Page 35 of Unveiled

“Cain,” she breathes as she rings her hands together. “It’s good to see you.”

“Veronica,” he acknowledges, calling her by her first name. I can see the pain cross her face as she realizes how difficult of a reunion this is going to be.

“Come in, come in,” she tells us as she steps back from the door, trying to hide how the monster’s dismissal just made her feel. As we follow her into the house, Ethan comes out from the kitchen to greet us.

“Ainsley,” he practically squeals.

“Ethan!” I squeal back. Days without seeing my best friend feels like months. I’ve had no one to talk to except for that quick conversation we had, and no comfort either than what I’ve tried not to accept from the monster.

Ethan runs at me and wraps me in a hug, lifting my feet from the ground. “I missed you, twerp.”

Automatically, my arms circle around his neck as he twirls me around, sending my dress flying around me. “I missed you, too,” I tell him.

“Are you wearing a new perfume? I like it.” Nope. That would be the arousal soaking my panties to the point that I’m surprised there’s not a wet spot on my dress, but I’m not about to tell him that. My cheeks flush with embarrassment.

He sets me back down on my feet, but as he unwraps his arms from around me, he slings one over my shoulders. Resting right over the bandage on my back. I wince from the pain that shoots through me and try to play off my reaction by shifting away from him, but he notices. He’ll always notice, because he’s my best friend and I can’t hide anything from him.

“What? Did I hurt you?” He lifts his arms from my shoulders and looks over me for an injury, and I can pinpoint the exact second his eyes land on the bandage. “What the hell is that?”

“It’s nothing,” I tell him quickly. He finds the monster, glaring at him behind me. When I look behind me, I wish I hadn’t. The monster is standing there, watching our interaction with a smug grin on his face, Now I really want to smack it off.

“What did you do to her?” Straight to assumptions. Not that he’s wrong, but the hostility is the opposite of what I was going for tonight.

“Nothing she didn’t ask me to do,” the monster answers, telling the truth without answering the question. All eyes look to me, waiting for an explanation.

“It’s nothing, really. Just… a scratch.” A huge scratch that’s going to permanently scar the monster’s name across my back.

“Let me see,” Ethan pleads, still angry even though I’m clearly defending the monster. I try to step away from him, but he grabs my arm and keeps me from moving too far. “Turn around, Ainsley.”

“Help me,” I mouth at the monster as Ethan whirls me around when I try to keep my feet planted. To no one’s surprise, he shakes his head and continues watching the scene play out.

As Ethan’s fingers graze along my skin, I watch in horror as the monster reaches into his pocket, fumbling with the remote inside of it. When the bandage slowly tears from my skin, the monster presses the button, sending waves of pleasure through me as the silent vibrations wrack my body.

I whimper, whether from the pleasure or the horror of Ethan ripping the bandages off, but neither of them stop. Neither stop until my back is completely bare, showing the entire household the mark I’ll bare for the rest of my life.

Everyone falls silent, and the vibration inside of me stops. He’s trying to make me associate having the carving revealed to pleasure, but all I feel right now is shock. I let it show on my face as the monster tears his eyes away from me and rests them on the man behind me.

“What have you done to her?” Ethan asks the monster, anguish laced through each word.

“I marked what’s mine,” the monster answers with a shrug of his shoulders, like none of this bothers him. Of course it wouldn’t. This was exactly what he was hoping for when he chose this dress.

“I’m going to fucking kill you,” Ethan growls out. The pure hatred he directs at the monster is something I’ve never heard come from him before.

“Stop,” I cry, trying to get between both of them with a hand on each of their chests. I look to Ethan first, hoping I can reason with him. “You don’t know what happened, and you’re not ready to hear it right now. But, he’s right. I told him to do it.”

I drop my hand from the monster’s chest, but as I twist my body to face Ethan, strong arms wrap around me and pull me back into his body. The muscular body that fits perfectly around mine, always making me feel safe and comforted, even in a moment like this.

“How does it feel?” the monster asks, addressing Ethan as he pulls my hair away from my neck and plants a soft kiss on the exposed skin. Luckily when he bit me last night, he didn’t leave a mark like he did the night he drugged me in the maze. That would be a whole other story I would have to explain. “Knowing that, if you ever get your chance with my girl, all you’ll be able to see is my name carved into her back.”

Ethan’s eyes skip between the monster and me, wide with shock, but I’m only confused. “What are you talking about?”

I tilt my head up, looking into the monster’s soft blue eyes full of satisfaction. “Sorry, little one. It’s hard to remember you’re so innocent when you’ve been riding my cock like you’re trying to win a prize for the last few days.”

The gasp that echoes through the room mirrors the horror washing across my face. It would be one thing to say something like that when we’re alone, but here, in front of Ethan and his mother is just too much. Even for someone like the monster.

“Cain,” Mrs. Nash says, trying to chastise a man she didn’t raise. He doesn’t pay her any attention.

“He’s in love with you, Ainsley, and he just realized how foolish it was to fall for my girl. Though, I can’t really blame him. You really are incredible.”

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