Page 7 of Burned By Sin
“You said they were tormenting you,” he mumbles back. “They won’t torment you now.” Scoffing, I storm over and shove his shoulder, forcing him to look up at me beneath the artificial light.
“So instead of showing up in person, like I asked you to, you thought you’d hide away behind a screen. How are you any better than the sad lowlife that made that gif?” The words leave my mouth before I can catch them, the instant impact evident in Rhys’ cold eyes. That was a low blow, no matter how annoyed I am. Taking a moment to catch my breath, I stare at the curtains blocking out the sun. “Where were you today?”
Rhys doesn’t answer, his head turning away in my peripheral. I can’t help but yearn for the fight, for him to push back so we can hash this out at last. In the many scenarios I conjured on my way over here, he retaliated in all of them. I would scratch his face, shove his chest, kick his shins and the victory would have been so much sweeter.
But this…this isn’t going to work. I can’t attack him like a rabid animal when he looks so defenseless. Still, I grab his chin and force him to look at me.
“Why beg for a punishment if you weren’t going to see it through?” I start with, trying to navigate our conversation in a singular direction.
“I didn’t want that kind of—” Rhys starts until I press my knee in between his legs, the grip I had on his chin moving to his throat. Other than the grunt vibrating beneath my palm, he still doesn't react. Those pools of blue entirely focused on me, his lips parting on a low exhale.
“That’s the point. You didn’t want it, and that’s why I decided to give it. I can’t keep going in circles with you. You hurt me, and I hurt you. Can we just…start again?” Lowering my hand, I find my body slumping into Rhys’, the fight rushing out of me. I’m so tired of being this girl. The only one who needs to keep the campus bully in check, the only one trying to protect others from his wrapped wrath when they’d turn on me in an instant. I’m tired of trying to be so strong, when all I really want is a hug.
I want a reaction, whether it be a harsh retort, or his arms wrapping around me. Lord help me, I want the old Rhys back. That man was vibrant with life, he knew who he was and what he stood for. That’s the man I was falling for.
Call it desperation or foolishness, but the next minute my mouth is on his. The cool metal of his piercing contrasts with the softness of his lips, a warm caress that seeps through my entire being. I only exist where he touches, and his fingers push my jacket to the floor and wrap around the tops of my arms. Gripping the wet strands of his hair, I yank his head back further and use the movement to push my tongue into his mouth. If he’s not going to give me the answers I’m looking for, I’ll take them by force.
His taste hits me like a drug I swore I’d never touch again. Familiar, addictively dangerous, and impossible to stop once it’s on my tongue. Every ounce of fury I’ve been carrying melts into something fiercer, and I can’t tell if I’m devouring him or if he’s the one unraveling me piece by piece. There’s no pulling back this storm I’ve started, our teeth and tongues clashing. Our hands searching and grabbing. Rhys’ touch brands itself on my arms, shoulders and neck, feeling too much like punishment and salvation all tangled into one.
Heat pulses under my skin as his grip tightens, fingertips digging into my arms like he’s anchoring me to him. My back collides with the mattress, the plush sheets inviting my shoulder blades to sink deeper. I arch into him, chasing the way his tongue tangles with mine. Every ounce of anger he’s been holding back bleeds into me, feeding the fire already tearing through my chest. Skating my fingertips over the dips of his ribs and the multiple circular scars hidden beneath his ink, I want to whimper for the pain Rhys has endured, but he doesn’t want my sympathy. He wants my appreciation for the power thrumming in his veins, for what he’s crafted himself into.
“Stay with me,” he murmurs near my ear. “We can stay here, justlike this. Nothing else matters.” His lips are greedy, dragging over my face and neck. A low burning ignites in my core, chasing away the bitter coldness I’d not realized had settled there. Like a moth to the flame, my body is pulled against his of its own accord. Nothing makes sense when it comes to Rhys, every action having an opposite effect. I can hate and hurt him, and his desire only grows.
“I can’t,” I sigh as his mouth dips lower. A rough growl leaves him.
“Yes, you can. I have everything you need.” Peeling my layered shirts up, the heat of his palms almost burns my stomach and ribs. He’s burning with passion, ready to scorch me alive, but I can’t do this. It’s not right for us to hide away when people I care about are out there, some struggling more than others.
With serious effort, I dislodge Rhys and raise to my feet, putting space between us. He doesn’t lunge for me, but rather leans over his mattress with his hair falling into his eyes and his chest heaving.
“Staying in here won’t solve anything.” My head is shaking as I walk backwards, dipping to pick up my backpack. “People are hurting because of us. We might not have been directly involved, but we were used. Don’t you want to put it right?”
Rhys twists his head to peer over, his eyes ice cold. I hold my ground as he rises to stand, the veins coiled in his neck.
“Put it right?” He scoffs. “No one was there to put it right when I was young and bloodied on the floor of my father’s office. No one came when I was locked in this damn house for weeks, going out of my mind with desperation for you.”
Raking his hands through his hair, Rhys prowls closer, his jaw impossibly tight. I take a hesitant step back, my back knocking into the wall. This is a new side of Rhys I’m not familiar with, one I doubt he even knows himself.
“I don’t owe this world a single fuck, because I’m a selfish, reckless bastard who’s beyond saving. But you. You,” Rhys sighs, wagging an inked finger in my face. “You’re just so freaking stubborn. You don’t succumb to the hatred you should have for what you’ve lost. For whathas been taken from you,” Rhys cups my jaw, his thumb brushing over my ear. I shiver at the contact, holding his cloudy gaze.
“I refuse to live in the past, Rhys. I left my pain behind in my aunt’s attic so I can start living the life I was supposed to have.”
“You’re lucky you can compartmentalize. My pain is like a cloak always hanging on my shoulders and choking me with its cord. One of these days, I think it will pull too tight and finish the job.” His fingers toy with the ends of my hair, distracting himself from the ache building between us. “I’m wavering, Babygirl, and the only thing that feels real anymore is you.”
Catching me mid-gasp, Rhys steps into my body to pin me against the wall. His expensive toiletries encompass us, the soft tackiness of his clean skin shifts between my palms as I attempt to keep him at a distance.
“Stay,” he says again. I shake my head, continuing to fight against whatever principles I was trying to uphold as his hands smooth over my hips. Rhys lifts my thigh, curling my leg around his waist. His groin pushes against my jeans, the towel doing nothing to hide his growing erection underneath while his fingers brush the hair behind my ear. The contrast between desire and nurture is too much. My head spins, the heat becoming impossible to resist anymore. Kissing the thrumming pulse in my neck, he drags his lips up to my receiver.
“Give me today, and I’ll walk out of here with you tomorrow. I’ll follow wherever you go. I’ll be whatever you want me to be.”
My mouth pops open, words tumbling out with the truth I can no longer deny.
“I want you to be Rhys Waversea, in all of his fuck-up glory.”
Chapter Five
The growl that leaves my chest is nothing short of feral. All my life I’ve heard,why can’t you be someone else? Why do you have to be such an asshole? What the hell is wrong with you?
But not Harper. She’s just given me a long lost validation I didn’t know I was chasing. She wants me. Just me, in whatever form I am. Nothing has ever made me so hard, so fast. I grab her other thigh and carry her over to the bed, not leaving an inch of space as we drop onto our sides. My towel is forgotten, peeled open to reveal my need for her. It’s gone beyond desire. This visceral craving must be fulfilled or I’ll explode. I can’t take not being near her any longer.
