Page 45 of And Twice as Twisted
“Food, Apollo. I need food.”
“When we get closer to home.” He was watching all the mirrors as if someone besides him had a clue as to where the hell we were.
“I. Need. Food.”
His neck twisted in my direction, his lip snarling. Apollo was gone. I’d pushed him to his limit plenty of times before, but thiswas different. When this band snapped, it was going to open a portal into a dimension I hadn’t seen before. But I had a death wish, so I pushed on.
“And. Dick.” I stifled my laughter. I had a hell of a lot better comebacks than that, but I couldn’t help myself. With absolutely no qualms, I pushed to see if I could survive all parts of him. Another comment was ready when he slammed on the breaks, my seat belt digging into each of my pressure points.
He swerved to the right and the car flew onto the shoulder, the tires skidding across rocks. I screamed until it came to a stop just before a grove of trees. He ripped his seat belt off, flying around the hood of the car. His look told me I was fucked and I couldn’t tell my hands to move fast enough. My door opened, practically ripped from its hinges, and the seat belt held me in place when he tried tugging me out. I heard the click and saw the glint of silver right before the belt was shredded and I was wrenched out by my arm. His grip on my bicep was impenetrable as he pulled me into the trees. My heart was lodged in my throat and I suddenly resorted to begging. I just didn’t know exactly what it was I was begging for. God knew I’d pushed him too far. I knew it was coming, but I’d done it anyway, tauntingil meititoreto come and play.
Instant. Regret.
I glanced around and things slowed, everything falling around me. The trees turned red, my blood dripping towards the ground and turning to ash before floating in the air. I wanted him to show me the fire, to let me feel the burn and spiral into the tunnel of never-ending sorrow and pain. Rose petals mixed with the ash before floating towards the sky, and drops of blood glittered in the glimpses of sun, making their way through the drifting embers.
I tripped, but his tight hold forced me to stumble beside him. He didn’t speak, dragging me farther and farther into theunknown of the smoldering forest. Then the blood turned to flames, the fire burning my skin as someone whisperedsinner. The voice sent a chill down my spine.
His face was devoid of anything, as he stared at the sky like he was pleading with something in silence. He wasn’t saying a word, but he might as well have been screaming at me. This was it. Even if he didn’t kill me, this was my ending. Our ending.
Could it be the ending if we never really had a beginning?
He was beyond reproach, so damaged I didn’t recognize him anymore. His demons were catching up to him and I was beckoning them forward. I was only adding to the monstrosity inside his soul.
When he looked at me, my gut clenched and tears immediately dripped over the edge. He showed me his pain, his eyes filling with something beyond tender and filled with defeat.
Don’t let me go.
I couldn’t say the words out loud. But I knew this is what it was. He was saying goodbye. Nothing would be the same. One of us would die if we kept this up and all it was doing was destroying us both.
I nodded in understanding, wiping my eyes free of my sorrow and approaching him slowly. He stepped into my embrace and held me to his chest. His body was twice as wide, his fists able to kill me with one blow. Yet my death would be at the weakness he was displaying, his shaking plea to let him go. And I would. I would tell him goodbye just to save him. To save us. His thick arms encased me and I held on for dear life.
“I’m sorry,” I whispered, taking his face between the palms of my hands.
“Sienna…”
I silenced him with my mouth, savoring his taste as I said my wordless goodbye. He lifted me with ease, my legs wrapping around his torso on their own accord. He dropped to his knees,the scent of earth drifting closer as my back met the cold leaves. I tugged his lips to mine, devouring his harsh kiss and moaning into his mouth. Pulling back for a moment, he stared at me with the same lost look. Then he dropped to his elbows on top of me, sweeping a trail of kisses from my ear to my breasts.
He took me, slow and sweet, in the middle of the woods that seemed more fitting for my burial than his passion. I guess, in a sense, I was burying my heart beneath the cold earth. I couldn’t stop the tears that flowed, crying harder when he kissed them away.
I was a vessel of emotions—pleasure and pain—with no guidance as they took control. I cried harder and hated every second of it but loved the buzz that was left in its wake. His hands were all over me, memorizing each curve. His kisses touching every sensitive part of my body until I couldn’t take it anymore and crashed. I tipped over the brink of sanity as my mind gave up fighting.
I knew that falling out of love was going to be the hardest thing I’d ever have to do. I steeled my spine, my stiffened body forcing him off me. He helped me to my feet and we cleaned ourselves off as everything inside me wanted to scream.
Everything that we had was gone… There was no gravity tethering us together anymore.
“How do we get back to the car?”
He looked over his shoulder, the tenderness gone. His chest was heaving while the molten lava was dripping the honey pools into a violent storm. He laughed, catching me off guard as anger replaced the lofty sound. I silently followed him out of the clearing as his mumbling returned, mixing with pockets of delirium.
“Motherfucker!” he belted out suddenly, turning to the nearest tree and imbedding his fist into it over and over.
“Stop!” IknewI should take caution. “Apollo, stop it!” But I didn’t.
My scream caught his attention, his entire body twisting into an unrecognizable hellhound that was charging at me. I couldn’t tell my legs to run before he was on me. I jumped backwards, landing on my ass, as he loomed above me. This was the face hundreds of men saw prior to their brutal murder—a part of himself he kept hidden from me.
And now I understood why.
My hands shook as I kept them raised, too scared to touch him as he hovered over my face. His lip raised in a dancing snarl, his jaw clattering under the pressure and his eyebrow raised in challenge.
