Total pages in book: 116
Estimated words: 108721 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 544(@200wpm)___ 435(@250wpm)___ 362(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 108721 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 544(@200wpm)___ 435(@250wpm)___ 362(@300wpm)
He lifts the blade to my arm, and I hesitate, shrinking back.
“Sebastian, what are you doing?” I blink rapidly, trying not to sound as afraid as I feel.
“Making certain you understand you’re more than they ever were to me.” He moves the blade, aiming it right below the other mark. “Do it, Ely. Make the mark and claim your spot beside me.”
I’ve still not caught my breath, and I blink a couple of times, trying to calm myself. He waits patiently, and once I feel I have a better grip, I carefully tip the sharp edge against my skin. My eyes dart from that one spot on my arm and back up to him.
A hiss of discomfort escapes me as a burning sensation zips across my flesh when he adds the correct pressure, guiding the blade through my skin and making a mark right below the second.
I’m mesmerized by the crimson blood that trails in a small stream down my bicep and over my elbow. The red against my alabaster skin is nothing short of an intoxicating image, one I’ll never be able to unsee.
I drag my gaze away from my arm, nevertheless, afraid of the slight tingle of pleasure it gives me in my belly.
Looking from his mark and back up to my face, he reaches for me, wrapping a hand around my throat, using his grasp to bring me closer. His lips ghost against mine when he speaks. “Mine. You’re mine in every sense of the word. The only one to bear my mark twice on your skin, and the only one I want.”
It’s not the words that terrify me at that moment, but their meaning. From this moment on, everything between us will be different. I can feel it in every beat of my heart.
“Do you understand?”
“Yes,” I whisper hoarsely and sway on my feet when he releases me.
He smiles and then kneels to put the knife away. I look down, watching as he does, and that’s when my entire world tilts on its axis, because there on the ground, nestled very visibly in the leaves, is Tanya’s pregnancy test.
He goes still as his gaze fastens on it.
I’m consumed by dread. No! No! He has to understand. I can make him understand. I can explain. My stomach tightens to the point of pain, and I open my mouth to speak, but no words come out. I need to say something. I have to. But I can’t. All I can do is watch in horror as his fingers curl around the test. He picks it up, bringing it closer to his face as if he’s inspecting it. No! It’s not what you think it is.
Pushing off the ground, he stands at his full height, towering above me, and I can feel the betrayal, see it etched into his face.
Fuck. Think, Elyse.
Those emerald eyes of his clash with my own, and the look of despair—of defeat—that I see there steals the air from my lungs. He brings the test closer, shoving it in my eyes as if I can’t see it. As if I didn’t know it was in my pocket all along.
“What the fuck is this, Elyse?”
Say something. Anything. I want to tell him that it’s not my test, but fear has me in a chokehold that I can’t escape. I part my lips and try to speak, but nothing comes out.
“Tell me this isn't real, Elyse.” Anguish and despair thicken his voice, underlined with a hint of rage. I’m drowning in his pain. “Elyse! Tell me. Tell me that this isn’t yours. That you’re not having someone else's baby.”
It’s the rage that keeps me from speaking, from telling him the truth. I can’t breathe as that anger morphs into old hurts, old wounds, opening up in my mind. My father screaming in my face so that all I can feel is his spit on my chin.
No. I can’t see Sebastian that way. Not like that.
My lips tremble, and I open my mouth to tell him no, but again, nothing comes out. Not even a squeak.
“Elyse!? Sebastian!?” The sound of Bel’s voice echoes over the lawn, calling from somewhere off in the distance. I can’t do this right now. I can’t stand here, unable to speak. To defend myself.
I don’t think; all I do is react.
Before Sebastian can react or make a move, I lift my hand and shove him backward. Caught off guard, he wobbles back on unsteady legs, and I take off on a dead run back to the house. There’s no way Sebastian will risk making a scene in front of Bel. At least not with the pregnancy test.
My lungs burn, and I spot Bel off the patio in the distance. As soon as we’re close enough to see each other, the smile on her face slips away, and concern takes its place. She opens her arms to hug me, and I run right into them.