Page 100 of Burning Ember
I wince and look away so I don’t have to feel his piercing eyes. “I just can’t.”
“Why?” When I move to leave, he grabs my arms and shakes me. “Why the fuck can’t you go home?”
I fight his hold but he keeps asking the same question over and over.Why? Why? Why?He won’t let me go and the more I fight him, the stronger his hold on me becomes. I’m so enraged that the words rush unguarded past my lips. “He’ll find me!”
“Who?” He leans down and peers into my face. “Who’ll find you?”
Horrified at the knowledge that I’ve said so much, I look anywhere but at him. But Mav grabs my chin and forces me to meet his eyes.
“Don’t clam up now, Doll. Come on. Tell me. Who’ll find you? Who are you runnin’ from?”
I squeeze my eyes shut, but when I do, the last month with Warner flashes like a horror movie through my mind. Helplessness and fear ripple down my spine. A whimper escapes me and bile rises in my throat.
“Doll, tell me.” When I’m still silent he asks, “Your ex?”
I’m no longer in control of my body, because I nod without wanting to do so.
His tone drops low. “What’d he do to you?”
The iron box in my mind springs open and there’s no shutting it now. Mav wants to know everything. Fine. I tell him. I laugh bitterly, open my eyes, and meet his gaze. “You should ask what didn’t he do. What didn’t he take from me. Because the answer is my life, Mav. That’s the one thing I had left to lose and I wasn’t ready to part with it just yet.”
Mav’s face hardens. He gets my meaning because the muscle in his jaw begins to tick and his eyes swirl with emotion. Sadness. Regret. Fury. Pity.
I don’t want his fucking pity. Seeing his face riddled with it makes bubbling lava burn in my veins.
I force his hand away from my chin, and push him back. “What? Is the truth too ugly for you? Or are you just sorry that your friend won’t have the pleasure of taking my virginity?”
“Doll—”
“You want to know the rest, huh? Well the truth is my life’s never been pretty, Mav. It’s been a fucking maze. Full of trials and dead ends. I never had normal. Not even as a child. There were always drugs and creepy men. And too many days where we ate expired food out of a can because that’s all we had. My mom cut out when I was sixteen. Sixteen. I had to drop out of school to help make ends meet. Do you know how hard it is to find a job that pays more than minimum wage when you’re a drop out? It’s impossible. So yes when a rich guy bought me things and paid attention to me, I fell for him hard and fast. Until he showed his true colors and took away everything important to me. Threatened everything I cared about and wouldn’t even so much as let me out of the house unless I was by his side.”
I blow out a huff of air. “Do you get it now? I’ve learned to fight my battles where I can and work with the shit choices I’ve been given. I’m just trying to stay alive, and how I do that no longer matters to me.”
Moisture stings behind my eyes. Before the tears can fall in front of Mav, I spin to Taz. Thrusting my hands toward him, I plead, “Please, take them off.”
Against my will, one tear and then another trail down my face.
Taz works fast, and the second my hands are free, I’m ducking under the ropes, fleeing as fast as I can across the garage.
Mav calls out to me.
I’m almost to the door when steel arms band around me and pull me to a stop. One around my midsection. Another over my chest, and Mav’s rich scent engulfs me. Hugging me tightly to his chest, he whispers, “Fuck. I’m sorry. Jesus . . . I needed to know . . . I had to make sure you wanted more than this.”
My chest is heaving and tears keep falling. It finally dawns on me why he’s being a dick for no reason. He wanted to know why I’m here. He wanted me to admit that I don’t want to be a clubpiece. That all of this is a last resort for me.
“Why? Why do you care now? This whole time you’ve tried to run me off. You’ve treated me like shit. Like I mean nothing to you.”
“You’re somethin’ to me. You’ve been somethin’ to me since the first second I saw you. I’ve just been trying like hell to fight it.”
“Why?”
“Because the last woman I fell for ripped my world down around me. Put me through hell.”
“I’m not her.”
“I know, Doll. Fuck. I know that now.” His voice lowers and he speaks right next to my ear. “You’re better than this place. And fuck, I know you’re too good for me, but that doesn’t stop me from wanting you.”
My chest expands, fills with warmth.
