Page 45 of Promise to Break

I don't have the decorum or restraint he does, as I scream with all my might. The few people walking by the pool stop and stare like the rats they are, waiting for the crazy girl, the rotten wild child, to lose it. Fuck them.

I need him gone from my life because I know that my dark side will come out to play sooner rather than later, and I've spent years keeping it locked in my safe with the key in a place I can't find.

"I know."

His admission gives me the urge to punch him. "So tell me why. Give me one fucking reason."

"I can't."

"But you do have a reason. And here I was thinking that you just couldn't let go of the first night I saw you. What do you expect from me, Killian? No," I say, lifting my hand and not giving him the chance to spout another vague answer. "Don't tell me. You want to fuck me and for me to not think about the fact that you'll ruin me soon after. "

"You're already mine, Maricela."

My laughter is downright hysterical. How can he be so calm when I'm fuming? "I want you gone. Tell me, what can I do to make you leave me alone? You can call your army on me again and have them lock me in the bathroom for two hours until Raven finds me. Let them humiliate me as much as they need to so you can feel strong against someone like me. Let them steal my things, ruin my books, and take the little money I make for myself in the kitchen. I'm not afraid of any of it. All I ask is that you leave me the fuck alone."

"I can't. I won't." He's still as calm as ever.

"Why?" I look into the blue sea of his eyes. It's calm and collected, with not a storm in sight. For just one second, I wonder. I wonder about the glimpses he's shown me. Were they real?

I tell myself I don't care and start walking away, only for him to block me with his body. Fuck. Why does he smell like a safe place, look like a god, and taste like the best thing in this world? I wish I didn't know all those things, and I could see him for who he really is: a soulless man, a killer.

"I can promise you something," he says as he takes my hand in his again. "You'll never get rid of me. I'll never let you go."

"Fuck you, Cabron de mierda."

"Now that I understood," he says and wraps his arms around me. I don't let myself melt into him, no matter how much my body begs me to do just that. To let him keep me safe, to let go of everything. Instead, I push him off me, and he lets me go just enough for me to feel like I have some control.

"Good. Now let me go."

"Not until you agree to be mine."

"I'll…" I point at his chest.

"Never…" I keep looking him in the eyes as he finally lets go of me fully.

"Be yours." I push him into the bloody pool, and he lets out a gasp as he falls. Fuck him.

I'll pay for my actions later.

Chapter twenty

Maricela

I start walking away, but then I hear his gasp again. His body is like steel, but when I look back, I see he isn't moving. Is he playing with me? I stand there for a few more moments as the few people nearby start to whisper and come closer, but no one does anything to help.

"Call the deviants, now!" I scream, taking off my heels and jumping into the water.

Even though I know how to swim, I never had to save someone, and certainly not someone as big and muscled as Killian. Thanks to physics, eighty percent of our body weight doesn't count under water.

I reach him and quickly turn him over so he can lay on his back as I pull him out while being careful to keep his head above the water. I'm able to drag him to the wall of the pool, but I can't drag him out of the pool completely. God, I hope his two big-headed friends are on their way.

I turn Killian to his side, and after a few moments, he expels water from his lungs. But it isn't much, and although he's breathing, he doesn't respond in any other way.

I don't know how, but I'm able to pull him onto the stairs of the pool and then push him up slowly until his body is on the ground. The beats of my racing heart play a crazy tune in my ears, but I don't pay it or the pain in my arms any mind as I pull myself up and lean over him.

"Come on, asshole!" I scream, but I get nothing. It's as if water is his Achilles heel.

"Wake up, Cabron." I use my knowledge of mouth-to-mouth until I see some reaction. He looks at me with his blue gaze, but he isn't here. Fuck!

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