tried to get rid of years ago.
He was going to help them send me away, I heard it with my own ears. He can’t deny it.
“What do you want with me? You can’t expect me to believe you want to help me after all this time. I’m not that naive. Thrones don’t do anything unless it’s going to benefit them in some way, but I don’t have anything to offer you.”
“Dove.” His eyes lock with mine. They are haunted in a way that sends a shiver over my arms. “I just want you.”
“I don’t believe you,” I whisper, the sad look in his eyes getting the better of me. I used to care about him once. So much that it tore me to shreds to think he was going to discard me and send me away, like our friendship meant nothing. Like I was nothing.
His hand moves to my face, his thumb tracing the line of my jaw, then running over my lips like he’s trying to memorize every little detail of my face.
I don’t pull away from him, fascinated by the tender way he’s caressing me.
I wish I knew what he was thinking. It seems important and deep.
But this is what he does, keeps the real shit locked up tight.
Trapped in his head. If I’m being honest, it’s why nothing ever happened between us, even though everyone expected it to.
His hand runs up my thigh, leaving a trail of goosebumps in its wake.
His face lowers, and he inhales, his lips hovering over my ear. “You know I always liked the challenge. And right now, you don’t have to believe anything I say, but I can promise you this, birdie, you will be mine in every way.”
My breath hitches, my body alight from his proximity.
But I can’t let myself get swept up in his false promises, his family is pure evil.
They stole mine. I have to remember the truth.
Remember how easily he was going to send me away.
Remember every little thing I have been through because of the Thrones.
I shove at his chest, needing space. Our eyes lock, his filled with a challenge, a tension that tells me he’s ready to make good on his promise right here in his garage.
“I’m not her, Kasen,” I say softly, no malice or anger in my voice anymore.
It’s simply the truth. The sweet girl he wants is long gone.
One of his hands grips at my waist, the other around the back of my neck, holding me firmly. “Who?”
“The girl you expected to come back. She’s long gone, and you’re not that boy I once knew. Stop holding on to shit from the past. Me included.”
His breathing is rapid, his body language tense, as his fingers bite into my flesh, and I know there is nothing I can say to save myself, he will do whatever he wants.
And that means I’m fucked, because he thinks he owns me.
“Why would I hold on to shit from the past when the version sitting in front of me now is even better?” He tilts his head.
“You’re fucking crazy for everything you did tonight, no one in this town would dare defy me the way you do. But it only makes me want you more.”
My breath catches in my throat. I’m not sure if he’s going to kiss me or drag me inside and lock me up for good, but the way his eyes eat me up is criminal.
“I’m not the crazy one,” I whisper, too scared to move a muscle in case he pulls away from me and the stupid tension disappears for good.
I hate him for everything he’s done, but I can’t deny how deeply attracted to him I am.
His lips hover above mine, making my heart race and my insides turn to liquid.
I shouldn’t want him. But with everything I have inside of me, I want him to claim me right here and now.
To fuck me like I know only he could. To bring me back to life.
Even if I go right back to hating him after, it would be worth it to know what it felt like to have his body controlling mine.
To taste him. I can’t wait a second longer.
I lean forward, closing the gap between us just enough that our lips meet.
He wastes no time in devouring me, pinning me under his solid frame as his tongue invades my mouth hungrily. As quickly as we get wrapped up in the moment, he’s pulling back from me, his hands still holding me firmly in place at his disposal.
I pant, staring up at him wondering what he’s doing.
“You think you’re smart, don’t you, Dove? Escaping me.” His lips twist cruelly.
“What?” I murmur, trying to clear the Kasen fog that’s now descended over my needy body.
His fingers wrap around my throat. “Tonight was a test to see what you’re capable of. Guess now we both know. Try and escape me again, I will tighten my leash.” His eyes are impossibly dark; his fingers press firmer.
I try to suck in a full breath, but I can’t, he holds all the control over my body. I’m at his mercy. “Kasen you’re scaring me.” I get out, but my words are strangled.
“Good. Now you know where we stand. There is no running away. You’re mine, birdie.”
I can’t breathe, and it’s not from the way he’s holding me. It’s the intensity in his eyes because I know he’s deadly serious about this. There is no escape from him. And the worst part is, deep down inside, I know I don’t want to.