Page 128 of House of Ruin
Val flashed Blaze a smile. “Only time will tell.”
Blaze entered his bedroom and froze.
On the corner of his bed sat Alecto, her legs tucked under her. Her hands rested in her lap, and the expression on her face made Blaze’s heart hurt.
When he spoke to her, she visibly flinched. “What the fuck are you doing here?”
Blaze was supposed to feel some sort of sick satisfaction right then. Cruelness was his comfort, his home.
Yet he felt nothing of the sort.
Just pain and betrayal and disappointment.
And silly hope.
Hope that whatever had happened tonight was just a fucking dream.
But the pained look in Alecto’s eyes told Blaze that it was a reality.
“Blaze, you have to let me tell you the truth.”
While being cruel didn’t bring him the satisfaction he desired, it didn’t mean Blaze was going to be anythingbutcruel.
“And how am I to know it’s the truth?” He crossed the room and opened the window. Then he lit a cigarette, still refusing to look at her. But even though he was cruel, he couldn’t tell her to leave. “For all I know, everything to come out of that mouth of yours is a fucking lie.”
“You know that’s not true!” Alecto’s voice cracked at the end.
It sent shivers down Blaze’s back.
He let his head fall back against the cool wall.
As he inhaled smoke, he closed his eyes and allowed himself to wallow in the sensation that hearing Alecto’s voice crack evoked in him.
It hurt him to see her pain.
It also made some part of him satisfied that she was also suffering.
Despite his coldness, Alecto wasn’t giving up. “I had a plan that involved making you fall for me so I could break your heart.”
Blaze chuckled, his eyes still closed.
At least she had the balls to admit it to him.
When he didn’t say anything, she continued. “I did everything I could to make you fall. To make you crave me in a way that would drive you mad.”
“And you did,” Blaze’s voice came out hoarser than he would have liked. He cleared his throat. “You want a fucking medal for it? Should Ipraiseyou for being such a good girl, baby?”
A sharp inhale that came from where she sat told Blaze he had hit just the right spot.
The backs of his eyes were burning, and he swallowed hard.
When they’d slept together that night after the incident at Blood Lake and the next morning she was gone, Blaze should have known.
When she’d come over to him and offered for them to be friends with benefits, he should have guessed there was something more.
Blaze rubbed his eyes so hard, he saw stars.
“Blaze, listen. I meant it when I told you that I share your feelings,” Alecto said, her voice filled with pleading. It bristled Blaze. “I want you, despite it all. Despite all that happe—”
