Page 356 of Filthy Elites

Aubrey

Dare looks down at me,but not to communicate anything. There’s no expression on his face that’s remotely for me, or about any of the shit I just heard. He’s not worried about what I think, just how he wants to attack what he needs to do next.

“I need you to come over here and loosen the rope around her ankles a little.”

Anae gets up and walks over, making her way around the bed and doing as he says. She’s spiteful, scratching my skin with her long nails as she works the rope, but I’m still relieved when the rope isn’t as tight.

“Good,” Dare says, looking back at my ankles. “Now, go back to the closet and see if there’s more rope for her hands.”

“I don’t think there was,” she says. “Do you have some stashed somewhere else?”

“Yeah. There’s green rope out in the garage if you want to go grab it.”

Anae looks at me, then him on top of me almost like she’s reluctant to leave. “Don’t get started without me,” she says. “I want to watch every second. That way, I can always relive this moment when I wear my trophy.” Impulsively, she leans in to wrap her arms around his neck and give him a hug, kissing the side of his face. “That was a brilliant plan by the way, baby. God, I love your twisted mind.”

I don’t immediately know what she’s talking about, but then Anae glances at the necklace I’m wearing and smirks. My stomach drops, the pendant suddenly burning like a hot coal branding my flushed skin.

Anae turns around and heads for the garage to get more rope.

There are not words to express how I feel right now. It’s hard to believe I still possess the capacity for hope, but I must, because my feelings are suspended for a crazy moment as I look up at him, this first moment we’ve had alone, and somehow still think maybe—just maybe—he’ll turn this around.

He could be tricking her, right?

But the suggestion feels hollow even in my own mind. Watching them together, their strange ease with one another…. There’s nothing that feels romantic to me on his end when he interacts with her, it’s not like how he is with me, but there is definitely camaraderie. He may not love her—I’ll go to my grave refusing to believe that, apparently—but they’re friends. He likes her.

My stomach hurts so much, I almost wish I could throw up just to relieve the ache.

As if he heard my request and wants to make it easier for me to empty my stomach, Dare moves his hand off my mouth.

It doesn’t go far. I hear the stiff leather crack as he cups my jaw and strokes my skin like he always has, only this time, with a leather barrier.

“Do you want it in your mouth or your pussy?”

His low murmur triggers a fresh round of tears. I’m hurt and angry and I want to lash out, but I also desperately don’t want to die, so I control myself. This might be my last chance alone with him, and he’s the only shot I have at getting out of here alive.

“Dare, please don’t do this to me,” I whisper, reaching up and touching his face tenderly, like I have all the nights we spent together. Like I did just last night after he had a bad dream. “Please. I love you.”

He nuzzles my hand, still enjoying my touch. I guess at least I know that wasn’t a lie.

“Please,” I whisper, pulling him down to me so I can kiss him. “You don’t have to do this.”

“I don’t know, mermaid. I’ve already come this far.”

My heart sinks, then lifts back up because it feels like I have a chance.

“It doesn’t matter,” I assure him, caressing his face more desperately and shaking my head. “You can change your mind. You don’t have to finish this.”

He pulls back and caresses my face, watching me. “You’ve heard a lot I didn’t want you to hear.”

“I don’t care,” I blurt. “It doesn’t matter. Please, just… Dare, I don’t want to die. Please don’t do this to me. Maybe it wasn’t all real for you, but it was real for me. Iloveyou.”

His thumb moves deliberately across my cheek. His voice is so calm in the face of my tearful panic, it sends a chill straight down my spine. “Still?”

“Yes, still. Please. Please don’t do this. Help me.”

I stiffen as he pushes his gloved thumb into my mouth, but I let him do it. “You want my help, baby?”

Terrified and with tears still glistening in my eyes, I nod.

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