Page 118 of Buried in Blood
“A chance.”
I stare at him. “I don’t understand.”
“You will.” His eyes lock on mine, holding me in place. “When it’s time to go, you’ll know.”
“And if I don’t?”
“Then you’re already dead.”
The words linger in the air, heavier than any lock on the door.
He stands, slow, careful not to make noise. Not to break the spell between us.
At the threshold, he turns back.
“You asked why I came,” he says. “It wasn’t to save you. I know I can’t.”
My heart stutters.
“I came because if you break,” he says, voice quiet, “then I won’t survive either.”
Then he’s gone.
And I’m left with silence.
And a card that just might be a key.
Or a trap.
But still… It’s more than I had before.
* * *
The lights are dim.
The silence hums louder than any scream could.
I lie back on the cot, the thin mattress barely separating me from the cold steel beneath. My fingers curl around the card Reese left me, edges worn already from where I’ve traced it over and over. It’s for a hotel. I think he has a place for me to stay when I make it out.
What would freedom even feel like?
What would it taste like to want someone without fear?
Without chains?
I close my eyes and let my mind drift—to him. Reese. The way his voice dips when he says my name. The way his hands tremble like he’s fighting himself. Like he wants more but knows what that would cost.
My fingers skim over my hip, slow and tentative, like I’m scared to remember what it feels like to touch myself and not be punished for it.
For a moment, it’s not bars I see.
It’s sunlight.
A small, dusty apartment. Reese is beside me. The sound of coffee brewing in the next room and laughter echoing off the walls. His hand on the small of my back. My lips on his throat.
Mybreath catches. I circle over my clit in slow, sensual circles.
The ache inside me spreads like warmth instead of shame.
