Chapter 33
thirty-three
. . .
Eden
A little buzzed, a whole lot sore, and very tired, I say goodnight to Kris. She can barely remember her own name, let alone mine. I wave while Kyle puts her in a taxi.
I yelp in surprise when Felix picks me up into his arms.
“What are you doing?”
“You’re limping, don’t deny it,” he says, and starts walking down the street.
“People are staring,” I whisper as a group walking the other way passes us.
“Let them, I don’t care what anyone thinks.”
Felix turns his head, his blue eyes almost ethereal under the streetlights.
“Except for you. Are you embarrassed?”
I swallow. I’m many things right now, but embarrassed is not one of them.
“No.”
His lip twitches, making my heart beat like a wild thing in my chest, and I grasp at something intelligent to say.
“So what did you and Matt do tonight?”
“Pizza and video games, but I got bored and hunted you down.”
“Such a stalker,” I say, and he chuckles.
“Can’t deny that,” he says, smiling wider.
A dimple forms in his cheek. I can’t even describe what he does to me, but my heart sings when he is near.
We reach the parking lot, and it’s a relief to lean back against the seat. I need a week off my feet. Between the time away and tonight, I know I’ve overdone it.
Felix gets in, starts the car, and puts the heat on high.
I roll my head in his direction.
“Thanks for coming, and the ride,” I say, and then yawn.
“It’s not a problem.”
“I hate it when Kris does that.”
“Does what?”
Felix glances at me before pulling out onto the main road.
“She offers to pick me up and then drinks. She doesn’t care because she lives close and can get a taxi or whatever, but it’s expensive to take one out to my house.”
“Yeah, I can see that. That’s a shitty thing to do when you offer to be the DD. Did you at least have a good time?”
I nod and grab his hand.
“It was fun, but better with you there.”
He smiles, and his eyes light up.
We drive in silence, and it’s nice after the noise in the club. I drift in and out of consciousness as we slowly make our way across town.
“What the hell,” Felix says, pulling me out of my daze.
Flashing lights reflect off everything when we turn the corner onto my street. We go slow, but I start to panic. I can’t see what the issue is, but I have a horrible feeling.
Felix points.
“Is that smoke?”
No.
No.
No.
Please, God. No.
But God isn’t listening. He hasn’t since the night of the accident.
We round the bend and there in the middle of the road are three fire trucks, a couple of police cars, and people standing around watching as my life goes up in flames.
Felix stops, and for a heartbeat we just stare at the bright orange glow sending sparks flying high into the night sky. The fire pours out of every window, and the once pretty blue door is gone. Flames dance inside like hell itself rose up to consume my heart.
“No!”
The strangled wail leaves my throat as I leap out of the car without thinking and try to run for the house. Arms grab me, wrapping me up and hauling me back as tears stream down my face.
“No…Mum…Dad,” I cry while everything that I have left of them burns. I struggle in Felix’s grip, trying to get away. “I need to save them,” I yell.
“They’re not in there. They’re already gone,” Felix says, his voice soft and meant to be soothing, but he may as well have taken a knife to my heart.
“Let me go!”
“No, you can’t go in there.”
“But I have to save their wedding photos, and…”
Felix holds me tighter.
“It’s all gone.” He rubs circles on my back. “I’m sorry.”
My legs give out as gut-wrenching sorrow steals every ounce of energy I have left.
I sink to the ground, and Felix holds me, rocking back and forth.
I press my head to his chest, but I don’t take my eyes off the house.
Everything was inside those walls, all the moments that made me who I am, the pictures, family videos, and gifts my parents gave me.
My dad’s favorite mug. My mum’s favorite cookbook.
I can’t breathe. It feels like my chest is caved in. I cling to Felix. Why? Why is this happening to me?
I barely notice the police officer walking over until his legs block part of my view.
Felix is talking. I feel the rumble in his chest, but the only thing I can hear is the roar of the fire as tears freeze to my cheeks.
Felix suddenly picks me up and walks us away. As much as my soul screams that I can’t leave, I don’t fight. I feel numb, raw, like I don’t even belong to this body or world anymore, and all I want is to close my eyes.
felix
Jesus Christ.
My plan worked, but…fuck. I drag a hand through my hair and glance over at Eden in the passenger seat. She has her forehead against her window, just staring out, and she hasn’t moved since we left.
I park the car and reach out to rub her shoulder. Eden doesn’t acknowledge me.
Fuck.
This is all Kyle’s fault. He forced my hand.
Getting out, I walk around to her side of the car and carefully open the door.
Eden jerks upright as she’s about to fall, then blinks up at me with red, swollen eyes.
I make quick work of her seatbelt and lift her out of the car, but she just flops in my hold like a ragdoll.
Eden doesn’t put her arms around me. She doesn’t even seem to notice when I have to put her down to get the keys out.
She sinks to the ground as I pull open the door. Lifting her into my arms, we make our way upstairs to my loft. I get her inside and put her on the floor so I can take off her jacket and boots. No matter what I do, my Pretty Thing, is like a puppet who’s lost her strings.
I try to sit her up, but she flops to the side with her back against the wall.
Gripping her shoulders, I shake her.
“Eden. Come on.”
I shake her again and her head bobs, but there is no response.
Terror I’ve never felt grips me tighter like a noose around my neck, choking off my air.
I smooth the hair away from her face and cup her cheeks, but she just stares off into the distance.
“Look at me, Eden. Please look at me. You need to snap out of it.”
A memory of my mother just like this after a harsh beating from my father toys with me. No, I won’t let that happen to her. She can’t disassociate from me.
This is not happening.
Grabbing the front of her dress, I push her up against the wall, pinning her in place. Her head lolls to the side.
I growl and grab her by her hair, forcing her to look at me.
“Eden! Snap out of it,” I shout in her face. She barely blinks.
My hand moves to her throat, and I squeeze just enough that I can cut off her breath.
“I’m sorry, you’re leaving me no choice,” I whisper and then slap her across the face.
The sound echoes in the loft as her head snaps to the side. And the pain in my hand is matched by that in my heart. I never want to hurt her. Never.
Eden gasps, and her arm lifts to mine but then falls away.
“Eden! Come back to me!” My voice shakes with dread. “I can’t live without you.”
I hate Kyle for making me do this, for turning me into my father. I smack Eden again, harder this time.
She jerks, eyes wide and fixed on mine like she’s woken from a nightmare.
I grip the front of her leggings in my fists, growling as I tear them apart until her tiny thong is exposed. I move the flimsy material aside and shove a finger into her while my other hand wraps around her throat.
“Felix…”
I won’t let her fade into whatever fucking dreamscape she’s using to hide. Pressing my body into her, my teeth graze her neck before I bite hard enough to make her scream through the grip I’ve got on her throat.
“I can make the pain go away. I’m the only one who can help you. Say yes. Tell me you want my help?” My voice is coarse and raw with emotion as my fingers slip between her legs. Eden whimpers. “Tell me,” I order and rub her swollen clit.
She swallows, and the sensation makes me rock hard.
“Y…es,” she wheezes.
There is nothing sweet or romantic in me right now. The frantic need to have her and to keep her here with me overrides everything else as I unzip my jeans and pull my cock out.
She screams, the sound harsh and muted as I thrust into her. I groan as her hot, wet pussy envelops me.
“I’ll never leave you,” I growl into her ear and feel her tremble. Her nails dig into my shoulders. “Do you hear me, Pretty Thing?”
I thrust into her again, and she moans this time.
“Y…esss.”
My control is as fragile as a blade of grass when pushed, and tonight has pushed me to my limit. I pound into her, and the strangled cries become deep moans even as tears trail down her cheeks.
“You’re perfect and beautifully broken. But whole when you’re with me. You’re all mine. There is no checking out on me. Do you understand?”
Eden’s eyes roll back into her head.
A primitive craving rides my body, the intensity increasing with each passing second.
The sound of us fucking fills the loft, but I can’t get deep enough inside my Pretty Thing.
With an annoyed roar, I pull out and Eden yelps.
Releasing her neck, she gasps and gulps down air.
There is no waiting for her to recover as I haul her over to the couch and bend her over.
I quickly pull the remnants of her leggings off before tossing them aside.
I take a second to admire her ass, partially hidden by the cute dress. Snarling, I rub my cock up and down her sweet pussy, and she spreads her legs wider.
“That’s it…you know you belong here with me.”
Eden cries out when I line up and bury myself as deep as I can go.
I don’t stop until her ass hits my abs. Then I lose myself completely.
Each thrust pounds into her all the reasons she needs to stay.
I’m the only one who can take care of her.
I’m the one who was meant to find her. I’m meant to protect her.
She is meant to be here with me. We are meant to love one another.
Her pussy clenches around my shaft, and she screams like she’s being murdered. She comes hard, and it makes her twice as wet.
Reaching forward, I grab her hair and pull until her back is arched and each breath is a whimper. She’s close again.
“Fe…lix…I…”
“Come for me, Eden. Show me how much you want to live. How much you want to stay with me. Come on my cock.”
“Oh…oh…oh…yes!” She yells as she clamps down on my shaft.
I grunt, my head falling back as I hold off for one more. She gasps when I tighten my grip on her hair, and the sound shoots through me.
“Touch your fucking pussy. You’ll come again and again until I tell you to stop. Do you hear me?”
“Yes.”
“Then rub your fucking cunt.”
I’m trying hard to beat down the darkness in me, but instead it’s pushing me to take more, demand more. There is no losing Eden…never. She is my forever.
My eyes go to where we are joined. My cock slips in and out of her at a brutal pace. I wait, biting down on my lips to keep from coming. I fuck Eden until she is teetering right on the edge again.
This time, when she comes, so do I.
“Ah! Fuck…Pretty Thing. Yes!”
Each thrust draws more from me, all of the fear, rage, and primal desire that is consuming my soul. The release calms the wild, but my heart is still out of control.
My hand snakes through Eden’s hair and I get close to her ear.
“If the world must end, let it end with my hands on your throat and your name on my lips. History will call it destruction, but I call it love.”
I pull out and turn Eden around to face me. Her eyes are glassy but focused.
Her neck is red from my teeth and fingers, as is her cheek. Her lower lip trembles, but when Eden opens her mouth, she says the only thing that can quell the volatility burning in my gut.
“I love you,” she whispers.
My heart stops for a beat, the world no longer exists outside of this moment.
“My soul belongs to you. I will spend every day proving that to you. There is nothing and no one in this world that will come between us.” I say, against her lips.
When she nods, I pick her up and carry her to the bathroom.
Maybe love isn’t measured by how tenderly you hold someone.
Maybe it’s measured by what you’re willing to burn to keep them. And I’m willing to destroy the world for my, Pretty Thing.