Page 68 of House of Ruin
The memories of her sweet scent still comforted Blaze.
Sometimes, when he woke up from one of his nightmares in the middle of the night, his heart pounding, his skin slick with sweat, he’d remember how sweet his mother would be when she’d come into his room to soothe him.
The gentle caresses over his hair and the sweet lullaby she’d hum as she rocked little Blaze in her arms would still be there with him after all these years when he was alone.
At the first contact of their bodies, Blaze barely held himself from pulling away.
It took all his strength to will his fingers to wrap around her upper arm, gently applying pressure over her lean muscles.
Auburn turned her attention to Blaze, abandoning the conversation midway. Her eyes flicked to his hand on her arm, wide with surprise.
And then there it was.
Theflinchas Blaze’s fingers squeezed lightly.
It was barely there, and before anyone could even sense anything had transpired between them, Auburn’s face was smooth, a smile back on her lips.
Blaze wasn’t sure whether he was going to be sick or whether he was going to burn this whole fucking room to the ground.
“Blaze,” his mother called, her voice gentle.
The storm raging inside Blaze reflected on his face because his mother’s face grew wary.
Unable to bear his hand on her arm, Blaze stepped away and whirled on his heel.
As he strode away from the group, he drained his glass before slamming it on top of the bar as he passed it and left the room.
“Blaze!” Auburn called out after him.
He kept walking.
The sound of her heels clicking on the ivory marble floor were getting closer, but Blaze didn’t stop.
He had to get out there. He had to get far away from Auburn and Galliermo.
From all the fucked-up shit.
When he wretched the front door open, though, his mother finally caught up.
“Blaze, wait. I beg of you,” she said, breathless.
In two strides Blaze crossed the front porch and whirled around to glare at his mother.
The desperation in her voice tipped him over the edge, the beast clawing its way to the surface.
“You are—” Blaze said inhaling sharply. “You are so fuckingweak.”
Auburn recoiled at the harsh words, at the spiteful and cruel tone, and Blaze’s chest heaved.
He had forgotten that emotional pain could hurt you physically.
But, oh, it did.
The pain in his mother’s features, the painhewas to blame for, was slicing into his chest like a pair of sharp daggers.
But Blaze was so angry.
So angry at her for letting her life turn into this.
