Page 20 of Dirty Little Saint

“I’m so sorry, Maur…” Val looks like a wounded puppy. It’s almost endearing until I feel a twinge in my ass cheek. And I remember that I’m not going to be sitting down comfortably for a while.

I brush past them both without another word.

I need to get the fuck out of this house for a while. Or I might be tempted to burn it down.

I’m still fuming as I stomp through the front yard and head for the forest. My tightly laced boots are the first comforting thing I feel as they carry me. I’m so angry I don’t even flinch when a raven swoops down to squawk at me.

“Fuck you!” I scream and shove my middle finger toward its face. “And fuck you too, Riot. I know you’re following me.”

He huffs but continues to hang back, preferring to stalk me like a serial killer instead.

Whatever.

The tree line thickens as I move deeper into the forest, darkening my path. But it doesn’t deter me. In fact, it spurs me on. I want to be bathed in darkness. It’s the only thing that calls to me. The only feeling I want to embrace.

I slow my pace as the branches thicken out of their stumps, tangling and twisting on the ground. I almost trip as I step over them. But I am focused, pissed off, and on a mission to sink as deep into the gloom of this space as I can get.

My sigils flare, singeing my flesh with every step I take. Riot’s boots crunch behind me. He’s keeping his distance, but it’s only a matter of time before he corners me. I look forward to when he does so I can hurl all my anger at his emotionless fucking face.

I come to a clearing where the trees have slightly pulled away, but the sky is still obscured from my view enough to where I can’t tell if it’s day or night. And I don’t care.

My stomach knots as images of last night’s ritual replay in my mind. The mix of emotions makes me want to vomit. I wasn’t initiated. I was punished, humiliated, and then left in a pool of my own cum and blood. I shiver at the memory of their masked faces, their gloved hands… Shame fills me as I remember being turned on by the sadistic act.

I flinch at the touch of a hand on my back.

“It’s just me, Maur,” Riot huffs.

I spin around to face him, my mouth full of venom. “Get away from me.”

His blue eyes harden. “No.”

“How could you let them do that to me?” I hear the ache in my own voice, and it makes me sick.

He closes the gap between us, towering over me. “You don’t understand the power my father has.”

I fight back tears. There’s no way I’m fucking crying in front of him. “You’re fucking crazy. All of you. I’m done. Take me back to Raven’s Gate.”

I’m overwhelmed. Ashamed. So fucking angry. “You know what? Fuck that. Take me to Wickford Hollow. I don’t want to see another raven ever again.”

Riot wraps a hand around my throat, and it feels like salvation even as his arrogance irritates every nerve in my body. “No. You’re ours. Mine. And we will help you get through this. Help you understand. But leaving is not an option.”

I hate that I love the way his grip feels around my neck. “Maybe it should be. If we’re not together, we can all go back to how we were before. Safe.”

He blows out a deep breath as his lips inch closer to mine. I try not to inhale that familiar scent of tobacco and coffee. Try not to swallow every particle of it even as it gives me life.

“There is no before, Firecracker. There is only us. And whether you believe it or not, what happened last night will never happen again.”

Why does my heart believe every fucking word he says?

My brain is screaming at me, but my heart, my body, just wants to lean in. Like every fucking word out of his mouth is gospel.

“You’re going to have to do better than that if you want me to trust you, Riot.”

His grip tightens on my throat. Shivers race down my back from the pulse of his fingertips. He weaves his other hand into my hair and gently tilts my head back. It unnerves me. Like my soul wants to fly out and meet his.

“I’ll explain everything,” he purrs. “But right now, I just want to give you a new memory to replace the last one that’s on repeat in your head.”

I swallow hard, my need for him outweighing my temptation to destroy everything, my traitorous heart and body choosing him instead of my own sanity. “You’ve ruined me. And I hate you for it.”

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