Page 27 of You Were Always Mine
The voices fade; the house settles into quiet again, but my head won’t stop screaming. Every thought is too loud, every memory sharper than the last. His hands on me. His voice in my ear. I didn’t stop. I didn’t want to stop.
Tears sting my eyes before I can hold them back. I bury my face in the pillow, but it doesn’t help — the sob rips through me anyway, raw and broken. My whole body shakes as I press my hands over my mouth, desperate not to let anyone hear.
I hate myself. I hate the way my body responded — the way I shivered when he pressed me down, the way I soaked through my panties for him. For my stepbrother.
Another sob tears out, harsher this time. I curl tighter, fists tangled in the blanket, biting down until my jaw aches, but the harder I fight it, the worse it gets.
Shame drowns me. Guilt claws at me. But beneath it all, something hotter, something darker, twists cruelly in my chest.Want.
And that’s what finally destroys me.
The tears come harder, soaking the pillow, my chest heaving until I can barely breathe. I whisper the words into the dark, over and over, as if they might save me.
‘I can’t. I can’t. I can’t.’
But even as I choke on them, another voice presses in — low, rough, unrelenting.
You’re mine.
And I cry harder, because deep down, I’m terrified it’s true.
Scarlett
The morning light cuts too brightly through the curtains, stabbing at my eyes. My throat aches, raw from crying, my head pounding from how long I buried it under the pillow, whispering lies I didn’t believe.
For a moment, I let myself imagine it’ll be normal again. Mum fussing in the kitchen. Dad reading the paper. Kai?—
I stop myself before the thought finishes.
I drag on shorts and a sweatshirt, shove my hair into a messy knot, and pad down the stairs, praying for noise. For normal. For someone else to fill the air that feels too heavy.
But it’s only him.
Kai stands at the counter, pouring black coffee into a chipped mug, the veins in his forearms sharp beneath his skin. His shirt clings to him, wrinkled, the marks I left last night faint but there. My stomach twists — hot and sick — all over again.
Iglance around, desperate. ‘Where’s Mum? Dad?’
He doesn’t look at me when he answers. ‘Gone.’
My chest tightens. ‘Gone?’
His voice is flat, cold — like ice scraping glass. ‘They left early this morning. Visiting friends out of town. Won’t be back till next week.’
The floor drops out from under me. One week. Alone in this house. With him.
My stomach knots tighter, shame tangling with heat. Great. Just fucking great. Stuck with my hot stepbrother all week.
I cross my arms, trying to steady my voice. ‘So… what now?’
Kai finally looks at me, blue eyes cutting sharp. ‘What now is I’m throwing a party tonight. Big one. My rules. My people. So make yourself scarce.’
The words slam into me like a slap. I bite the inside of my cheek, heat rising in my chest. ‘Excuse me?’
‘You’re not invited,’ he says, turning back to his coffee like I’m nothing. ‘Stay out of the way.’
The sting settles deep, burning, but I don’t let him see it. I stand there in the quiet, fists curling tight, heart pounding hard enough to hurt.
Alone.
