Chapter 33 #2
I risked a glance at where he discarded Slate, who sat slumped against the opposite wall of the cell. Unlike last time, chains were cuffed around his wrists and ankles. The fear that he was dead, and this was Chrome’s sick way of making me face that, began to choke me.
“Don’t worry. He’s not dead yet. You know as well as I do that he’ll heal. But I can’t let him live for much longer. He’s been in the way since I was sixteen. I can’t have him stopping me from having what’s mine anymore,” Chrome said, as casually as if he were displeased with a haircut.
I didn’t speak, my nose burning from the onslaught of tears I barely kept at bay, wishing I’d had more time to find a way to save him.
Once he finished cuffing me, he stepped back and lowered himself until we were eye level.
My heart fractured at the sight of him. Even now—with blackened veins and all—he was still so beautiful.
So painfully beautiful that I wanted to kiss him with some hope that it would bring him back to himself.
He gazed into my eyes, but it wasn’t the loving look I was used to.
This was dead and barren. An empty shell with an insidious being within.
“My queen,” Chrome whispered. “I have you to myself at last. Remember when I told you I’d always find you?”
I squeezed my eyes shut, the memories of his sincere words slicing deep. I nodded. “Of course.”
“Because I always will. You can’t run from me, little savage. We’re one and the same. And there’s nowhere you can go where I can’t find you or get to you,” he said, reaching out a hand, placing it firmly against my thigh. “You’ve missed me.”
I swallowed the lump in my throat, nodding. “Of course I have.”
“I’m here now, my queen. You’re safe with me,” he said, twisting the words he’d once told me into something much darker.
Chrome glided his palm up my thigh. And despite the situation, my stomach did a flip just feeling his touch again.
“Come into the darkness with me, little savage. That’s where we belong together. ”
“I don’t belong there, Chrome,” I replied, my voice coming out weak. “At least not for good.”
“Well, what if I gave you a taste of it? How freeing it can be? Especially together?” He’d inched closer to my face, his lips only a hair’s breadth away from mine. His tongue slipped between his lips and slowly slid along my bottom one.
The moment his tongue made contact, I whimpered. I knew it wasn’t truly Chrome, but what if this was the best version of him I could get? He sounded like him now, and the way his voice had lowered seductively began to break down my resistance.
“But—” I panted.
“But, what, my queen? I know there’s a part of you in there that longs for the darkness.
That yearns for the freedom to no longer care anymore,” he whispered in my ear.
“I can be your guide.” His teeth lightly clenched around my earlobe.
“I’ve missed you, Gray. So fucking much. I’ve been unbalanced without you.”
My head rolled to the side, giving him more access. The idea that I was chained and he had full control of me thrilled me. Hell, if I were going to die here, then at least I’d receive some form of pleasure before I did.
And maybe this could bring him back to himself, like before, when he’d get near me or touch me, and it would chase away his devolution symptoms. I clung to the hope that I could still have that effect on him. It was a slim chance, but it was my final shot at restoring him.
And gods, I’d fucking missed him. If this was the only way to be close to him…
“That’s my girl,” he praised as I offered him more access to my neck. He took it, slowly and teasingly licking and kissing the sensitive skin, before gently clamping down on it.
All I wanted at this point was to touch him, but seated with my hands cuffed above my head, I was restricted. All I could do was receive whatever he wanted to give me.
His mouth slowly trailed from my neck downward, where he slid his hand up my shirt. The feel of his skin on mine again set me ablaze, regardless of the situation. It felt like coming home.
Chrome removed his head from my neck before pressing a kiss to my lips as his hand roamed over my torso beneath my shirt. I moaned, which prompted a victorious smile from him.
That smile…it was his true smile; the one that reached his eyes and brought them to life while propelling my heart back into rhythm at the same time. His eyes changed from the dark black depths of being Infernal to the wild vortex of his quicksilver irises.
I had the real Chrome with me now, and I could’ve cried. But I wouldn’t waste this moment. Who knew how long we had?
“It’s me, Rainbow,” he whispered, his eyes glistening with relief and joy. “You brought me back again.”
I kissed him, but harder this time, wanting more of him, needing more of him. Before I knew it, our tongues warred against one another, hungering to match the growing flames inside my chest.
Keeping his lips pressed against mine, he straddled me, then used his shadows to cut through my hoodie and the shirt beneath it to expose my bra. The cold air from the prison sent pebbles across my skin, but he quickly remedied that as he pulled my bra to the side to take my nipple in his mouth.
I arched my back and moaned, prompting Chrome to wrap his hand around my throat, but my hopes sank when I saw the black irises had returned.
His shadows poured free from his body, and he wielded them to unbutton my pants so he could slip a hand inside.
A dark chuckle seemed to vibrate the air around us.
“Sorry to disappoint, but I will always be stronger than him.”
When his fingers slipped along my body’s entrance, he groaned into my breast. Teasingly, he trailed his fingers back and forth before sliding inside.
“Gods, I’ve missed us,” he murmured as he began sliding in and out until he connected with that spot that always made me writhe.
“Look at how wet you are.” He withdrew, showing me his coated fingers before pushing them between my lips.
He smiled again, a proud one that illuminated his face, bringing the real Chrome back.
He rasped out a chuckle, continuing what Infernal Chrome had been doing.
“See how good you taste?” The silver had returned to his eyes, and I knew that the real Chrome was fighting to stay present.
I swirled my tongue around his fingers, wanting nothing more than to please him now that I had the real Chrome with me.
I would do anything to keep him with me.
Seeing the desire and love for me surging in his eyes kept my hope alive that he was still in there, which motivated me to earn his approval more.
The world fell away from me as I became lost in his thrall. I licked myself clean from his fingers, even sucking them further into my mouth. If I couldn’t touch him with my hands, then I’d make the most of it with my mouth.
“I don’t deserve this, but I’m too selfish to turn you away,” Chrome said, his voice husky and eyes hooded as he watched me. “I fear if I lose contact with you, the Syphon Bond will take over again. So I’m going to love you in the only way I can right now.”
The reality of his confession crushed my soul, but I pushed it aside. I’d deal with the fallout later. For now, I had him.
Chrome took his fingers from my mouth, then spread my legs apart to nestle inside them.
He reached into his back pocket, retrieving a knife.
Grinning dangerously, his molten eyes swirled with excitement as he pressed the tip of the knife against the thin fabric of my pants, starting at my hips.
He reached for the waistband and stretched it forward, creating a gap between my lower stomach.
Placing the edge of the blade at the top of the waistband, he met my gaze again.
Obsidian irises taunted me, challenging me as he roughly sliced downward through the thicker fabric.
He dragged the blade down to my ankle with a steady hand before repeating the same action to the other leg.
The tearing of threads was the only sound in the cell as I held my breath.
When he was finished, he ripped the pants and my underwear, until only remnants remained, tossing the pieces across the cell.
Chrome lowered himself to his knees, gliding his palms up my bare legs until they rested on my inner thighs.
I watched as the quicksilver overtook the black irises once more.
He exhaled harshly, as if he’d fought to dominate the Syphon Bond.
One side of his mouth lifted upward into a smirk, making my heart melt.
He flattened himself against the floor. Hooking his arms behind my knees, he propped them against his shoulders, lifting my bottom half up until the chains didn’t resist any more movement.
“I’ve tried to fight this curse, Gray. I’m so sorry that I’ve failed. But I’ll keep fighting for you,” he whispered. The guilt, shame, and remorse sank his expression, his eyes reminding me of the night he’d first told me of his devolution outside of the Hollow.
I shook my head, desperate to clear him of his guilt. “You haven’t failed. It was me who failed. If I hadn’t let Forest get the upper hand, this wouldn’t have happened. I was weak.”
Chrome circled his fingertips on my thigh as he sat with his heavy emotions, his head hung low to where his chin nearly touched his chest. At my words, though, he snapped his gaze up to me in confusion.
“No, Gray. You didn’t. You have nothing to blame yourself for.
I did this. But I only did it with the hope that I could be strong enough to fight it.
I’m not. As it continues to turn out, you’re my strength, but I can’t drag you down with me. I refuse to ruin your soul.”